Their airplanes might fly, but time does not.
Looking for the most efficient airport experience possible during the stressful holiday travel rush? You might want to avoid Miami International Airport, where travelers waste the most overall time — a whopping 47.1 minutes — in the U.S., according to a survey by flight perk maximization site Upgraded Points (UP).
Coincidentally, New York City’s LaGuardia Airport topped the list when it came to most time wasted taxiing — 23 long minutes — on the tarmac, per the study.
UP — which helps travelers get the most out of their miles and points — determined the biggest time-wasting flight hubs by analyzing data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics and Google Flights to find out the “average flight delays, taxi-out times and layover durations when departing from 50 of the nation’s largest airports.”
They found that, overall, passengers endure an average of 29 minutes of lost time; 12 of those are flushed away due to departure delays, while another 17 minutes tick by on the runway before takeoff.
Miami International soared far above the rest when it came to squandering travelers’ precious minutes, boasting average departure delays of 22.6 minutes and taxi-out times of 22.6 minutes — totaling nearly 20 minutes more than the national average.
The departure delay is also the longest of any other travel purveyor on the list.
That was followed by San Francisco International Airport (41.3 minutes), Dallas Fort Worth International (37.9), Philadelphia International Airport (36.9) and LaGuardia Airport (36.5).
However, LaGuardia is, notably, where passengers spent the most time in a holding pattern on the tarmac at a mindnumbing 23 minutes.
Upgraded Points attributed their taxi time to the “airport’s limited runway space, which requires more time for planes to maneuver in tighter quarters.”
Throw in the fact that this Queens’ airfield boasts the most expensive brews — $13.83 a glass on average — and it seems they waste both a flyer’s time and money.
Fortunately, there are plenty of airports where travelers don’t have to waste away like Tom Hanks’ airfield refugee in “The Terminal.”
In general, passengers departing Kahului Airport in Maui, Hawaii, waste the least amount of time of all the other airports (16.2 minutes) because this hub boasts both the shortest average departure delays (5.7 minutes) and taxi times (10.5 minutes).
UP claimed that this was because the Hawaiian hub is among the smallest airports they analyzed, “so passenger traffic is likely impacting those numbers.”
Following close behind were the similarly puny flight hubs of Norman Y. Mineta San José International Airport (18.2 minutes), William P. Hobby Airport in Houston (19.4 minutes) and Sacramento International Airport (20.7 minutes).
But size isn’t everything when it comes to flight delays.
The world’s largest flight hub, Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, clocked in at fifth with the total wasted time running just 22 minutes, making it a marvel of efficiency.
New York area airfields also had a poor showing in that department.
John F. Kennedy International Airport placed seventh with an average layover time of 4 hours and 4 minutes, while Newark Liberty International Airport came in ninth at an even four hours of passenger downtime.
While Kahului Airport might not waste people’s time on the runway or in terms of delays, the same thing can’t be said for layovers — it boasts the longest airport sojourns at a whopping 5 hours and 8 minutes on minutes on average.
The most expedient airport when it comes to layovers is San Antonio International Airport, where passenger stopovers clock in at just 2 hours and 46 minutes on average.
This brief sojourn was chalked up to the Texas flight hub’s location in the middle of the country, which allows it more direct flights to different parts of the U.S.
When layovers are unavoidable there, they probably won’t be quite as interminable.
Nonetheless, travelers on multi-stop flights across the U.S. can generally expect a brain-zapping flight hiatus.
“From over 30,000 flights analyzed, the average layover time on a cross-country flight clocks in at 3 hours and 34 minutes, a significant delay for travelers eager to reach their destinations,” UP experts wrote.
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