FlyerIntel Research
America's Most Reliable Major Airports
Which large US airports actually get travelers where they are going on schedule.
Published August 29, 2026 · Source period July 2023 – July 2026
Summary
HNL (Honolulu) is the most reliable major US airport in FlyerIntel's analysis, scoring 82 out of 100 on 186,300 departures with 85.3% arriving on time. DFW (Dallas–Fort Worth) ranks last of the 64 airports measured at 49. The spread between them, 12.2 percentage points of on-time performance, is larger than the gap between the best and worst major airline.
Key findings
- HNL leads with a reliability score of 82 and 85.3% on-time arrivals.
- DFW ranks last at 49, with 73.1% on-time and 2.27% of flights cancelled.
- SLC had the lowest cancellation rate at 0.60%.
- LGA had the highest at 3.30%.
- The largest hubs are not the most reliable. Airport size lines up with late departures but not with late arrivals or cancellations; see Do Bigger Airports Run Later.
Major US airports ranked by reliability
| # | Airport | City | Score | On time | Cancelled | Severe delays | Median delay | Departures |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | HNL | Honolulu | 82 | 85.3% | 0.90% | 3.1% | -3 min | 186,300 |
| 2 | SJC | San Jose | 81 | 84.1% | 0.66% | 4.3% | -7 min | 147,137 |
| 3 | SLC | Salt Lake City | 79 | 84.0% | 0.60% | 5.0% | -8 min | 355,300 |
| 4 | OAK | Oakland | 79 | 82.0% | 0.68% | 4.5% | -6 min | 117,264 |
| 5 | SMF | Sacramento | 79 | 83.2% | 0.66% | 4.7% | -6 min | 172,472 |
| 6 | PDX | Portland | 77 | 83.2% | 0.86% | 4.7% | -6 min | 187,633 |
| 7 | ANC | Anchorage | 77 | 83.6% | 1.15% | 4.3% | -7 min | 58,776 |
| 8 | ONT | Ontario | 76 | 83.5% | 0.90% | 5.3% | -8 min | 79,949 |
| 9 | TUS | Tucson | 76 | 84.3% | 0.76% | 5.7% | -8 min | 59,292 |
| 10 | ABQ | Albuquerque | 76 | 83.2% | 0.83% | 5.4% | -7 min | 76,013 |
| 11 | BUR | Burbank | 74 | 82.8% | 1.25% | 5.5% | -8 min | 93,645 |
| 12 | LAX | Los Angeles | 73 | 81.4% | 0.78% | 6.1% | -7 min | 595,153 |
| 13 | SEA | Seattle | 73 | 79.1% | 0.85% | 5.0% | -4 min | 510,205 |
| 14 | PHX | Phoenix | 73 | 80.3% | 0.67% | 6.0% | -5 min | 598,518 |
| 15 | SNA | Santa Ana | 72 | 82.2% | 1.03% | 5.9% | -7 min | 137,357 |
| 16 | MSP | Minneapolis | 72 | 81.1% | 0.94% | 6.4% | -8 min | 369,781 |
| 17 | SAT | San Antonio | 71 | 82.3% | 1.15% | 6.2% | -7 min | 127,237 |
| 18 | SBA | Santa Barbara | 71 | 82.2% | 1.08% | 6.5% | -8 min | 24,550 |
| 19 | HOU | Houston | 70 | 78.8% | 1.05% | 6.0% | -5 min | 172,224 |
| 20 | OMA | Omaha | 69 | 81.7% | 1.21% | 6.6% | -7 min | 75,007 |
| 21 | CMH | Columbus | 69 | 82.1% | 1.58% | 6.4% | -8 min | 134,005 |
| 22 | MCI | Kansas City | 69 | 81.0% | 1.39% | 6.2% | -6 min | 152,682 |
| 23 | IND | Indianapolis | 69 | 81.9% | 1.60% | 6.4% | -8 min | 147,128 |
| 24 | LAS | Las Vegas | 68 | 78.0% | 0.87% | 6.6% | -5 min | 569,617 |
| 25 | PIT | Pittsburgh | 68 | 82.1% | 1.63% | 6.5% | -8 min | 132,911 |
| 26 | IAD | Washington | 68 | 81.0% | 1.31% | 7.0% | -8 min | 170,208 |
| 27 | SFO | San Francisco | 67 | 78.7% | 0.99% | 7.1% | -6 min | 435,779 |
| 28 | STL | St. Louis | 67 | 79.1% | 1.22% | 6.7% | -5 min | 198,650 |
| 29 | SAN | San Diego | 67 | 77.9% | 1.14% | 6.6% | -5 min | 297,668 |
| 30 | ABE | Allentown | 66 | 82.8% | 1.53% | 7.9% | -12 min | 11,763 |
| 31 | ATL | Atlanta | 66 | 78.7% | 1.31% | 7.1% | -5 min | 1,012,247 |
| 32 | DTW | Detroit | 65 | 79.6% | 1.27% | 7.7% | -7 min | 388,632 |
| 33 | BNA | Nashville | 65 | 78.3% | 1.36% | 7.0% | -5 min | 319,645 |
| 34 | MDW | Chicago | 65 | 76.4% | 1.24% | 6.8% | -3 min | 240,485 |
| 35 | MEM | Memphis | 65 | 81.2% | 1.73% | 7.1% | -8 min | 72,794 |
| 36 | AUS | Austin | 65 | 78.0% | 1.03% | 7.5% | -5 min | 272,521 |
| 37 | MKE | Milwaukee | 65 | 80.7% | 1.68% | 7.3% | -8 min | 87,869 |
| 38 | DAL | Dallas | 64 | 76.0% | 1.22% | 7.0% | -3 min | 224,047 |
| 39 | CLE | Cleveland | 64 | 80.9% | 1.94% | 7.3% | -9 min | 126,883 |
| 40 | DEN | Denver | 63 | 76.0% | 0.91% | 8.0% | -4 min | 963,099 |
