SkyRefund, a company that helps air passengers receive compensation for flight delays, cancellations and denied boarding, confirmed what seasoned travelers are already well aware of: Flight delays are out of control.
According to an analysis conducted by the Bulgaria-based company, in 2025 delayed flights resulted in American travelers waiting a combined 1.5 million hours, or put another way, 171 years.
The most prevalent reason for the delays was late-arriving aircraft (39.7%, 600,000 hours), followed by carrier delays including technical failures, staff delay, slow baggage loading (31.83%, 497,000 hours).
Coming in at number three were disruptions caused by the National Aviation System, including airports, air traffic control and weather-related issues (21.4%, 334,000 hours); with security delays (0.13, 1,958 hours) taking fourth place.
“While most delays were caused by either the airlines or the National Aviation System, both areas are always improving, for example, with the significant investment into improving air traffic control that we have recently seen,” SkyRefund CEO Ivaylo Danailov said.
“This means that with enough effort, thought and investment, a vast amount of this time loss could be eliminated,” he added. “We have already started seeing improvements year over year, and I would encourage American air passengers to be optimistic about their future flying experiences.”
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