In an effort to help empower passengers to make more informed decisions when booking flights, InsureMyTrip Research reveals which of the country’s busiest airports are more prone to flight cancellations and what passengers should know about airline cancellation policies.
Summary:
- New York’s LaGuardia reports the highest percentage of canceled flights for the second year in a row. Winter Storm Grayson was a contributing factor in 2018, forcing the airport to temporarily shut down.
- Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (ATL) makes an on-time performance comeback in 2018. A power outage at ATL steered higher cancellation numbers in 2017.
- Roughly one percent of scheduled flights at Fort Lauderdale International called it quits in 2018. That’s an improvement from 2.7 percent in 2017.
- Severe weather was to blame for most cancelation blocks in 2018. Hurricane Florence, Hurricane Michael, and Winter Storm Grayson forced groundings at many Eastern U.S. airports and residual delays nationwide.
- Salt Lake City International maintains a consistent reputation for punctuality. The airport celebrates another year of shocking low cancellations.
- InsureMyTrip anticipates the grounding of Boeing Max 737 aircraft will result in a higher number of reported flight delays and cancellations for hub airports in 2019. Those on-time performance records have yet to be submitted.
This ranking shows U.S. airport with the most and least percentage of flights canceled. This updated list is based on new data released this week, which now includes all of 2018.
Rank | Code | Airport |
1 (Most) | LGA | New York, NY: LaGuardia |
2 | ORF | Norfolk, VA: Norfolk International |
3 | CHS | Charleston, SC: Charleston AFB/International |
4 | ROC | Rochester, NY: Greater Rochester International |
5 | PHL | Philadelphia, PA: Philadelphia International |
6 | EWR | Newark, NJ: Newark Liberty International |
7 | PVD | Providence, RI: Theodore Francis Green |
8 | DCA | Washington, DC: Ronald Reagan Washington National |
9 | RIC | Richmond, VA: Richmond International |
10 | RDU | Raleigh/Durham, NC: Raleigh-Durham International |
11 | BUF | Buffalo, NY: Buffalo Niagara International |
12 | CLT | Charlotte, NC: Charlotte Douglas International |
13 | JFK | New York, NY: John F. Kennedy International |
14 | BOS | Boston, MA: Logan International |
15 | BDL | Hartford, CT: Bradley International |
16 | MDW | Chicago, IL: Chicago Midway International |
17 | GRR | Grand Rapids, MI: Gerald R. Ford International |
18 | ORD | Chicago, IL: Chicago O’Hare International |
19 | BWI | Baltimore, MD: Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall |
20 | CLE | Cleveland, OH: Cleveland-Hopkins International |
21 | CMH | Columbus, OH: John Glenn Columbus International |
22 | PIT | Pittsburgh, PA: Pittsburgh International |
23 | SDF | Louisville, KY: Louisville International-Standiford Field |
24 | CVG | Cincinnati, OH: Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International |
25 | DFW | Dallas/Fort Worth, TX: Dallas/Fort Worth International |
26 | BHM | Birmingham, AL: Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International |
27 | JAX | Jacksonville, FL: Jacksonville International |
28 | PBI | West Palm Beach/Palm Beach, FL: Palm Beach International |
29 | MKE | Milwaukee, WI: General Mitchell International |
30 | IND | Indianapolis, IN: Indianapolis International |
31 | MEM | Memphis, TN: Memphis International |
32 | BUR | Burbank, CA: Bob Hope |
33 | IAD | Washington, DC: Washington Dulles International |
34 | BNA | Nashville, TN: Nashville International |
35 | HOU | Houston, TX: William P Hobby |
36 | STL | St. Louis, MO: St Louis Lambert International |
37 | OMA | Omaha, NE: Eppley Airfield |
38 | MCI | Kansas City, MO: Kansas City International |
39 | DAL | Dallas, TX: Dallas Love Field |
40 | SFO | San Francisco, CA: San Francisco International |
41 | RSW | Fort Myers, FL: Southwest Florida International |
42 | OKC | Oklahoma City, OK: Will Rogers World |
43 | MSY | New Orleans, LA: Louis Armstrong New Orleans International |
44 | ANC | Anchorage, AK: Ted Stevens Anchorage International |
45 | OAK | Oakland, CA: Metropolitan Oakland International |
46 | TPA | Tampa, FL: Tampa International |
47 | MCO | Orlando, FL: Orlando International |
48 | MIA | Miami, FL: Miami International |
49 | MSP | Minneapolis, MN: Minneapolis-St Paul International |
50 | FLL | Fort Lauderdale, FL: Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International |
51 | DTW | Detroit, MI: Detroit Metro Wayne County |
52 | IAH | Houston, TX: George Bush Intercontinental/Houston |
53 | AUS | Austin, TX: Austin – Bergstrom International |
54 | ABQ | Albuquerque, NM: Albuquerque International Sunport |
55 | SAT | San Antonio, TX: San Antonio International |
56 | SAN | San Diego, CA: San Diego International |
57 | SJU | San Juan, PR: Luis Munoz Marin International |
58 | SJC | San Jose, CA: Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International |
59 | LAX | Los Angeles, CA: Los Angeles International |
60 | HNL | Honolulu, HI: Daniel K Inouye International |
61 | TUS | Tucson, AZ: Tucson International |
62 | GEG | Spokane, WA: Spokane International |
63 | DEN | Denver, CO: Denver International |
64 | ONT | Ontario, CA: Ontario International |
65 | PHX | Phoenix, AZ: Phoenix Sky Harbor International |
66 | LAS | Las Vegas, NV: McCarran International |
67 | SNA | Santa Ana, CA: John Wayne Airport-Orange County |
68 | SEA | Seattle, WA: Seattle/Tacoma International |
69 | RNO | Reno, NV: Reno/Tahoe International |
70 | ATL | Atlanta, GA: Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International |
71 | PDX | Portland, OR: Portland International |
72 | SMF | Sacramento, CA: Sacramento International |
73 | OGG | Kahului, HI: Kahului Airport |
74 | BOI | Boise, ID: Boise Air Terminal |
75 (Least) | SLC | Salt Lake City, UT: Salt Lake City International |
Data Source: InsureMyTrip Research and The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS). BTS tracks the on-time performance of domestic flights operated by large air carriers. Rankings were based on the flight cancellation rate per airport. Airports on the list also reported 18,500 or more scheduled flights for 2018.
Airline Cancellation Policies
Flight cancellation policies vary by airline and circumstance. When an airline cancels a flight, most will try to rebook passengers on the next available flight.
