SFO named worst airport for Memorial Day travel: report

Aaron Tolentino
·2 min read

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Brace yourselves. Whether you’re flying or driving, travel for this Memorial Day weekend is projected to be the busiest in nearly 20 years, according to AAA.

It also isn’t great news for travelers flying out of San Franciso International Airport (SFO). SFO was named the worst airport for Memorial Day travel by a recent report.

SFO was named the U.S. airport with the highest likelihood of a delayed departure for Memorial Day weekend, a report by JW Surety Bonds says. There is a 27.8% chance an SFO flight will not leave on time. Second to SFO was Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) at 23.7%.

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Source: JW Surety Bonds Survey

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On the other end of the spectrum, the report named Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) the most reliable airport for on-time Memorial Day departures at 87.5%.

Data used in the report was collected from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Air Travel Consumer Report between 2015 and 2023. JW Surety Bonds compared average departure delays among the top 10 commercial airlines. Delayed and on-time flight departures were analyzed from 406 airports across the county.

The report also stated Hawaiian Airlines, Alaska Airlines, and Delta Air Lines are the best airlines for Memorial Day weekend as they have the fewest departure delays. Virgin Atlantic, Frontier and JetBlue have the most delayed departures, the report says.

It was just two years ago that SFO was named the best “large” airport in the country by The Wall Street Journal. At the time, WSJ found SFO was first in “reliability” and “convenience” — the airport receiving a first-place ranking for on-time departure rate (84%).

This year, AAA predicts approximately 43.8 million people will travel at least 50 miles from home between Thursday and Monday. As many as 3 million people might pass through airport checkpoints on Friday alone, according to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

The full report from JW Surety Bonds can be viewed HERE.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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