New list says this North Texas airport is the worst for flight delays in 2025
Editor’s note: The above video is from 2024.
Cancellations and delays are a headache for any traveler, but if you’re flying out of Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, the odds of getting stuck are higher than anywhere else in the country this year, according to one list.
A new ranking by Transfeero, an airport shuttle service company that analyzes federal flight data, puts DFW Airport at the top of the list for the worst airports for flight delays in 2025.
The study found more than one in four flights from DFW Airport this year haven’t left on time. That makes the airport the most delay-prone in the nation, edging out Denver International Airport and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C.
Weather, heavy passenger traffic and tight airline schedules all factored into the findings. Here’s what to know about how DFW Airport and other Texas airports fared in the rankings.
Which Texas airports made the list for the most delays?
Three of the state’s busiest airports landed in the Top 20.
- DFW Airport ranked No. 1 overall, with 25.42 percent of flights delayed this year — more than one in four departures.
- George Bush Intercontinental in Houston ranked at No. 8, with 21.79 percent of flights delayed, often due to spring storms and hurricane season.
- Austin-Bergstrom International ranked No. 11, with 21 percent of flights delayed, as growing passenger traffic puts more stress on the airport.
The findings highlight how weather and high traffic can create cascading delays, especially at major Texas hubs.
How did researchers rank the airports?
Transfeero’s study looked at 30 major U.S. airports and measured the percentage of departing flights that were delayed from January 2025-May 2025 — the latest numbers available on federal flight data from the United States Department of Transportation.
The Department of Transportation gets its data from reporting airlines, and considers a flight delayed if it departs the gate 15 minutes of more after its scheduled departure time.
Researchers noted that common causes of delays included:
- Severe weather, including thunderstorms and hurricanes.
- Congested airspace around high-volume hubs like Dallas, Houston and Washington, D.C.
- Tight airline schedules, which leave little room to recover when disruptions happen.
What are the top 10 worst airports for delays?
While DFW Airport claimed the No. 1 spot, here’s the full list of the airports with the most delays in 2025, according to the Department of Transportation:
- DFW Airport (25.42%)
- Denver International (23.86%)
- Ronald Reagan Washington National (23.29%)
- Miami International (23.06%)
- Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (22.8%)
- Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International (22.55%)
- Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall (22.54%)
- George Bush Intercontinental, Houston (21.79%)
- Orlando International (21.67%)
- Charlotte Douglas International (21.35%)
