This Central Florida airport is 2nd-worst in the U.S. for flight delays, study says

SANFORD, Fla. — Have you found yourself stuck on the tarmac recently in the Sunshine State?

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A new study shows three of the top 10 airports for delays are in Florida, including one in Central Florida.

The website placestotravel.com compiled data from the U.S. Department of Transportation from January 2023 to February 2024, finding Orlando-Sanford International had the second longest delay times, coming in at an average delay of 1:34:53 across 2,766 flights.

Also on the list were St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport at No. 7 and Punta Gorda Airport at No. 9.

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The delays were spread across airports of all sizes with DFW and JFK making the list as well.

“Interestingly, the data doesn’t show a clear trend with regard to the size of airports,” said Jason Wilson, the CEO of Places to Travel. “People may be perhaps forgiven for thinking that due to the sheer number of flights arriving at some of the larger airports such as San Diego International or Nashville International, these larger airports would regularly be seeing far bigger delays.”

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A report on airline delays for the Government Accountability Office in 2023 found, “operational challenges, including a need for additional pilots and crew, have made it harder for airlines to manage flight disruptions.”

These disruptions cost both passengers and airlines in lost productivity and money.

The US DOT found delays nationwide were at 23.1% in 2024, compared to 15.9% in 2016.

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“However, the findings do still show that a massive number of flights are delayed, resulting in traveler stress and potential missed connections, among other consequences, and the air travel infrastructure needs to urgently adapt to handle the massive volumes of passengers to rectify this,” Wilson said.

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Federal lawmakers call on aviation officials to make air travel more sustainable There’s a push on Capitol Hill right now to develop more eco-friendly airplanes. (Kirstin Garriss, CMG Washington News Bureau/WFTV)

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