Denver International Airport's on-time flights trail national rate
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You're more likely to have a delayed flight at Denver International Airport than you are at practically any other airport in the country, new data shows.
Driving the news: 76% of domestic flights from DIA departed on time in November 2022, compared with the national rate of 81%, per the latest Bureau of Transportation Statistics figures.
- Data also shows Denver's airport trailed the national average for the entirety of last year aside from December, for which figures aren't yet available.
The big picture: Across the cities with Axios Local newsrooms, Denver — where brutal storms tend to snarl wintertime operations — sat at the bottom of the pack with the lowest on-time performance rate, Axios' Alex Fitzpatrick writes.
Of note: This dataset doesn't include December's meltdown at Southwest Airlines, which led to hundreds of cancellations and delays at DIA — its largest hub — and thousands more nationwide.
The other side: Airport officials did not immediately respond to Axios Denver's request for comment.
By the numbers: DIA is not only the third-busiest airport in the world, but it also just set an all-time passenger traffic record in 2022.
- The airport saw more than 69.2 million passengers travel through its terminals — up about 18% over 2021 levels and 0.4% compared to 2019, per DIA figures released this month.
What to watch: The Southwest Airlines delays will show up in the next data release, where they'll almost assuredly drag down Denver's numbers.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to remove a reference to the number of cities with Axios Local newsrooms.