Comparative Analysis of the Impact of Weather Factors on Flight Delays: Northern vs. Southern United States Airports (2018–2024)

Extreme weather continues to intensify globally and poses significant challenges to aviation operations, where flight delays driven by meteorological disturbances remain a critical threat to schedule reliability, airport capacity, and passenger satisfaction. Recognizing the need for a comprehensive understanding of how climatic variability influences operational performance, this study aims to conduct a comparative analysis of the impact of weather factors on flight delays between Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) in the northern United States and Miami International Airport (MIA) in the southern United States, two regions characterized by contrasting atmospheric regimes. The research utilizes monthly operational datasets from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (2018–2024), including weather-related delays, total delays, and total arrivals, combined with monthly precipitation and near-surface wind speed data obtained from the NASA POWER climate database. A structured methodology integrating time-series analysis, Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) spectral analysis, and correlation modeling is employed to identify dominant temporal patterns, seasonal cycles, and meteorological drivers influencing delay formation. The results reveal strongly seasonal and predictable delay peaks in Chicago associated with winter storms, snow, freezing precipitation, and wind, whereas delays in Miami are shaped primarily by convective rainfall and tropical cyclone activity, producing more irregular and episodic patterns. Spectral analysis confirms that precipitation exhibits a dominant annual frequency in both regions, while wind speed demonstrates weaker and more complex frequency distributions. Correlation analysis further identifies precipitation as the strongest determinant of weather-related delay variability, with wind contributing secondary, event-based effects. In conclusion, the study demonstrates that climatic contrasts significantly shape delay behavior across airports, emphasizing the importance of region-specific operational strategies and climate-adaptive planning to improve resilience, forecast accuracy, and national aviation performance amid increasing weather extremes.