Philadelphia airport ranked among least reliable in the U.S. in 2026: Report
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PHILADELPHIA - As the U.S. approaches the busiest travel season of the year, a new report has ranked airports across the country in terms of their reliability.
Unfortunately, the Northeast is featured prominently toward the bottom of the rankings, with Philadelphia International Airport ranking as the fifth-least reliable major airport in the country.
DCA ranked least reliable large airport in 2026
Local perspective:
A new report from Consumer Affairs ranked airports across the country on their reliability, based on their rate of cancellations, delays and diversions. And it might not surprise many in Philly to learn PHL was ranked near the bottom.
Philadelphia International had the second-highest "severity score" of large airports, according to the report, which used data from the Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. Department of Transportation. The other big drawback, Consumer Affairs noted, was that more than a third of canceled flights out of PHL were the last flight to that destination that day, "leaving many travelers with no same-day option."
The top 10 most reliable airports
Big picture view:
The most reliable airports all share some major characteristics, mainly very low rates of cancellation and severe delays (3+ hours). A vast majority of them were also in the Western U.S.
Here are the top 10 most reliable airports, according to Consumer Affairs:
- Los Angeles International (LAX)
- Phoenix Sky Harbor International (PHX)
- Seattle-Tacoma International (SEA)
- Salt Lake City International (SLC)
- Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (ATL)
- San Francisco International (SFO)
- Harry Reid International (LAS)
- Boston Logan International (BOS)
- Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County (DTW)
- Nashville International (BNA)
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Top 10 least reliable airports
On the other hand, a big chunk of the worst airports on the list are here in the Northeast:
- Ronald Reagan Washington National (DCA)
- Dalls Fort Worth International (DFW)
- Newark Liberty International (EWR)
- Miami International (MIA)
- Philadelphia International (PHL)
- Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International (FLL)
- LaGuardia (LGA)
- Tampa International (TPA)
- Washington Dulles International (IAD)
- George Bush Intercontinental (IAH)
Dig deeper:
The Consumer Affairs report also looked at medium-sized and small airports. Out of them, President Donald J. Trump International in West Palm Beach, Florida, and Asheville Regional in North Carolina ranked at the bottom.
The full data can be found below.
You can read Consumer Affairs' full report here.
The Source: Information in this story is from ConsumerAffairs.com, which used data on airport diversions, cancellations and delays from the Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. Department of Transportation.