Worried about canceled flights? Fear not if you’re flying out of Boise Airport. Here’s why

Kevin Fixler
·3 min read
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When planning your next trip with air travel, flights out of the Boise Airport are a good bet nationally for actually getting to your destination.

Idaho’s primary airport consistently ranks in the top five for lowest percentage of canceled flights every year. That’s according to an analysis of U.S. Department of Transportation 2022 flight cancellation data for the nation’s 75 largest airports by travel insurance company InsureMyTrip.

Boise ranked No. 5 last year, behind only the air hubs in Salt Lake City and three Hawaiian cities. It’s the third time over the past four years, including commercial travel impacts during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, that the Boise Airport has held a top-five ranking.

The Boise Airport consistently ranks among the top airports in the U.S. for its low flight cancellation percentage. In 2022, it ranked No. 5, with about 1.2% of flights canceled during a record-breaking year for passengers.
The Boise Airport consistently ranks among the top airports in the U.S. for its low flight cancellation percentage. In 2022, it ranked No. 5, with about 1.2% of flights canceled during a record-breaking year for passengers.

In order, the U.S. airports with the worst cancellation records last year included Buffalo Niagara International Airport, Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers, New York City’s LaGuardia Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey and Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. More than 5.5% of flights out of Buffalo were canceled in 2022, the analysis showed.

Meanwhile, the Boise Airport last year recorded flight cancellations of about 1.2% with Salt Lake City a hair better at 1.1%. Boise’s percentage represents fewer than 350 takeoffs canceled out of more than 29,000 scheduled outbound flights for the year, according to airport data.

Boise’s temperate weather, including limited annual snowfall, is a leading factor that Boise Airport officials cited for their positive cancellation performance record. In 2021, the recent year when the airport ranked No. 8 nationally, its cancellation percentage was still about 1%, InsureMyTrip’s analysis found.

On average, Boise receives 20 inches of snowfall annually, according to the National Weather Service, which takes measurements at the Boise Airport. Salt Lake City averages about 52 inches of snow a year.

Technology also plays a role in ensuring scheduled flights make it out of Boise, said Sean Briggs, an airport spokesperson. The airport is one of a limited number in the U.S. approved by the Federal Aviation Administration for pilots to fly in low visibility, he said, in part because of an instrument landing system situated on the airport’s main runway.

“We are fortunate to have a mild climate with little snow and good visibility, resulting in weather that typically does not delay commercial flights,” Briggs told the Idaho Statesman by email. “The Boise Airport is also one of a handful of airports in the country that is certified to allow aircraft to operate in visibility as low as 300 feet runway-visual-range.”

Alaska Airlines is the Boise Airport’s lead commercial air carrier, operating on 15 of the airport’s 26 nonstop routes. The Seattle-based airline doesn’t specifically seek out airports with favorable flight cancellation records, but does try to avoid those with bad histories, said Alaska Airlines spokesperson Ray Lane.

“We certainly do appreciate that Boise is so easy to operate in, and it does help us to ensure that our guests can arrive on time and make their connections,” Lane told the Statesman by email.

Alaska Airlines, based in Seattle, is the Boise Airport’s leading commercial air carrier.
Alaska Airlines, based in Seattle, is the Boise Airport’s leading commercial air carrier.

Boise’s most recent top-flight ranking came at the same time that the airport had its busiest-ever year for travelers, at nearly 4.5 million passengers in 2022. That topped the prior record of more than 4.1 million passengers set in 2019 — another banner year in which the Boise Airport also had a top-five cancellation record.

Already this year, the airport is again on pace to break its annual passenger record. Through January and February, typically two of the Boise Airport’s slowest months, passenger counts are up nearly 20% over 2022 numbers. Each month also was the busiest month on record for January and February.

Airport officials are confident the record-breaking passenger totals won’t impact the local air hub’s national ranking for percentage of canceled flights going forward.

“As the Boise Airport continues to see an increased level of passenger traffic and flight operations, we expect our cancellation rate to remain low,” Briggs said.