As the expensive summer travel season kicks into full gear, Dallas travelers need to prepare for potential disruptions at DFW International Airport and Dallas Love Field.
Love Field was the fourth most disrupted airport in the country last summer, with 35% of flights running late or not at all, according to travel website Hopper. A third of all flights from the airport, home of Dallas-based Southwest Airlines, were delayed and 2% canceled.
DFW Airport, the second busiest airport in the world, saw 28% of its flights disrupted, with a quarter of flights delayed and 3% canceled. DFW didn’t rank in the top 10, but has a high probability for holding up passengers just based on size.
“DFW is definitely going to be high volume, and with high volume just means that on a percentage basis, more people are going to be disrupted when a disruption happens,” said Hayley Berg, lead economist at Hopper.
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There were 35,972 delays at DFW between June and August 2022 on arriving and departing flights and 4,398 cancellations, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
Demand for international destinations is soaring this summer, as travelers head at record rates to Europe and Asia. International travel restrictions have lifted, prompting travelers to flock to the airport.
Memorial Day weekend was a strong start for airlines, as only 605 flights were canceled across the country over the five-day weekend including Thursday, despite nearly 128,000 flights across the system, according to trade group Airlines for America. Dallas-Fort Worth carriers Southwest Airlines and American Airlines also had solid weekends for the start of summer.
Last year there were a variety of factors behind low on-time performance at Love Field and DFW Airport, such as unexpected demand after two years of pandemic lows. This summer is a different scenario, Berg said.
“We’re just in a totally different situation now,” she said. “Airlines have brought capacity back that they can actually service, airports have staffed up, with the exception of New York City area. The FAA, air traffic control, you name it, have staffed up. We don’t expect as much of a crush, but the baseline is, there will be disruption during the summer, and it will impact these large hub airports.”
Alongside Love Field on the list of the most disrupted airports is Chicago Midway International Airport, with 44% of disruptions overall from June to August 2022. Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport was ranked No. 2 for U.S. airports with 39% of summer flights disrupted, and Newark Liberty International Airport had 37% of its flights disrupted last summer.
For travelers heading out of the country, Amsterdam, London Heathrow and Paris are the busiest airports in Europe, seeing about 45% of flights disrupted on departure last summer.
Berg recommends travelers take the first flight out of the day to avoid any “snowball” delays or cancellations in a carrier’s network. Wednesday and Saturday mornings also tend to have fewer travelers overall, she said. Lastly, she said trip insurance is key. Berg said 20% of Hopper users buy the app’s trip protection.
“I think people should expect the regular amount of disruption and have some peace of mind,” Berg said.
Summer travelers beware: Experts say Dallas-area airports are some of the worst for delays
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