How to Avoid Flight Cancellations and Delays

Planning to fly during the busy summer months? Some tips to help keep you on schedule

- NIA DECAILLE

DELAYS AND CANCELLATIONS are an inevitable reality for air travelers, whether caused by staffing shortages, weather events, or other unusual disruptions. You can do everything right—triple-check your travel insurance, bring your 'Real ID,' and expedite your passage through security—and still be affected, particularly during the busy summer travel season. But there are tricks to minimizing the risk.

Fly earlier in the day Booking the earliest flight possible can help you avoid delays, skip the crowds, and save money, says Hope Williams, 41, a former flight attendant for 15 years. And don't be discouraged by a pre-dawn trek to the airport: "The earlier the better," she says.

Flight delays can ripple through the system; a single delayed flight can affect later flights that use the same plane, crew, or airport resources. "I always advise the early departure because typically earlier in the day you don't have those delays," Williams says.