| 41 | MSY | New Orleans | 63 | 78.7% | 1.53% | 7.4% | -6 min | 154,321 |
| 42 | BWI | Baltimore | 62 | 76.0% | 1.42% | 7.3% | -4 min | 299,178 |
| 43 | JAX | Jacksonville | 62 | 80.0% | 1.74% | 7.8% | -7 min | 90,308 |
| 44 | RDU | Raleigh–Durham | 61 | 79.4% | 1.84% | 7.8% | -7 min | 179,935 |
| 45 | CHS | Charleston | 61 | 80.6% | 2.10% | 7.6% | -8 min | 77,398 |
| 46 | TPA | Tampa | 60 | 78.2% | 1.85% | 8.2% | -6 min | 242,628 |
| 47 | MYR | Myrtle Beach | 60 | 80.6% | 2.26% | 8.1% | -9 min | 45,481 |
| 48 | IAH | Houston | 60 | 77.4% | 1.46% | 8.8% | -6 min | 359,450 |
| 49 | RSW | Fort Myers | 59 | 78.8% | 1.83% | 8.4% | -7 min | 107,483 |
| 50 | ILM | Wilmington | 59 | 81.7% | 2.74% | 7.6% | -9 min | 23,754 |
| 51 | BUF | Buffalo | 59 | 79.4% | 2.34% | 7.8% | -7 min | 65,592 |
| 52 | BOS | Boston | 58 | 77.2% | 2.01% | 8.9% | -8 min | 440,893 |
| 53 | SJU | San Juan | 58 | 76.2% | 1.39% | 8.8% | -5 min | 109,598 |
| 54 | CLT | Charlotte | 55 | 74.8% | 1.67% | 9.3% | -4 min | 618,243 |
| 55 | MCO | Orlando | 55 | 74.8% | 1.53% | 9.7% | -4 min | 498,221 |
| 56 | JFK | New York | 55 | 77.0% | 2.51% | 9.2% | -9 min | 351,635 |
| 57 | PHL | Philadelphia | 53 | 76.2% | 2.16% | 9.7% | -7 min | 305,181 |
| 58 | EWR | Newark | 53 | 77.7% | 2.85% | 9.2% | -9 min | 387,621 |
| 59 | MIA | Miami | 53 | 73.2% | 1.49% | 10.1% | -4 min | 340,469 |
| 60 | ORD | Chicago | 53 | 74.5% | 1.85% | 9.8% | -4 min | 952,802 |
| 61 | LGA | New York | 52 | 78.3% | 3.30% | 9.0% | -10 min | 456,467 |
| 62 | FLL | Fort Lauderdale | 51 | 72.6% | 1.70% | 10.6% | -4 min | 278,691 |
| 63 | DCA | Washington | 50 | 76.5% | 2.95% | 9.5% | -7 min | 435,076 |
| 64 | DFW | Dallas–Fort Worth | 49 | 73.1% | 2.27% | 10.3% | -4 min | 961,718 |
Score is the FlyerIntel Airport Reliability Score for departing flights.
On-time arrival rate
What separates the top from the bottom
The airports at the top of this table share a structural advantage: schedules that leave room in them. Where an airport is scheduled close to its practical capacity, any single disruption (a weather cell, a runway closure, a late inbound aircraft) has nowhere to be absorbed and propagates through the rest of the day. The airports at the bottom are running with less slack, often in more congested airspace. The data reflects that, not any failure of operation.
Pages for what this report covers
Methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 21,708,321 individual flight records in the US Department of Transportation Bureau of Transportation Statistics Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance dataset, covering July 2023 through July 2026. Following BTS methodology, a flight counts as delayed when it arrives 15 or more minutes after its scheduled arrival time. Cancelled and diverted flights have no arrival time and are excluded from on-time rates rather than counted as late; cancellation rates are reported separately. Full definitions are published at /methodology/. The Airport Reliability Score combines on-time rate, cancellation rate, severe delay rate, median arrival delay, average delay when late and 90th-percentile delay, each normalized against fixed reference points and weighted as published at /methodology/#reliability. Only airports with at least 5,000 departures are scored.
Limitations
The source dataset covers scheduled domestic flights operated by carriers above the DOT reporting threshold; smaller carriers and international flights are not included. Flights sold under a mainline brand but flown by a regional carrier are attributed to the operating carrier, which is how the DOT records them. Past performance describes what has happened and is not a prediction about any individual flight. Rankings compare the airports FlyerIntel covers, not every US airport.
Sources
- FlyerIntel analysis — FlyerIntel · source
- Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance — US Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics · source
Full FlyerIntel methodology · Report a problem with this analysis