Ranking of Biggest & Busiest US Airports – Top 10 Worst

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The Weather Channel has just published an 11-page article where on Weather.com its editorial meteorologist Jonathan Erdman ranks and describes the top 10 worst airports in the United States by the negative weather impact(s)/conditions they have to face every year. The list was compiled based on the “data from the National Climatic Data Center on thunderstorms, rain, snow, cloud cover and winds” as well as the “overall delay statistics over the past few years” in the biggest and busiest U.S. airports.

They started with some staggering statistics on 2007 domestic airline travel:

~ $33 billion: Total economic cost of flight delays on U.S. economy in 2007
~ $16.7 billion: Total economic cost of flight delays on U.S. passengers in 2007
~ 1.3 million: Total domestic flights delayed in 2007
~ 119,000: Flights canceled in 2007

Apparently, per the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, 40-50% of all “delayed minutes” are weather-related. Hence, the below list:

Top 10 Worst Weather US Airports

1. O’Hare International Airport (Chicago, IL) – Rain, snow, t-storms, wind, low clouds
2. Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (Detroit, MI) – Rain, snow
3. Newark Liberty | JFK | LaGuardia (New York City/Newark) – Rain, low clouds, winds, snow
4. Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN) – Mainly snow
5. Logan International Airport (Boston, MA) – Low clouds, fog, wind, snow
6. Philadelphia International Airport (Philadelphia, PA) – Low clouds, a little of everything
7. San Francisco International Airport (San Francisco, CA) – Fog
8. Lambert-St. Louis International Airport (St. Louis, MO) – T-storms, some snow
9. Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (Atlanta, GA) – Rain, t-storms, some fog
10. Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (Anchorage, AK) – Snow, volcanic ash

Our comment: over the past 12 years, we personally have been to 7 of the 12 above-quoted airports (12 because they list all three of the New York City ones), and have not experienced any serious trouble or major delays. So, when (prior to your flight) you review the above Weather Channel’s list, make sure to also review airline-specific data, and make a fully educated decision. Sometimes, leaving plenty of time for your transfers is enough of a measure to deal with unexpected delays.

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