Nothing can ruin a spring break trip like encountering travel chaos at the airport.
Half of travelers making spring break plans are “concerned” about disruptions that will affect their travel plans, according to travel platform Hopper's 2024 Spring Break Travel Outlook.
The report said there were above-average disruptions last year. His flight delays during spring break were 20.1%, but for all of 2023 he was 18.4%.
For smooth travel, aGamble analyzed U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics departure flight data to see which airports had the most disruptions during March and April 2023, the typical spring break period. Disruptions include delays, cancellations, and diversions.
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“With spring break officially starting, airports are expected to be busy in the coming weeks, and travelers could face flight disruptions depending on their departure location,” aGamble researcher Colin Czarnecki said in an email. told USA TODAY.
“It may not be surprising that most of the airports with the most groundings are in spring break hotspots like Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Las Vegas and Miami,” Czarnecki said. Meanwhile, the airports with the most on-time departures during spring break last year were Pittsburgh International Airport in Pittsburgh and Portland International Airport in Oregon.
Czarnecki added that security checkpoints are the busiest during the second and third weeks of March, so make sure to arrive at the airport in plenty of time.
Worst airport for spring break travel
- Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, Florida – 34.87% of flights delayed, 4.63% canceled
- Las Vegas Harry Reid International Airport – 31.44% of flights delayed, 1.47% canceled
- Orlando International in Orlando, Florida – 31.06% of flights delayed, 1.52% canceled
- Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall (Baltimore) – 31.26% of flights delayed, 1.22% canceled
- Chicago Midway International Airport – 29.04% of flights delayed, 1.32% canceled
- Miami International Airport – 29.22% of flights delayed, 0.88% canceled
- Newark Liberty International in Newark, New Jersey – 25.81% of flights delayed, 2.53% canceled
- Dallas-Forth Worth International Airport – 25.11% of flights delayed, 2.49% canceled
- Denver International Airport – 26.51% of flights delayed, 1.04% canceled
- New York John F. Kennedy International Airport – 25.06% of flights delayed, 2.23% canceled
Best airports for spring break travel
- Pittsburgh International Airport – On-time flight departure rate 83.8%
- Portland International Airport – On-time flight departure rate is 83.2%
- Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport – On-time flight departure rate 82.2%
- Washington Dulles International Airport, Virginia – On-time flight departure rate 82%
- Ronald Reagan Washington National in Arlington, Virginia – On-time flight departure rate 81.9%
- Minneapolis-St. Paul International – On-time flight departure rate 81.8%
- Indianapolis International Airport – On-time flight departure rate 81.7%
- Seattle/Tacoma International Airport – 81.6% on-time departures
- Cleveland Hopkins International Airport in Ohio – On-time flight departure rate 81.3%
- Philadelphia International Airport – On-time flight departure rate is 80.9%
Kathleen Wong is a travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Hawaii. Please contact kwong@usatoday.com..
