SPECIAL REPORT (MyFoxBoston.com) -- Whether you're headed south for the sunshine, or across the country to see relatives, chances are you'll be traveling in the air sometime this holiday season.
But this year, alone, more than 4,200 flights out of Logan Airport were canceled. What's more, 17 percent of all flights leaving Logan and 20 percent of those arriving were delayed, according to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.
So how do you make sure you're not one of those unlucky people stranded this busy holiday travel season?
Let's face it. Traveling is no vacation these days. But most of us only think about price when booking a flight. Then we get to the airport and realize there are other things that matter to us like how long do we have to wait in line, and does your flight take off on time. So we wondered - is there a more educated way to make a decision about who you book with?
We've all been there: Shoes off, waiting to get through security, then waiting to board, and waiting on the tarmac.
Which airlines statistically keep your waiting to a minimum?
Somerville pilot, author and blogger Patrick Smith has worked for five commercial airlines and writes about air travel.
"Right now the best performing major carrier across the board is probably Delta in terms of baggage, general customer satisfaction and so on," Smith said. "American and United aren't doing so well, but a year or two from now it could be the other way around."
Does there seem to be any kind of diff flying no-frills versus a major carrier?
"No frills airlines tend to be more point-to-point. They don't tend to be concentrated in any one particular city. So when a delay starts happening, it's a little bit more difficult for a no frills or a low cost carrier to recover," said Jim Hetzel of flightstats.com, a website that monitors airline cancellations and delays.
So what are the best bets out of Logan? We broke it down by location.
First, if you're headed to sunny Orlando:
Topping our list is an 8:55 a.m. Delta flight, operated by Virgin, with an impressive 96 percent on-time rating. Flightstats says Delta runs multiple flights from Boston to Orlando daily, which is key.
Airline heather skype 12:52:52 - "When there are delays, they have a lot of resources in those cities to be able to swap aircraft, move crews around, so they tend to be a little more on time," Hetzel said.
Going through JFK in New York?
Delta wins again, with another 8:55 a.m. flight which is on-time, 93 percent of the time.
And if you're headed west, a 7:50 a.m. American Airlines flight to Chicago's O'Hare airport is 90 percent on time.
"Chicago is the hub for American Airlines so they have lots of flights," Hetzel said.
Notice another pattern here? They're all morning flights.
"Beginning of the day is the best time to fly," Hetzel said. "It is less prone to delays that happen during in the middle of the day."
Conversely, those most likely to be delayed tend to be early evening flights.
For example, JetBlue's 4:45 p.m. flight to Orlando has an average delay of almost a full hour. JetBlue's 8:19 p.m. flight to JFK is also late on average by almost a full hour. And US Airway's 5 p.m. flight to Chicago O'Hare is a third bad bet.
All three of those flights are late roughly half the time they fly.
The main culprit for delays and layovers? The weather.
"Seventy percent of all delays tend to be weather related," Hetzel said.
Weather is out of the airlines' control. But topping the list of consumer complaints that carriers can control are security checks and lost baggage. United, American and Sky West are the airlines that rack up the most complaints, by a landslide.
"The best performing airlines for luggage right now are Virgin America, Frontier and Hawaiian," Smith, the airline pilot, said. "Now what strikes me is those are relatively small carriers."
So what are the take aways?
Go early, choose warm destinations to avoid weather delays, and avoid airlines with multiple destinations if you're really worried about losing your luggage.
"Holiday flying is always going to be busier, more stressful, more crowded," Smith said. "There's just no way around that, and it's not that there are more flights, there's just more people flying."
And one more best bet for you if you're looking to get out of dodge this winter: Flightstats.com says one direct flight is JetBlue's 7:45 a.m. direct flight to Nassau, Bahamas. It will get you down to the beach on time, or even early, 87 percent of the time.
As for safety, all of the experts who FOX 25's Heather Hegedus spoke with said there's nothing to worry about with any major commercial carriers, and that flying today is statistically safer than its ever been.