U.S. travelers spent a combined 1.5 million hours (or roughly 171 years) waiting for delayed flights between January and September 2025, according to a new analysis of Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) data by claims company SkyRefund.
While extreme weather often dominates the headlines, the data reveals that the vast majority of delays in 2025 were caused by logistical domino effects and airline-controlled operational issues, not “acts of God.”
By the numbers: SkyRefund analyzed the 93.7 million minutes of delay time recorded across all U.S. airports in the first three quarters of 2025. A flight is considered “delayed” if it arrives 15+ minutes past schedule.
The breakdown of causes:
-
Late Arriving Aircraft (39.7%): The top reason for delays (600,000 hours). This occurs when a previous flight lands late, causing a vicious cycle where cleaning, refueling, and boarding are pushed back.
-
Air Carrier Delays (31.8%): Defined as factors within an airline’s control—maintenance, crew availability, or baggage loading. This accounted for 497,000 hours.
-
National Aviation System (21.4%): Issues related to the broader infrastructure, including heavy traffic volume, Air Traffic Control, and airport operations (334,000 hours).
-
Extreme Weather (6.9%): Significant storms and unpredictable conditions kept planes on the ground for 108,423 hours.
-
Security Delays (0.13%): The rarest category, involving terminal evacuations or de-boarding, accounted for just 1,958 hours.
Between the lines: While “Late Arriving Aircraft” is the top category, air carrier delays are frequently the root cause.
-
According to the data, carrier-controlled issues (like maintenance or staffing) caused more than 50% of the initial late arrivals that triggered subsequent “Late Arriving Aircraft” delays.
-
When combined, these “domino effect” delays were responsible for an additional 300,000 hours of wasted time.
What they’re saying: “This analysis makes clear the factors that contribute the most to passengers’ lost time,” said Ivaylo Danailov, CEO of SkyRefund. “While most delays were caused by either the airlines or the National Aviation System, both areas are always improving, for example, with the significant investment into improving air traffic control that we have recently seen.”
-
“This means that with enough effort, thought and investment a vast amount of this time loss could be eliminated. We have already started seeing improvements year over year, and I would encourage American air passengers to be optimistic about their future flying experiences.”
The bottom line: Agents should remind clients traveling internationally that protections may vary.
-
“The Bureau of Transportation Statistics considers most delays to be, directly or indirectly, the fault of the Airlines,” Danailov noted. “Because of this, Americans traveling internationally should be aware of foreign countries’ laws that require airlines to pay compensation for significantly disrupted flights if the disruption was the airline’s fault.”
Related Stories
New Data: The Death of the Travel Agent Was Greatly Exaggerated
American Airlines to Resume U.S. Flights to Venezuela
Royal Caribbean Group Expands Fleet With Discovery Class Ships
Source link
