2007 Was 2nd Worst Ever for Plane Delays

More than 26% of all domestic flights were late or canceled

By Sam Gale Rosen, Newser Staff

Posted Feb 6, 2008 1:08 PM CST

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2007 Was 2nd Worst Ever for Plane Delays — People look at the arrivals board at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport in Linthicum, Md. in this Nov. 21, 2007 file photo. Domestic airline delays in 2007 were the second worst on record, the Transportation Department said Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2008. Flights in the U.S. were... (Associated Press)

It's now official: 2007 was an awful year for airline delays—the worst since the record delays of 2000. More than 26% of domestic flights were delayed or canceled, due to huge demand and a growing swarm of small planes gobbling up runway space, reports the AP. The airline with the best record was Hawaii's Aloha Airlines, with a 93% on-time arrival rate.

The situation isn't likely to improve soon, especially with many of the country's air traffic controllers nearing retirement, which could cause further delays. "A smaller, less-experienced work force will have an adverse impact on system efficiency," warned a spokesman for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. (More airline delays stories.)

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