Posts Tagged ‘Washington DC’

The Best and Worst Airports in America for Flight Delays

December 22nd, 2011

Takeoff at Sea-Tac Airport. Photo: Flickr/aturkus

We’ve all been there: stuck at the gate, watching the minutes slip away with the chances of making to your next flight. A delayed flight is a stressful situation that every traveler would love to avoid.

While there are many factors affecting take-off, some airports are just notorious for delayed flights. Travel + Leisure gathered data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics to find which airports are most notorious for flights that depart more than 15 minutes behind schedule, and which ones tend to get you off the ground on time. The result is a list of America’s Best and Worst Airports for Flight Delays. Check out the five best and worst airports for delays, and travel accordingly.

The Five Worst Airports

5. John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK): New York’s busiest airports has trouble getting flights off the ground on time, with a 21.6% of planes running behind schedule.
4. Las Vegas-McCarran International Airport (LAS): Bring some quarters to play the airport slot machines – 21.8% of flights are delayed at LAS.
3. San Francisco International Airport (SFO): All that fog in the bay area really poses a problem for planes at SFO, 22.8% of flights don’t take off on time.
2. Baltimore/Washington International Airport (BWI): BWI debuted in 2010 as one of the worst airports for delays and held steady with 23.2% of flights running late.
1. Chicago Midway Airport (MDW): 29.9% of flights are delayed at MDW, if you want to get out on time, be sure to schedule a flight that departs before 8 a.m.

The Five Best Airports

5. Dulles International Airport (IAD): Back in 2008, this DC airport was on the worse delayed list, but it cleaned-up its act with only 16% of flights delayed now.
4. Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC): Travelers rave about SLC’s smooth operation – even in the face of winter storms only 15% of flights run late.
3. Reagan National Airport-Washington, D.C. (DCA): DC’s oldest airport had a few more delays in 2011, but still made it to the top 3 best airports with 13.7% delays.
2. Portland International Airport (PDA): Traveler’s love the easy transport to and from PDX, and since 2008 they have been able to count only 13.5% flights being late.
1. Sea-Tac Airport (SEA): Maybe it’s all the coffee in Seattle that keeps SEA running smoothly—only 13.1% of flights don’t make it out on time.

Delay or no delay: Stay with Courtyard when you arrive at your final destination.

Newest Courtyard Hotel in Washington, D.C., Opens with a Flurry of Firsts

June 3rd, 2009

Today, I attended the grand opening of our newest Courtyard hotel in the Washington, D.C., area, the Courtyard by Marriott Washington, D.C./U.S. Capitol. It’s located in a new area of the city called NoMa, which stands for “North of Massachusetts Avenue.” Today’s event was fantastic and I’m so excited that this beautiful hotel is now open.

It is a hotel of many firsts. To begin with, it is the first Hispanic-owned hotel in Washington, D.C. Diversity is a big part of our culture at Marriott and we’re thrilled to add another minority-owned hotel to our portfolio. It is also the first hotel to open in the NoMa district and the first hotel in Washington, D.C., to feature the new Refreshing Business lobby design. And finally, it is the first Marriott hotel in D.C. to have a green roof. We’ve been working hard to make our hotels as green as possible and this green roof made of grass is going to help us save a lot of energy and even helps heat our indoor pool!

There’s a lot of excitement within our company and throughout the city about this hotel and today’s event brought out a lot of local VIPs. D.C.’s mayor, Adrian Fenty, attended and spoke at the event, as did D.C. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton. Both spoke about how great the hotel looks and how it will contribute to the revitalization of this area and D.C.’s continued growth. A few members of the D.C. City Council, the hotel’s owners and some Marriott executives were also in attendance.

It was wonderful to see so many people so excited about our hotel and its flurry of firsts, especially here in D.C. This is where Marriott was founded and it’s important for us to continue to grow and give back to our local community. We have some great pictures and video from today’s event that I’ve posted below and hope you’ll check out.

Thanks for helping me keep Courtyard on the go.

Brian