The latest transportation statistics show a clear distinction between the best performing airports through July, 2010 and the worst among the 29 airports providing such data.

It is a well-known fact, and one that IAPA is advocating to improve, that the United States' northeast air corridor is the most delay-plagued in the nation. Other regions may have occasional weather issues, but the air traffic control system in the northeast has to funnel aircraft going to and from major airports that are bunched closer together and serve a very densely populated area. Add weather problems to the mix and you have delays that can ripple throughout the entire nation in very short order.

The latest information from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) shows that airline on-time performance was best in airports located away from the northeast for the most part, Boston and Washington National Airports being two notable exceptions. IAPA has been advocating for the implementation of Next Generation (NextGen) technology in aircraft and on the ground. Combined with a comprehensive redesign of airspace corridors and a sensible schedule of flights from the airlines, the technology may be our best hope to ease massive congestion in some of the world's busiest airports.

Here are the top and bottom 10 performing airports for on-time departures from January 2010 through July 2010.

On-Time Departures (U.S. Airports) Jan. 2010 - Jul. 2010 10 Best Ranking
Rank	Airport	% of on-time departures
1	Seattle, WA (SEA)	89.3%
2	Portland, OR (PDX)	89.0%
3	Salt Lake City, UT (SLC)	86.9%
4	San Diego, CA (SAN)	84.2%
5	Phoenix, AZ (PHX)	83.8%
6	Los Angeles, CA (LAX)	82.9%
7	Charlotte, NC (CLT)	81.9%
8	Tampa, FL (TPA)	81.3%
9	Washington, DC (DCA)	81.1%
10	Boston, MA (BOS)	80.9%
On-Time Departures (U.S. Airports) Jan. 2010 - Jul. 2010 10 Lowest Ranking
Rank	Airport	% of on-time departures
20	Atlanta, GA (ATL)	78.2%
21	Detroit, MI (DTW)	76.2%
22	San Francisco, CA (SFO)	75.8%
23	Dallas/Ft.Worth, TX (DFW))	75.7%
24	Chicago, IL (ORD)	74.9%
25	Baltimore, MD (BWI)	74.1%
26	Newark, NJ (EWR)	73.9%
27	New York, NY (JFK)	73.6%
28	Miami, FL (MIA)	72.9%
29	Chicago, IL (MDW)	70.8%

The collective good news for air travelers in the United States is the dramatic reduction in long tarmac delays from just one year ago. This does not mean long delays still don't happen. The reduction on long on-the-ground delays is partly a by-product of a law that went into effect in April that punishes airlines who keep their passengers trapped in aircraft for more than 3 hours.

In the three months after the tarmac law took effect, excessive tarmac delays were down 98 percent from the same period a year ago. Better weather, smarter scheduling, pre-emptive actions by the airlines and other factors (yes, even some selective cancellations) certainly have played a part in this dramatic reduction. But the heavy fines may have played as important a part as any other factor. The true effect of the law will be better assessed after more monthly data is collected.

Here is what BTS reports through July 2010. (Note: opens in new window due to image size.)