Holiday Travel: US Airports with Longest and Shortest Delays
Sometimes you can’t help which airport you must fly into, especially if you are going home for the holidays. But you can plan ahead in the event of delays. Here are some handy and timely tips.
New research has identified the US airports with the shortest and longest delays, and the findings are surprising. The study by student travel company Rustic Pathways analyzed data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics on arriving flight punctuality between May 2024 and May 2025, the latest data available, to reveal which airports had the longest delays per arriving flight on average. (In this case, the delay in minutes is the difference between the scheduled arrival time and the actual arrival time.) The findings suggest that those going home to smaller cities and towns might want to plan accordingly!
US Airports with the Longest Delays
Lea County Regional Airport (HOB) in New Mexico ranks as America’s most delayed airport, with arriving flights delayed an average of 37 minutes and 14 seconds (37.24 minutes), despite handling only 793 arrival flights during the study period.
Victoria Regional Airport (VCT) in Texas ranked second, with average delays of 33 minutes and 45 seconds (33.75 minutes) per flight across 693 arrivals.
In third place is Prescott Regional Airport (PRC) in Arizona, where passengers waited an average of 32 minutes and 30 seconds (32.51 minutes) for their flights to arrive.
Houghton County Memorial Airport (CMX) in Michigan and Morgantown Municipal Airport (MGW) in West Virginia rounded out the top five, with average delays of 31 minutes and 59 seconds (31.99 minutes) and 31 minutes and 48 seconds (31.80 minutes), respectively.
Chippewa Valley Regional Airport (EAU) in Wisconsin ranked sixth with average delays of 29 minutes and 41 seconds (29.68 minutes), while John Murtha Johnstown–Cambria County Airport (JST) in Pennsylvania placed seventh at 29 minutes and 31 seconds (29.52 minutes).
Cheyenne Regional Airport (CYS) in Wyoming and Provo Municipal Airport (PVU) in Utah experienced similar delay times of 29 minutes and 31 seconds (29.27 minutes) and 29 minutes and 6 seconds (29.10 minutes), taking eighth and ninth, respectively.
Key Field (MEI) in Mississippi ranked tenth with an average delay of 27 minutes and 55 seconds (27.92 minutes).
US Airports with the Shortest Delays
St. Cloud Regional Airport (STC) in Minnesota sees the shortest flight delays by a fair margin, with arriving flights delayed by 1 minute and 46 seconds (1.77 minutes) on average.
Hawaii’s Hilo International Airport (ITO) ranks as the second most punctual, with average delays of just 4 minutes and 14 seconds (4.23 minutes) per flight.
California’s McClellan–Palomar Airport (CLD) tied with Saipan International Airport (SPN) for third place, both averaging delays of 4 minutes and 39 seconds (4.65 minutes).
Dillingham Airport (DLG) in Alaska ranked fifth with 5 minutes and 5 seconds (5.08 minutes) delays.
Lihue Airport (LIH) and Kahului Airport (OGG), both in Hawaii, ranked sixth and seventh with minimal delays of 5 minutes and 10 seconds (5.16 minutes) and 5 minutes and 24 seconds (5.40 minutes), respectively.
Alaska’s strong showing continued with Adak Airport (ADK) ranking eighth with 5 minutes and 28 seconds (5.46 minutes) delays.
Pennsylvania’s Arnold Palmer Regional Airport (LBE) was ninth with 5 minutes and 48 seconds (5.80 minutes) delays.
Another Alaskan entry in Nome Airport (OME) took the tenth spot with 5 minutes and 50 seconds (5.83 minutes) delays over 785 flights.
Shayne Fitz-Coy, CEO of Rustic Pathways, commented on the findings: “The data shows many smaller regional airports face issues with flight punctuality. This could be due to these airports having fewer resources to handle delays and less flexibility in their flight schedules.
“This can be seen in that seven of the 10 airports experiencing the most delays handled fewer than 1,000 flights in the study period. Looking at the data overall also shows us that carrier delays account for 37% of delay minutes at each US airport, with 6.91% delays coming from weather, highlighting the fact that many flights are delayed at the fault of a flight operator, and not just natural occurrences.”
