There are new travel rules for friendly flyers this holiday season.
As U.S. travelers prepare for the holiday season, a new study reveals which airports and airlines experience the most delays during inclement weather.
San Francisco, New Jersey and New York airports all had the highest percentage of flights delayed due to weather during the holiday season, according to Texas-based travel company Upgrade Points.
Weather delays in San Francisco are reported to be 42.3%, primarily due to fog that limits visibility in Northern California.
Other airports in the top five include Newark Liberty International Airport, LaGuardia Airport, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, and Boston’s Logan International Airport.
Upgrade Point analysts say most of the delays along the East Coast are caused by severe winter storms that can bring strong winds, dump heavy snow and reduce visibility.
The company said it was able to estimate where weather-related flight delays occur most often by examining Bureau of Transportation Statistics data for the 60 busiest airports in the United States.
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All of the airports that took the title for worst weather delays were in the northern part of the country, with the exception of Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport.
According to Upgrade Points, 29.6% of IAH’s flights suffered some kind of delay during the winter holiday season, but it’s a different story at the much smaller William P. Hobby Airport, just 40 miles away.
Although HOU faces the same weather conditions as IAH, it ranks as one of the best airports with a delay rate of just 12.3%.
It all comes down to passenger handling capacity, with George Bush serving about 40 million passengers a year, while Hobby only reports a little more than 10 million.
Meanwhile, Honolulu’s Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL), Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), and Dallas Love Field (DAL) all rank among the airports with the least weather delays.
Among airlines, those whose major hubs are located in airports prone to bad weather were the most affected.
Based on federal traffic data, Alaska Airlines, United Airlines and Allegiant Air took honors for having the highest percentage of weather-related delays.
The study did not take into account delays caused by mechanical issues or a lack of air traffic controllers, which could cause wait times to be even longer.
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TSA recommends that passengers arrive at the airport at least two hours in advance for domestic flights and three hours in advance for international flights.
In March, the agency announced an expansion of its PreCheck program, which allows some airlines to take advantage of the expedited testing process at more than 200 airports.
Security officials estimate that 99% of passengers enrolled in the PreCheck program wait less than 10 minutes at airport checkpoints.
Current flight delays and cancellations
(FOX Weather)
