Story at a glance
- The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) publishes delay and cancellation data for airports across the country.
- Nationwide, more than 6.8 million flights were scheduled on U.S.-based airlines last year. Of those, around 5.4 million were on time, accounting for 78.2% of all flights.
- Florida is particularly prone to delays, with six of the top 10 airports with most delayed arrivals.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — One-fifth of all flights in the U.S. were delayed in 2023, according to federal data.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) publishes delay and cancellation data for airports across the country.
BTS uses arriving flights when reporting delayed and canceled flights. A flight is considered delayed if it arrives at the gate 15 or more minutes after the scheduled arrival time.
Nationwide, more than 6.8 million flights were scheduled on U.S.-based airlines last year. Of those, around 5.4 million were on time, accounting for 78.2% of all flights.
Airports in Texas
BTS tracks arrival flight data for 26 airports across Texas, from major hubs like Dallas/Fort Worth and George Bush Intercontinental in Houston to regional airports like Lubbock and Abilene.
San Antonio International Airport had the most delays last year, with 22.2% of all arriving flights delayed by at least 15 minutes. McAllen, Austin-Bergstrom and Lubbock all had delay rates above 21%.
Del Rio International Airport had the fewest delays, with 10.9% of flights delayed at least 15 minutes. Victoria and Beaumont also saw fewer than 13% of flights delayed.
Despite their low delay rates, Beaumont and Del Rio were the top two airports with the most cancellations. About 5.6% of arriving flights at Beaumont were canceled, while 4.4% were canceled at Del Rio. Wichita Falls was a distant third, at 2.6%.
On the opposite end, fewer than 1% of arriving flights were canceled at Houston Hobby, El Paso, San Antonio, Corpus Christi and Victoria.
Airports nationwide
According to the BTS data, 1,386,699 flights were delayed nationwide in 2023, out of more than 6.8 million. That’s about 20.2% of all scheduled domestic flights in the country. Meanwhile, 87,943 flights were canceled, about 1.3% of the total. That’s fewer than half last year’s cancellation total of more than 181,000.
Florida is particularly prone to delays, with six of the top 10 airports with most delayed arrivals. But San Juan, Puerto Rico, was the worst offender among larger airports, with almost a third of flights arriving at least 15 minutes late in 2023. Minneapolis/St. Paul had the fewest delays, at 14.6%.
New York area airports had the most canceled arrivals, with Newark, LaGuardia and JFK all appearing in the top four airports with the most cancellations, along with Portland, Maine. Each had more than 2% of flights canceled.
Use our interactive database below to see the statistics for a specific airport. You can search for a specific airport or city using the search feature in the top left.
Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International is the busiest airport in the country, with more than 336,000 arrivals on U.S.-based airlines in 2023. About 82.4% of those arrived on time.
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