In the year 2000 alone, delays on flights within Europe rose a whopping 30 percent. If you think that s a lot of time, then fasten your seat belts. The DOT report said that 130 million minutes of extra travel time was added on to airline schedules between 1988 and 1999. And that s before anyone was counting time lost to delays. The U.S. Department of Transportation provides information on which times are the worst to fly out of each airport.
Some examples are obvious.
Don t count on an ontime departure or arrival from O Hare International Airport between 5 and 6 p.m. on weekdays. But it s actually worse at Washington Dulles International Airport, where 25 percent of all flights leave late. At other airports, the worst times to leave might surprise you. At Denver International Airport and also at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, the worst time to leave is between 8 and 9 at night. John F. Kennedy International Airport, which has the fewest flights of the three New York airports, also has the highest concentration of specific time block flights.