Airport delay numbers are in from November, courtesy of FlightStats. The tale they tell isn’t necessarily predictive of future delays, but they could help when it comes time to planning that next trip of yours.

The top 10 performers in terms of on-time departure were:

• Salt Lake City at 89.11 percent.
• Portland, Ore. at 84.41 percent.
• Minneapolis/St./ Paul, with an 88.29 percent on-time rate.
• Tampa, with an 88.24 percent figure.
• Seattle/Tacoma at 87.08 percent.
• Orlando, with an 87.06 percent performance figure.
• Memphis at 86.53 percent.
• Charlotte with an on-time rate of 86.53 percent.
• Phoenix at 85.86 percent.
• Oakland, which racked up an 85.81 percent on-time departure rate.

On the opposite end of the on-time numbers were these five major airports:

• New York Kennedy at 73.27 percent.
• New York LaGuardia at 71.21 percent.
• Chicago O’Hare, which saw 68.90 percent of its flights depart on time.
• Dallas/Fort Worth, with an on-time rate of 62.23 percent.
• Miami at 60.01 percent.

Weather, of course, is a major driver of on-time performance – especially this time of year. The New York airports often rank at the bottom of the on-time list. Air traffic congestion heavily influences the metro area’s on-time departure performance.

What can you do to cope with delays? The first thing is go on line and determine your flight’s status. You’re often better off at home or a hotel room rather than waiting around a crowded airport.  If you’ve got a heavily discounted advance-purchase ticket, one which carries a hefty fee for changes, you could have a problem. If you’re flying on a higher-priced ticket purchased close in you might be able to change without having to fork over an extra fee. In situations such as the recent Seattle snowstorm carriers will let you change flights without penalty.

Got a war story, one involving a lengthy delay? Tell us about it – and tell us how the airline treated you.

Story by Jerry Chandler
(Image: dktrpepr)

flight delays, on-time departures