If your summer travel plans fell apart this year, the numbers back you up. US carriers have scrapped roughly 2% of all flights since January, putting 2026 on track for the worst cancellation rate since 2022, according to FlightAware data. Summer cancellations jumped about 15% compared with last year, and the disruptions haven't let up since the school holidays ended — an air traffic control equipment outage recently forced airlines to ground more than 1,000 East Coast departures in a single day.

There's no single culprit. The year started with brutal winter storms — including the worst weather disruption in American Airlines' history — followed by runway construction at San Francisco International, chronic congestion around New York and Washington, and the usual summer thunderstorm chaos at overloaded hubs.

So where should you avoid connecting? The cancellation leaderboard for the summer (airports handling at least 30,000 flights between Memorial Day and Labor Day, per Cirium) is dominated by the Northeast: LaGuardia topped the list with 6.5% of flights canceled, followed by Reagan Washington National (5.8%), JFK (4.2%), Boston Logan (3.8%) and Newark (3.7%). All three big New York-area airports made the list, though Newark was actually the region's best performer for delays after a rocky 2025.

Delays tell a different story. Nashville had the worst on-time record with 35.3% of departures delayed, ahead of Baltimore (34.6%), San Diego (33.6%), Dallas Fort Worth (33.4%) and San Francisco (32.1%) — and nationwide, about one in four summer flights ran late.

If you want better odds, head the other way. Salt Lake City led large airports with an 82% on-time rate, followed by Minneapolis-St. Paul (80.1%), Washington Dulles (79.4%), LAX (78%) and Houston Bush Intercontinental (77.5%). Handy detail: each is a hub for Delta or United, so loyalty programmes align nicely with the reliable airports.

The practical advice for surviving this era of disruption is straightforward. Book the earliest flight you can manage — delays snowball through the day as aircraft fall behind schedule and afternoon storms build, a point Frontier's CEO confirmed is baked into airline operations. Avoid late-afternoon connections during storm season. Carry a credit card with travel insurance: airlines generally won't cover hotel and meal costs during weather delays, and from October, coverage for some mechanical delays may shrink too. That card protection only works if you paid for the ticket with it in the first place.

Finally, treat your phone as your travel agent. Airline apps now handle rebooking, bag tracking and standby changes, and tools like Flighty flag problems before they're announced. Pack water, snacks and downloaded entertainment — a one-hour hop can easily become three hours on the tarmac during a ground stop, with the seatbelt sign on. This is a story for anyone flying in or through the US in the coming year: the data won't help you dodge every delay, but picking the right airport and the right departure time tilts the odds your way.

Reporting and data via The Points Guy.