Agonizing Summer Hawaii Flight Delays Belie Latest Studies

Two recent reports from LendingTree and Forbes say that Hawaii airports could have the best on-time performance in the US this summer. But is that really true? We were undoubtedly suspicious based on our own and others’ experiences recently. So we dug back into the data of recent flight delays at Hawaii airports.

We’ve been hearing from you about flight delays and cancelations. See a friend’s livid comment below. Also, we now we can confirm your findings rather than what these studies falsely indicate. It’s also worth noting that when you check the actual recent flight delay information below, Southwest Hawaii flights at Honolulu Airport, for example, have had significantly fewer delays than Hawaiian Airlines. We aren’t sure if air traffic control still prioritizes mainland flight arrivals in Honolulu, but we suspect that may still be true. That had been the case during the recent HNL runway repairs and closure that has long-hampered operations.

According to one of the reports (LendingTree), “Honolulu has had the greatest percentage of summertime flights arrive on time in the past 10 years, among the major airports in the United States.”

BOH Yes, we’d also love to give kudos to HNL. But that isn’t the real picture at all. Data from the past ten years is simply irrelevant. It doesn’t show what’s happening now.

LendingTree said it had analyzed “10 years of data for the nation’s 50 busiest airports from the U.S. Department of Transportation to see which airports tend to suffer the most frequent delays in the summertime. What we found, unfortunately, but perhaps not surprisingly, is that delays ramp up during the summer season, and in most places, the problem isn’t getting better. However, there are definitely airports where you’re less likely to encounter delays.”

LendingTree Study: Honolulu has 87.2% on-time arrivals.

Gateway airports to Hawaii and the Hawaii airports themselves fared far better in this analysis. Following HNL’s best-in-country score of 87.2% came Salt Lake City at 86% and Orange County at 83%. Those were followed by Phoenix, Seattle, and Portland, Oregon, in that order.

While the report said that historically speaking, June is the worst month for travel delays, Beat of Hawaii can report that in our travels from and to Hawaii via Las Vegas and Seattle, on Southwest, and on Delta Airlines, all flights were 100% on-time.

The report says that July and August won’t fare much better, with “two-thirds of the 50 airports we reviewed have the worst 10-year average on-time arrival percentage of the year between June and August.”

The report was based on ten years of data from 2009-2018, which we aren’t sure is even relevant given the many issues in the travel industry that only surface post-Covid.

Forbes thinks Hawaii airports rank best for on-time summer travel too.

Forbes Advisor said that “When it comes to great airport experiences, Lihue Airport on the Hawaiian island of Kauai ranked best in the country when it comes to the low likelihood of anything going wrong — nearly 88% of its flights leave on time while cancelations sit at 1.47%. Four of the top five best airports for summer travel are in Hawaii, including Lihue Airport (LIH), Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport at Keahole (KOA), Kahului Airport (OGG) and Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL).”

Recent travel delays at Honolulu Airport – a case in point.

Checking the past several days at Honolulu Airport, here’s how on-time Hawaii summer travel is really going:

After $2.3B, Hawaii Airports Still Land At Bottom In U.S. Rankings.

Honolulu Airport Flight Delays – June 26, 2023

Alaska Airlines – 37%/9 flights delayed

American Airlines – 25%/3 flights delayed

Delta Airlines – 0%/0 flights delayed + 3 canceled

Hawaiian Airlines – 25%/51 flights delayed + 8 canceled

Mokulele Airlines – 20%/16 flights delayed

Southwest Airlines – 14%/12 flights delayed

United Airlines – 24%/9 flights delayed + 5 canceled

Honolulu Airport Flight Delays – June 25, 2023

Alaska Airlines – 20%/5 flights delayed

American Airlines – 8%/1 flights delayed

Delta Airlines – 10%/2 flights delayed

Hawaiian Airlines – 28%/55 flights delayed + 10 flights canceled

Mokulele Airlines – 20%/16 flights delayed

Southwest Airlines – 6%/5 flights delayed

United Airlines – 28%/10 flights delayed + 4 flights canceled

Honolulu Airport Flight Delays – June 24, 2023

Alaska Airlines – 29%/7 flights delayed

American Airlines – 8%/1 flights delayed

Delta Airlines – 10%/2 flights delayed

Hawaiian Airlines – 38%/76 flights delayed + 17 flights canceled

Mokulele Airlines – 10%/7 flights delayed

Southwest Airlines – 2%/2 flights delayed

United Airlines – 34%/13 flights delayed + 3 flights canceled

Anecdotally speaking.

One of Beat of Hawaii’s friends shared his frustration over a canceled Hawaiian Airlines flight this morning. “It’s hard to believe you (Hawaiian Airlines) didn’t know you were canceling our 7:50 am flight before we even left the house today. You let us wake up early, and rush to the airport, only to get canceled at 7:10 am.”