As Memorial Day Draws Near, Here Are the Airports Experiencing the Most Disruptions

by Mia Taylor
Last updated: 5:15 PM ET, Thu May 16, 2024

Memorial Day weekend 2024 is shaping up to be the busiest in nearly two decades.

It’s the type of holiday travel forecast that, if we’re being honest, can make the experience of getting to your intended destination a bit more stressful — especially if you’re flying.

And as the experts at claims management company AirHelp point out, it's probably a good idea to do everything possible in order to avoid the madness, in order give your trip the best chance of going smoothly.

With that bit of advice in mind, AirHelp has just released a look at the airports that experienced the most flight delays and disruptions last month (April 2024) and the airports that experienced the least disruptions over the same 30 day period.

The worst airport in the country as of April (at least when considering flight disruptions)? Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

The best? Spokane International Airport.

Read on for the full guide to the best and worst airports as of last month.

Worst Airports 

(Based on “flight disruptions” from airports with 1,000-plus flights in April 2024)

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport: 29.13% of flights disrupted
San Francisco International Airport: 28.2% of flights disrupted
Baltimore/Wash International Thurgood Marshall Airport: 26.25% of flights disrupted
Dallas Love Field: 25.61% of flights disrupted
Charlotte Douglas International Airport: 24.65% of flights disrupted
Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport: 24.54% of flights disrupted
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport: 24.13% of flights disrupted
Denver International Airport: 23.37% of flights disrupted
Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport: 22.84% of flights disrupted
Austin-Bergstrom International Airport: 22.66% of flights disrupted

Best Airports  

Spokane International Airport: 88.07% of flights on time
Kahului Airport: 87.85% of flights on time
Keahole Airport: 87.83% of flights on time
Honolulu International Airport: 86.84% of flights on time
Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport: 86.49% of flights on time
Hancock International Airport: 86.13% of flights on time
Gerald R. Ford International Airport: 86.07% of flights on time
Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport: 85.81% of flights on time
Des Moines International Airport: 85.74% of flights on time
Piedmont Triad International Airport: 85.08% of flights on time

Major Cities, Major Struggles

AirHelp also revealed that some of America’s biggest cities have the biggest challenges when it comes to smooth flight operations.

“Dallas, SF, Denver, Houston, and Austin - all popular travel destinations - struggled with departing flights as over 1-in-5 departing from its major airports experienced flight disruptions,” says the AirHelp data release.

Other major airports serving large cities failed to handle 20 percent of their flights without disruption, including Newark (22.21 percent flights disrupted), Miami (21.92 percent flights disrupted), and Los Angeles (21.35 percent flights disrupted) >

If you’re traveling to or from Hawaii on the other hand, you’re in luck. For the second straight month, Hawaiian airports rule the top of the charts. This month, the state’s three major airports were 3 of the 5 most reliable in April, processing flights with over 87 percent accuracy. This makes it by far the most reliable state for flight departures.