The Best Airports in the US for Being on Time

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Flight issues are the worst. You’re all ready to board your flight when the dreaded voice over the intercom says, “Attention all passengers on flight 1313: a routine inspection has turned up a termite colony in one of the engines. We’re bringing in an anteater from Timbuktu to deal with the problem, so it looks like we’ll be delayed until 2027.”

You want to minimize this when you fly, so it makes sense to try and fly into and out of airports that lack problems. The only problem with that: There are none.

Given that, Plan B is to only fly into and out of airports that minimize the occurrence of flight delays and off-time arrivals. The only problem with that is that even the outstanding major airports still fail on these tasks about 15% of the time.

However, being purely theoretical here, what are the domestic airports you could fly into and out of where your chances of mucked-up flights would be lowest?

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Departures

In a vacuum, and measured during the extremely typical month of October 2023, the best airports for on-time departures according to the US Department of Transportation are:

Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands
King Salmon, Alaska
Bishop, California
Twin Falls, Idaho
Riverton/Lander, Wyoming
Elko, Nevada
Sun Valley/Hailey/Ketchum, Idaho
Pocatello, Idaho
Butte, Montana
Brainerd, Minnesota

Okay, let’s be realistic. If we limit our list to airports that service at least 500 flights a month, which airports fare best for departing flights?

Ah, a much different list:

Hilo, Hawaii
Kahului, Hawaii
Bend/Redmond, Washington
Lihue, Hawaii
Kona, Hawaii
Honolulu, Hawaii
Panama City, Florida
Salt Lake City, Utah
Atlanta, Georgia
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Hawaii may be an expensive vacation, but the planes run on time.

Again, when you get down to Minneapolis you’re talking about a 85% on-time rate, which means things can go off the tracks 15% of the time. And by the time you get down to Denver Stapleton, a really good on-time major airport, arrivals were on-time only 77% of the time.

Also read: Which Hawaiian Island Should You Visit?

Arrivals

How about when we look at on-time arrivals? The all-airport list looks like this – and let’s do 20 this time, for entertainment purposes only:

Rock Springs, Wyoming
Bishop, California
King Salmon, Alaska
Twin Falls, Idaho
Pocatello, Idaho
Cedar City, Utah
Cheyenne, Wyoming
Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands
Elko, Nevada
Brainerd, Minnesota
Hilo, Hawaii
Gunnison, Colorado
Butte, Montana
North Platte, Nebraska
Sheridan, Wyoming
Manhattan/Ft. Riley, Kansas
Deadhorse, Alaska
Sun Valley/Hailey/Ketchum, Idaho
Grand Forks, North Dakota
Guam

You better believe that folks flying into Deadhorse are happy as heck that their plane gets there when it’s supposed to.

Also read: The Worst Airports for Flight Delays in the U.S. and the World

How about when we correct for larger airports? You’d expect many of the same culprits – and you would be correct:

Hilo, Hawaii
Kahului, Hawaii
Bend/Redmond, Washington
Kona, Hawaii
Panama City, Florida
Lihue, Hawaii
Boise, Idaho
Honolulu, Hawaii
Salt Lake City, Utah
Valparaiso, Florida
Lexington, Kentucky
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Columbus, Ohio
Louisville, Kentucky
Albuquerque, New Mexico
El Paso, Texas
Ontario, California
Burbank, California
Atlanta, Georgia
Indianapolis, Indiana

Actually, the Department of Transportation does the heavy lifting here. A section of their report is specifically for the major airports, and here’s the best for on-time arrivals, with their on-time percentage:

Salt Lake City, Utah (87.40%)
Atlanta, Georgia (87.20%)
Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota (86.50%)
Detroit, Michigan (84.50%)
Seattle, Washington (83.90%)
Chicago Midway, Illinois (82.70%)
Denver, Colorado (82.40%)
Phoenix, Arizona (82.20%)
Houston, Texas (81.70%)
Charlotte, North Carolina (81.40%)

Also read: What Airlines Owe You in Case of Flight Delays and Cancellations

What’s the lesson here? Smaller airports can be better? True, but not always. You don’t want to be flying out of Houghton or Helena in the middle of winter.

How about smallish airports can be better? Again, depends on locale and time of year. Nantucket is no picnic any time of year, but depending on the season Medford can be a breeze.

Warm-weather airports are better? They are if they’re in Hawaii; your mileage may vary elsewhere in the country.

The lesson is there’s no fool proof airport. Try to fly early in the day and hope for the best, knowing your mileage may vary.

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