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

April 14, 2010