Miserable Airports...WHAT?

I have traveled with people that think any airport is miserable, and sometimes I would agree. But US News and World Report recently released a story with a "Misery" ranking of the nation's airports. The study included the airport load factor and percentage of delayed flights.

I was most interested in flights from my home airport, Des Moines International (DSM). When I look at the statistics I wasn't surprise about the number of delays since most people fly into Chicago which was #2 on the misery list but what I was excited to see was how high the load factors are. I know, that sounds crazy but the higher the load factor the bigger an opportunity to have more flights, bigger planes and in the end happier customers. I was so pleased to be flying on the only direct flight from Des Moines to New York LaGuardia on an nearly full Embraer-135 Regional Jet. It was a very comfortable flight and it was great to get all the way to New York without a connection.

So here is the breakdown on the "Misery Index" for large airports:

Large Airport Misery Index

Des Moines Numbers:

Percentage of Flights on Time: 70.02%
Load Factor: 73.60%
Percentage of Flights Delayed: 30.00%
Misery Index: 45 of 53

Here is the breakdown of other Regional Aiports