3 years after finishing dead last, O'Hare is moving up on-time arrival rankings
It's not in the top 10, but O'Hare International Airport is climbing back into traveler's good graces for punctuality, Federal Aviation Administration data for 2017 shows.
O'Hare ranked 14th out of 30 major American airports for on-time arrivals, with a rate of 80.8 percent. Midway International Airport ranked 12th or 81.7 percent on time, the FAA reported Tuesday.
It's a positive trend since 2014, when O'Hare came in dead last, partly because of snow and thunderstorms, the FAA noted. O'Hare was the second-busiest airport in the U.S. last year.
“Today's data shows that on-time performance at O'Hare has improved dramatically, thanks to the airfield modernization and the new runways (that) opened in recent years,” Chicago Department of Aviation spokeswoman Lauren Huffman said.
The city has also embarked on an $8.5 billion makeover that includes increasing gates by about 25 percent and rebuilding Terminal 2 so it will be able to accommodate international flights.
“Looking ahead, investments in O'Hare's terminal expansion plan, the biggest in the airport's history, will pave the way to even fewer delays, more on-time flights and a better overall experience for travelers in Chicago,” Huffman said.
In 2016, O'Hare was 21st out of 30 airports and in 2015 it rated 25th out of 29.
So which airport gets the most tardy slips? The dubious honor falls to New Jersey's Newark Airport, ranking 30th, followed by San Francisco International Airport.
While wintry conditions contribute to delays, two cold-weather cities claimed the top two spots on the FAA's list. Minneapolis-Saint Paul Airport was first for on-time arrivals followed by Salt Lake City International Airport.
Midway passengers also suffered in 2014 when the airport ranked 24th out of 29 airports for lateness. Midway jumped to 10th place out 29 airports in 2015 and ninth out of 30 airports in 2016.