Tarmac delays are almost double what they were ten years ago, with severe weather and staffing shortages among the contributing factors.
According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, there were 22,425 tarmac delays over an hour long in the U.S. from January to April in 2023.
This compares to 12,739 tarmac delays of the same length during the same time period in 2013.
For the first quarter of this year, Chicago O’Hare International Airport witnessed the highest number of tarmac