Salt Lake International Airport has slipped dramatically in rankings for on-time performance among U.S. airports, dropping from 4th to 24th from October to November.
"Winter weather just got the upper hand," said Louis Miller, director of airports. He said the airport's on-time arrival performance always falls from November through March.The rankings of 31 airports were compiled by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
At Salt Lake, more than 79 out of every 100 departures and 89 of every 100 arrivals were classified as on-time, meaning they came within 15 minutes of their schedule.
The airport's ranking usually hovers among the top 10, Miller said. With 12.3 million passengers a year, Salt Lake is the nation's 25th busiest airport.
The top airport for on-time performance was Baltimore-Washington International, with a record of nearly 92 percent.
The new figures showed America West was once again the most punctual airline here, despite operating in bankruptcy. Nearly 93 percent of its flights to and from Salt Lake were on time.
"Our 35 staffers here are all shareholders and part-owners. We have to take a little pride. It's a matter of job protection," said America West supervisor Dave Eaton.
Volume leader Delta Air Lines, with 4,410 arrivals in November, had an on-time record of 80 percent, putting it in third place behind Trans World Airlines, which lagged 12 points behind the leader.
In last place was Northwest, with an on-time record of 63 percent. Its rating dropped by nearly 30 percentage points from October when it challenged America West for the No. 1 spot.
Northwest blames the nose dive on snow at its hub in Minneapolis, which is suffering through its wettest winter ever. While Salt Lake saw nearly 12 inches of snow in November, the Minnesota capital had 47 inches.
"It practically closed down the airport," said Northwest spokeswoman Amy Spreeman. "Lots of flights headed to Salt Lake never even got off the ground. We had hundreds of cancellations."