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Is there anything worse than a flight delay?
Okay, maybe there is. But for regular travelers, it can be a real downer on your trip, often messing up plans at your intended destination.
While delays are usually out of your hands and seemingly down to luck, there are some things you can do to reduce the chances of it happening to you on your next trip.
One such measure is choosing an airport with a good on-time departures record – and some new data from travel industry data platform OAG could help you do just that.
In its 2023 On-Time Performance Results report for 2023, OAG has ranked the largest U.S. airports on the percentage of departures they had that were on time last year.
Within this data, an on-time flight is classified as one that departed within 15 minutes of its scheduled time.
So, while it’s not always possible to be super picky about which airport you fly from, at least you now know which are the ones you can rely on most often for an on-time departure.
7) Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
Mazatlán, Mexico; Frankfurt, Germany; Toronto, Canada – these are just a few of the international destinations you can fly to from Phoenix Sky Harbor.
And you’ll nearly always be on time – well, at least 78.55% of the time, according to the data from OAG.
6) Chicago O’Hare International Airport
O’Hare had the second-highest number of flights on this list, so it’s impressive that it managed to score an on-time percentage rating of 78.82%.
This is one of the biggest and busiest airports in the country, so it’s good to know that things generally run smoothly here.
One of the best things about O’Hare is that you can easily get to and from downtown Chicago via public transport for just $5 on the Blue Line train.
5) Washington Ronald Regan National Airport
As a city with a few different airport options, it helps to know that Washington D.C. has one that ranks highly in terms of on-time flights – Ronald Regan National Airport.
This airport only flies to domestic locations, but if you are able to choose it over nearby Washington Dulles or Baltimore-Washington International for domestic travel, then you may be rewarded with an on-time departure more often than not.
4) Charlotte Douglas International Airport
Charlotte Douglas transported a record-breaking 53.4 million passengers in 2023 – a figure that was 6.5% higher than the previous record set in 2019.
This makes it all the more impressive that 80.39% of its flights were on time last year.
And the growth doesn’t look like stopping there – this year a concourse expansion will add another 10 gates to this airport by the fall.
3) Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport
With the most flights out of any airport in the top 20 of this study (745,534), it makes having the third highest percentage of on-time flights a very impressive feat for Atlanta.
In fact, Atlanta regularly ranks as the busiest airport in the United States, with an impressive schedule of domestic and international flights departing and arriving on its five different runways.
If you’re in and around Georgia, then we’re jealous you have such an efficient and well-connected airport!
2) Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
As well as being a fantastically well-connected airport to American destinations, ‘SeaTac’ is also a great place to set off on an international adventure.
The airport has non-stop flights to exotic international destinations including Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, Istanbul, Reykjavik, and Tokyo, to name just a few.
1) Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport
With an impressive 82.57% of its nearly 300,000 flights departing on time in 2023, the airport of the Twin Cities came out on top in this study.
Minneapolis-St Paul flies directly to some epic destinations including Mexico City, Montego Bay, Punta Cana, London, and Paris.
In the unlikely event that you do experience a delay here, then take it from someone who once did two separate six-hour layovers in this airport that there’s plenty to keep you entertained!
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This article originally appeared on TravelOffPath.com
Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.