Airport delays can feel unpredictable, but FAA data shows where air traffic control problems piled up most heavily among the agency’s major benchmark airports. San Francisco and Las Vegas lead the latest annual ranking, while several familiar hubs also make the list. Here’s where the delays were highest and how each airport compared with the year before.
San Francisco International Airport
San Francisco ranked first with 28,781 reported delays in FY2024. That was more than double its 12,303 delays in FY2023. SFO alone accounted for about one-sixth of the 173,207 delays reported across the Core 30 airports, making it the clear leader in the FAA table.
Harry Reid International Airport
Las Vegas came second with 23,176 delays. That was down from 29,763 a year earlier, but still enough to leave LAS far ahead of the airport in third place. FAA says San Francisco and Las Vegas together accounted for about 30% of all Core 30 airport delays in FY2024.
Dallas Fort Worth International Airport
DFW moved into third with 12,900 delays, up sharply from 5,204 in FY2023. The airport’s FY2024 count was more than twice its previous-year total. It also stood well above its pre-pandemic FY2017-FY2019 average of 10,245 delays.
Chicago O’Hare International Airport
O’Hare ranked fourth with 11,959 delays. That was up from 7,350 in FY2023, although still far below its pre-pandemic average of 24,115. The comparison shows why one year’s ranking should not be treated as a permanent label for an airport.
LaGuardia Airport
LaGuardia took fifth place with 9,576 delays. That sounds high, but the direction was favorable: its count fell from 20,019 in FY2023. It was also less than one-quarter of LaGuardia’s FY2017-FY2019 average of 40,819, the highest pre-pandemic average shown for any Core 30 airport in the FAA table.
Boston Logan International Airport
Boston ranked sixth with 8,837 delays, a modest increase from 8,290 in FY2023. Its FY2024 figure was still well below its pre-pandemic average of 13,473. Boston is a good reminder that a high ranking can come from staying relatively steady while delay totals at another airport rise or fall much more dramatically.
Newark Liberty International Airport
Newark rounded out the top seven with 8,784 delays. Its count dropped substantially from 13,729 in FY2023 and sat far below its pre-pandemic average of 44,129. Even with that improvement, EWR still placed seventh among the FAA’s Core 30 airports for FY2024.
What These Rankings Mean for Travelers
FAA’s year-to-year figures can move sharply, and several airports on this list improved even while staying near the top. That makes the ranking more useful as a snapshot of where ATC-related delays piled up during one fiscal year than as a prediction of what will happen on your next trip.