Feature Stories

Travel and Leisure Rates Delays

The December issue of Travel + Leisure magazine contains an article titled, “The Best (and Worst) Airports and Airlines in the U.S. " As we approach the terrors of the holiday travel season, the article takes a moment to assess 2008 performance so far and prepare travelers for what they might face in the coming month.

Based on the figures from the October 2008 report by the U.S. Department of Transportation, the magazine placed special focus on delays and on-time arrivals. Hawaiian (at 92%) and Southwest (at 80%) came out on top for on-time arrivals. Sadly, American Airlines won the “delays” category, with only 68% of flights arriving on-time. United was second-worst with 69% of flights arriving on schedule.

According to the DOT, 23% of flights arrived more than fifteen minutes late from January to August 2008—only slightly improved from 2007’s all-time worst of 24%. While some of these delays are due to weather, many are also due to congested airspace around major cities and overcrowded airports.

Among those airports, Travel and Leisure named San Francisco, Chicago Midway, Chicago O’Hare, Dallas Fort Worth, and all three New York City airports as the worst in terms of percentage of delays. LAX, Seattle, Minneapolis/St. Paul, and Washington Dulles were among the best.

Airlines’ cutbacks in flights mostly occur at smaller airports, thus not only maintaining but potentially increasing the congestion at airports in major cities. While airlines and airports are taking measures to improve timeliness and congestion, travelers can still expect overcrowded, overbooked, overly stressful experiences during the holidays.