According to multiple data reports analyzing summer travel across the U.S. and even the world, airports like LaGuardia and Newark continually ranked in the worst 10!
Using digital aviation company FlightAware, which operates the world’s largest flight tracking and data platform, Conde Nast Traveller analyzed data from May 27 through July 31, 2022 to come up with the top ten worst airports for summer travel. LaGuardia came in at #7 for worst airports in the world for cancellations, and the #1 international airport for cancellations (excluding China). This was due to 7.4% of its overall flights canceled and 27% delayed.
Newark Liberty (technically in NJ but categorized as a NYC airport for its close proximity to the city) was deemed #9 for worst airports in the world with 7.2% of summer flights being canceled and 32% of flights delayed. Though in this ranking, JFK was quite a bit lower with 3.3% cancellations (so ranking at #30), but it is worth noting 32.5% of its flights were delayed.
FlightAware also has an interactive, aptly titled “Misery Map,” which shows you in real-time which airports are showing the most delays and cancellations.
Another recent report that came out was from AirHelp, which aids passengers with knowing their rights when claiming compensation from airlines. AirHelp determined the worst airports in the U.S. for summer travel based on similar cancellation percentages — analyzing 37,000 cancellations across 400 US airports from May 27 to July 1– and put LGA in the #1 spot (with 7.7% canceled flights in their calculations), Newark as #2 (with 7.6%) and JFK at #10 (with 3.6%). These numbers were first reported by Bloomberg. ANd an AirHelp also said that a higher number of cancellations of course also correlates to airports with higher air traffic, which makes sense for the NYC hubs.
Other U.S. airports like weren’t too far behind, like Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport with 5.9% flights canceled and Pittsburgh International Airport with 4.1%, but none ranked quite as bad as NY!