ATL Airport Among Best for Memorial Day Flights: Ranking

ATLANTA, Ga. — Hartsfield Jackson International Airport is among the best in the United States for flights departing on time during the Memorial Day holiday weekend, according to a new ranking.

ATL ranked 5th on the list of airports with the highest percentages of on-time flights over the busy holiday weekend, according to rankings compiled by JW Surety, an insurance and surety bonding provider.

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On average, 84.9% of ATL flights departed on time during the Memorial Day holiday.

The company determined each airport’s ranking using data from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Air Travel Consumer Report, focusing on Memorial Day data from 2015 to 2023.

Nearly 43.8 million travelers are expected to leave the city this Memorial Day weekend, according to AAA’s annual holiday travel forecast. The forecast marks a 4 percent increase from last year and comes close to the 2005 record of 44 million travelers.

Around 3.51 million travelers are expected to reach their destination by air, an increase of 4.8% from last year and 9% from 2019.

“This will be the busiest Memorial Day weekend at airports since 2005,” AAA said in its travel forecast.

This means delays could be imminent if you depart from several other U.S. airports.

San Francisco International Airport takes the top spot on the new list: on average, 27.8 percent of flights there are delayed on Memorial Day weekend. The three worst airports were Newark Liberty International Airport and Boston Logan International Airport.

The airports with the least delayed flights were Salt Lake City International Airport, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport.

The airlines with the highest percentage of delays during Memorial Day weekend are Virgin Atlantic (29%), Frontier Airlines (23%) and JetBlue Airways (23%), according to the rankings.

The airlines with the lowest percentage of delays were Hawaiian Airlines (10%), Alaska Airlines (11%) and Delta Air Lines (14%).

See the full ranking online.