Reagan National Airport Leads U.S. in Cancellations at 2.8%
A new ranking places Washington D.C.'s DCA as the least reliable major airport in the nation, while Los Angeles International Airport takes the top spot for reliability.
By Justin Brooks ·
Washington D.C.'s Reagan National Airport (DCA) recorded the highest cancellation rate among major U.S. airports in 2026, standing at 2.8%, according to a new report from Consumer Affairs. The ranking, released just before the peak travel season, identifies DCA as the least reliable large airport in the country based on cancellation, delay, and diversion rates.
The report draws data from the Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. Department of Transportation to measure airport performance. DCA not only leads in cancellations but also cancels its final flight of the day more frequently than any other large airport. However, the analysis notes that external factors play a large role in the airport's poor reliability score.
Consumer Affairs states that nearly half of the delays at DCA are caused by late-arriving flights. This proportion is higher than at any of the other five worst-performing major airports. The findings suggest that issues with incoming traffic significantly impact the operational stability of DCA's own departures.
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) ranks as the most reliable large airport in the 2026 report. Phoenix Sky Harbor International and Seattle-Tacoma International follow in second and third place, respectively. The top ten list of most reliable airports includes facilities in Salt Lake City, Atlanta, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Boston, Detroit, and Nashville. A majority of these high-performing airports are located in the Western United States.
The list of least reliable airports is dominated by Northeast and Southeast hubs. Following DCA, the bottom ten includes Dallas Fort Worth, Newark Liberty, Miami, Philadelphia, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood, LaGuardia, Tampa, Washington Dulles, and George Bush Intercontinental. These airports struggle with higher rates of cancellations and severe delays, defined as those lasting three hours or more.
The report also evaluated medium-sized and small airports. President Donald J. Trump International in West Palm Beach, Florida, and Asheville Regional in North Carolina ranked at the bottom of those categories. The full data set allows travelers to compare specific metrics across the nation's aviation infrastructure.
Source: KTTV
