Late Planes, Long Waits: Breaking Down Flight Disruptions at Airports
By: Rubin Bobbili
Living in Texas and attending Arizona State University means I’m no stranger to frequent flights. On one of my trips home to Dallas as my Sun Devils were going to beat the Baylor Bears in football I ran into multiple cancellations and delays that made traveling frustrating. That made me curious to dig deeper, so I turned to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) to explore the data. I decided to analyze the causes of delays and cancellations at DFW airport, as well as identify which airlines are most affected using Data.world.
Flight delays and cancellations at DFW Airport mostly come from airline problems, system congestion, and planes arriving late from other flights. Weather plays a smaller role. Since June 2020, 31.03% of flights have been delayed and 2.92% have been cancelled, which means almost one out of three travelers gets disrupted. Out of 8,780 delays, the biggest reason was late aircraft (3,651 flights), followed by National Aviation System delays (2,257) and carrier delays (2,253). Weather caused only 604 delays, and security caused just 15, showing that airline operations and system issues are the main problems, not weather.
Looking at airlines, it’s clear that some do way worse than others. American Airlines had 433,379 minutes of total delays, making it the worst airline for being on time. Meanwhile, smaller carriers like JetBlue Airways (878 minutes)and Republic Airways (40 minutes) had way fewer delays. Cancellations also change a lot depending on the airline. PSA Airlines cancels 5.71% of flights, while Alaska Airlines cancels only 0.42%, which shows a big difference in reliability. These results prove that each airline’s own practices have a huge impact on delays and cancellations.
Seasons play a role too, but not as much as airline performance. For example, in June 2025, 31.03% of flights were delayed, which shows how peak travel months cause more stress. While storms might add to the problem, most delays still come from late planes and airline issues. Overall, the findings show that late aircraft and airline problems are the biggest reasons for delays at DFW, while PSA Airlines is the worst for cancellations and American Airlines is the worst for delays.
Next time you fly, pick your airline carefully. Some carriers get you to your destination, others get you an extended stay at the airport.
Top-performing sales executive with extensive experience across diverse range of industries such as financial, wireless, security / risk, and property management.
1wBreaking down equipment means maintenance is not being done as it should. Lives are at risk while CEO'S POINT FINGERS AT DISCOUNT AIRLINES . Again lets make it make sense when you are paying more to fly AA, its almost likened to American auto manufactures in the past losing business to their foreign competitors; snap snap check yourselves AA. If there is a risk management issue let me see the books, information, I love to do it.