For those wanting to avoid a lengthy tarmac delay experience, many think that it’s best to try to avoid flights in the northeast region in the U.S. But that’s not always possible, and history has proven that delays happen everywhere. Nevertheless, it’s important to know which airports tend to have the highest incidence of tarmac delays. The 12 worst airports that accounted for more than 60% of flights with the longest tarmac delays for 2009 included the following:
| AIRPORT | 180+ MINUTES |
120-179 MINUTES | 60-119 MINUTES |
| New York, NY: Kennedy International | 196 | 714 | 8,919 |
| Philadelphia, PA: Philadelphia International | 96 | 427 | 3,104 |
| Washington, DC: Dulles International | 91 | 204 | 1,074 |
| New York, NY: La Guardia | 55 | 342 | 2,771 |
| Atlanta, GA: Hartsfield-Jackson | 48 | 209 | 3,814 |
| Chicago, IL: O’Hare | 41 | 316 | 3,514 |
| Newark, NJ: Newark Liberty International | 36 | 339 | 3,983 |
| Washington, DC: Ronald Reagan Washington National | 33 | 201 | 1,401 |
| Charlotte, NC: Charlotte Douglas International | 28 | 192 | 1,497 |
| Baltimore, MD: Baltimore/Washington International | 26 | 151 | 951 |
| Dallas/Ft.Worth, TX: Dallas/Ft Worth International | 24 | 184 | 1,917 |
| Boston, MA: Logan International | 20 | 153 | 1,329 |
| SUBTOTALS | 694 (77%) | 3,432 (63%) | 34,274 (59%) |
| TOTAL TARMC DELAYS – All U.S. Airports |
903 | 5,410 | 58,030 |
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, April 2010
