Originally Posted by
txflyer77
Surely the FAA or DOT publish statistics on this? Maybe one of the FlightAware employees who post here can look it up, they must have the information.
Anecdotally, I spent six months flying out of BOS and never had any major delays, save for one MX.
I had a hard time finding any concrete data on this specific topic.
There are many articles on the topic (it's one that newspaper travel section editors probably like, because it probably generates a lot of eyeballs and clicks), but something specifically addressing the topic of hub reliability is really what I'm looking for. I don't care that TPA and PDX are rated highly; when I'm traveling from PIT to LAS, I'm not going to fly through TPA or PDX*. It's good to know that TPA and PDX rate highly, but that is only of consequence if you are flying to/from TPA and PDX, and so what if your flight is delayed 45 minutes? You're still getting to TPA or PDX--you're not going to jeopardize your 50-minute connection and possibly ruin your day and not get to your destination.
As well, DOT and FAA data seems to show total delays. I don't care about crew timeouts and MX delays and things, because those can happen anywhere (and can change quickly based on airline and local management practices). WX and ATC flow delays are the metrics of interest here, because they are long-term and reliable indicators of the airport's ability to handle things when things hit the fan.
That said, yes, total delays, including airline-caused delays, do play a part--if tons of flights at ORD are delayed not by weather but because United simply can't run a reliable and on-time operation, then it kind of doesn't matter whether the delays are because of issues at ORD or because of issues at UA WHQ--you should probably avoid ORD. But that can change tomorrow if Smisek and the shareholders want it to (it might cost them a little bit of money, though--more schedule padding, more on-hand replacement parts and mechanics, better IT infrastructure to improve logistics, etc.). It's much harder to build new runways and terminals at ORD to accommodate the extra traffic and to supplicate the deity of your choice to fix the Windy City's weather issues.
I realize the plural of anecdote is not data, but perhaps developing some advice by consensus based on our shared experiences as frequent travelers can be useful to others reading.
*Yes, I realize that PDX is sort of a second hub for AS, but the number of routes out of PDX is much smaller, so the number of people using PDX as a connecting hub is relatively small.
Originally Posted by
ANC RED-EYE
I'm not sure I'd include MIA on the reliable list. It suffers from overcrowding, poor layout, storms.
I've had more irrops, delays, and missed connections there than most places. Granted, the airline I fly through there (AA) may have something to do with that.
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