O'Hare Worst In U.S. For Departure Delays In 2008

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Jul 7, 2008 8:20PM

It seems like a Blue Line detour is the least of the worries for travelers out of O'Hare. From January to May of this year, O'Hare reported the worst on-time record of major U.S. airports, falling from 64.4 percent last year to 63.2 percent this year. This in spite of the fact that the total number of flights was reduced by 4.6 percent, thanks in large part to major flight cutbacks from American and United. It could be worse, however. A similar report in Europe has London's Heathrow Airport as the worst airport on that continent with a staggering 56 percent on-time departure rate.

Arrival times were slightly better, as carriers arrived at their destination on-time 79 percent of the time. Of the major carriers, American had the worst performance, followed by United and then Continental. Also of note: the worst specific flight during the January-to-May period was Southwest Flight 2709 from Houston to San Diego, which was late a whopping 100% of the time.

Photo by Jessica DeWinter