A new report has uncovered the airports with the shortest average delays.
The study, conducted by the Sudoku.com.au assessed data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) regarding delays between January and December 2023. This data was then compiled to rank each airport based on how long the average delay was.
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The research revealed Hawaii’s Ellison Onizuka Kona International at Keahole airport to have the shortest delay at just 5 minutes and 36 seconds. Last year, the airport served over 2.4 million passengers, with 2.04 million passengers traveling domestically and 41,000 internationally. In total, there were over 18,900 flights in 2023. Tucson International Airport ranked among the 10 best for airports with the shortest delays.
Top 20 Airports, Ranked
| Rank | Airport code | Airport | Average departure delay |
| 1 | KOA | Kona, HI: Ellison Onizuka Kona International at Keahole | 5 minutes, 36 seconds |
| 2 | GSO | Greensboro/High Point, NC: Piedmont Triad International | 5 minutes, 47 seconds |
| 3 | ANC | Anchorage, AK: Ted Stevens Anchorage International | 6 minutes, 11 seconds |
| 4 (tie) | PDX | Portland, OR: Portland International | 6 minutes, 16 seconds |
| 4 (tie) | LIH | Lihue, HI: Lihue Airport | 6 minutes, 16 seconds |
| 5 | BOI | Boise, ID: Boise Air Terminal | 6 minutes, 24 seconds |
| 6 | GEG | Spokane, WA: Spokane International | 6 minutes, 42 seconds |
| 7 | GSP | Greer, SC: Greenville-Spartanburg International | 6 minutes, 50 seconds |
| 8 | SJC | San Jose, CA: Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport | 6 minutes, 55 seconds |
| 9 | PIT | Pittsburgh, PA: Pittsburgh International | 7 minutes, 36 seconds |
| 10 | TUS | Tucson, AZ: Tucson International | 7 minutes, 43 seconds |
| 11 | TUL | Tulsa, OK: Tulsa International | 7 minutes, 44 seconds |
| 12 | SEA | Seattle, WA: Seattle/Tacoma International | 7 minutes, 49 seconds |
| 13 | TYS | Knoxville, TN: McGhee Tyson | 7 minutes, 51 seconds |
| 14 | SMF | Sacramento, CA: Sacramento International | 8 minutes, 3 seconds |
| 15 | PSP | Palm Springs, CA: Palm Springs International | 8 minutes, 5 seconds |
| 16 | CMH | Columbus, OH: John Glenn Columbus International | 8 minutes, 7 seconds |
| 17 | MYR | Myrtle Beach, SC: Myrtle Beach International | 8 minutes, 9 seconds |
| 18 | BUR | Burbank, CA: Bob Hope | 8 minutes, 10 seconds |
| 19 | MSP | Minneapolis, MN: Minneapolis-St Paul International | 8 minutes, 19 seconds |
| 20 | OGG | Kahului, HI: Kahului Airport | 8 minutes, 44 seconds |
Bottom 20 Airports
| Rank | Airport code | Airport | Average departure delay |
| 1 | FLL | Fort Lauderdale, FL: Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International | 22 minutes, 54 seconds |
| 2 | SJU | San Juan, PR: Luis Munoz Marin International | 21 minutes, 1 second |
| 3 | MCO | Orlando, FL: Orlando International | 19 minutes, 41 seconds |
| 4 | MIA | Miami, FL: Miami International | 18 minutes, 55 seconds |
| 5 | PBI | West Palm Beach/Palm Beach, FL: Palm Beach International | 17 minutes, 35 seconds |
| 6 | DEN | Denver, CO: Denver International | 16 minutes, 13 seconds |
| 7 | IAH | Houston, TX: George Bush Intercontinental/Houston | 16 minutes, 6 seconds |
| 8 | HPN | White Plains, NY: Westchester County | 15 minutes, 56 seconds |
| 9 | JFK | New York, NY: John F. Kennedy International | 15 minutes, 54 seconds |
| 10 | DFW | Dallas/Fort Worth, TX: Dallas/Fort Worth International | 15 minutes, 46 seconds |
| 11 | BWI | Baltimore, MD: Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall | 15 minutes, 42 seconds |
| 12 | LAS | Las Vegas, NV: Harry Reid International | 15 minutes, 14 seconds |
| 13 | EWR | Newark, NJ: Newark Liberty International | 15 minutes, 9 seconds |
| 14 | BOS | Boston, MA: Logan International | 14 minutes, 41 seconds |
| 15 | JAX | Jacksonville, FL: Jacksonville International | 14 minutes, 29 seconds |
| 16 | MDW | Chicago, IL: Chicago Midway International | 13 minutes, 52 seconds |
| 17 | AVL | Asheville, NC: Asheville Regional | 13 minutes, 28 seconds |
| 18 | TPA | Tampa, FL: Tampa International | 13 minutes, 7 seconds |
| 19 | PNS | Pensacola, FL: Pensacola International | 13 minutes, 4 seconds |
| 20 | AUS | Austin, TX: Austin – Bergstrom International | 12 minutes, 54 seconds |
Placing second is North Carolina’s Piedmont Triad International with an average delay time of 5 minutes and 47 seconds. In 2023, there were over 12,500 flights carrying nearly 900,000 passengers, all of which were domestic flights.
Ranking third is Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport in Alaska. Here, the average departure delay totaled 6 minutes and 11 seconds. According to the BTS, last year over 2.5 million passengers were served across 34,000 flights.
In joint fourth place are Oregon’s Portland International Airport and Hawaii’s Lihue Airport with an average delay of 6 minutes and 16 seconds each. Portland International handled over 71,000 flights last year, while Lihue Airport totaled just over 16,000 flights.
Idaho’s Boise Air Terminal comes in fifth place among airports with the shortest delays with an average delay of 6 minutes and 24 seconds. Last year, all 25,000 flights from the airport were domestic and the terminal served over 2.3 million passengers.
Next in line are Washington’s Spokane International with average delays of 6 minutes and 42 seconds in sixth place, and South Carolina’s Greenville-Spartanburg International in seventh place with an average of 6 minutes and 50 seconds.
Ranking in eighth place is Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport in California. The average departure delay totals 6 minutes and 55 seconds here.
Pittsburgh International in Pennsylvania places ninth among airports with the shortest delays with an average delay of 7 minutes and 36 seconds, followed in tenth place by Arizona’s Tucson International with the average delay sitting at 7 minutes and 43 seconds.
On the other end of the spectrum, Florida’s Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport has the longest average delay time nationwide, at 22 minutes and 54 seconds. In 2023, there were over 120,000 departures from the airport according to BTS data, carrying over 17.03 million passengers.
