Worst Airports for Weather-Related Flight Delays and Cancellations

'Tis the season for holiday travel and weather headaches. The airport that you use for your travels can greatly impact your success for a smooth experience. The Weather Channel recently released a report that details what major airports are most likely to see delays at the hands of the weather.

The company used data from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics to examine the raw number of weather delays in addition to the measurement of total delay minutes at 30 of the biggest airports in the U.S. The report used stats from 2012 through 2019 and again from September 2022 through August 2024. The dates between 2020 and August 2022 were not taken into consideration as this overlapped the COVID-19 pandemic and skewed the data.

Here are the top 10 worst airports when it comes to the volume of delays blamed on Mother Nature.

Newark Liberty International Airport

Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) is distinguished as having 62.85% of its flights delayed due to weather during the examined time period. This means that there is a two in three chance that your flight will be delayed at Newark simply due to the weather, putting it well ahead of other airports in the country.

The biggest weather issues facing this airport were snow, wind, thunderstorms, and low clouds. High winds are the biggest culprit for delays at EWR. This is because two of the three runways at this facility are oriented southwest to northeast, creating issues for pilots trying to land the large aircraft.