The airlines have finally become profitable, but air travel keeps getting more stressful. In 2007, airlines turned in their second-worst on-time performance ever, with just 73.4 percent of flights arriving on time. And planes have never been more crowded, with an average "load factor" of 80.5 percent. In terms of cramped planes and late flights, these are dark days for air travelers.
To gauge where the pain is deepest, U.S. News has crunched government figures to develop an Airport Misery Index: a ranking that shows which airports have the best and worst combination of delayed flights and crowded planes. (View the methodology.) Here's how the nation's 47 largest airports fared:
| Airport | City/Name of airport | Percentage of flights delayed | Average load factor | Misery index ranking (lower is better) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD | Chicago: O'Hare | 33.5 | 83.0 | 47 |
| EWR | Newark, NJ: Newark Liberty International | 32.2 | 82.8 | 46 |
| SFO | San Francisco: San Francisco International | 24.3 | 83.5 | 45 |
| DFW | Dallas/Ft.Worth: Dallas/Ft. Worth International | 29.3 | 81.8 | 44 |
| MIA | Miami: Miami International | 26.8 | 82.6 | 43 |
| LAS | Las Vegas: Mc Carran International | 23.8 | 84.9 | 42 |
| CLT | Charlotte, NC: Charlotte Douglas International | 28.2 | 81.8 | 41 |
| JFK | New York: Kennedy International | 31.0 | 81.2 | 40 |
| ATL | Atlanta: Hartsfield-Jackson | 28.1 | 81.8 | 39 |
| SEA | Seattle: Seattle-Tacoma International | 23.5 | 82.8 | 38 |
| DEN | Denver: Denver International | 23.7 | 82.4 | 37 |
| PHL | Philadelphia: Philadelphia International | 30.4 | 80.0 | 36 |
| BOS | Boston: Logan International | 24.8 | 80.5 | 35 |
| DTW | Detroit: Detroit Metro Wayne County | 23.0 | 81.6 | 34 |
| IAD | Washington, DC: Dulles International | 25.7 | 79.9 | 33 |
| LAX | Los Angeles: Los Angeles International | 19.8 | 82.9 | 32 |
| MSP | Minneapolis-St. Paul: Minneapolis-St. Paul International | 22.6 | 81.4 | 31 |
| PHX | Phoenix: Sky Harbor International | 22.4 | 81.3 | 30 |
| IAH | Houston: Houston Intercontinental | 20.3 | 82.4 | 29 |
| LGA | New York: LaGuardia | 28.5 | 76.5 | 28 |
| PIT | Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh International | 22.7 | 80.1 | 27 |
| HNL | Honolulu: Honolulu International | 6.9 | 89.0 | 26 |
| CVG | Cincinnati: Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International | 22.3 | 80.1 | 25 |
| MKE | Milwaukee: General Mitchell Field | 23.5 | 77.8 | 24 |
| MCO | Orlando: Orlando International | 20.7 | 80.9 | 23 |
| FLL | Fort Lauderdale, FL: Fort Lauderdale International | 21.5 | 80.5 | 22 |
| MDW | Chicago: Chicago Midway | 26.8 | 73.5 | 21 |
| SAN | San Diego: San Diego International Lindbergh Field | 17.5 | 82.3 | 20 |
| BWI | Baltimore: Baltimore/Washington International | 23.3 | 77.2 | 19 |
| SLC | Salt Lake City: Salt Lake International | 16.1 | 82.4 | 18 |
| HOU | Houston: William P. Hobby Airport | 25.8 | 69.0 | 17 |
| CLE | Cleveland: Hopkins International | 20.5 | 80.0 | 16 |
| DAL | Dallas: Dallas Love Field | 24.3 | 71.1 | 15 |
| DCA | Washington, DC: Washington National | 22.9 | 76.6 | 14 |
| PDX | Portland, OR: Portland International | 16.4 | 81.7 | 13 |
| SMF | Sacramento, CA: Sacramento Metropolitan | 19.1 | 79.6 | 12 |
| IND | Indianapolis: Indianapolis International | 19.6 | 78.7 | 11 |
| RDU | Durham and Raleigh, NC: Raleigh-Durham International | 22.2 | 75.3 | 10 |
| TPA | Tampa: Tampa International | 18.9 | 78.8 | 9 |
| BNA | Nashville: Nashville Metropolitan | 22.2 | 74.0 | 8 |
| STL | St. Louis: Lambert International | 22.2 | 74.6 | 7 |
| OAK | Oakland, CA: Metropolitan Oakland International | 20.3 | 77.0 | 6 |
| SNA | Santa Ana, CA: John Wayne International | 18.4 | 78.9 | 5 |
| MSY | New Orleans: Louis Armstrong International | 18.6 | 78.7 | 4 |
| MCI | Kansas City, MO: Kansas City International | 20.4 | 75.1 | 3 |
| MEM | Memphis: Memphis International | 18.8 | 77.1 | 2 |
| SJC | San Jose, CA: San Jose International | 16.8 | 77.3 | 1 |
Sources: Dept. of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, The Boyd Group
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Behind the Airport Misery Index
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