By Associated Press, 02/15/01

NEW YORK -- An analysis of the 100 flights most frequently canceled or severely delayed in the year 2000 shows that 50 percent of them left or were on their way to New York's La Guardia Airport, The New York Times reported Thursday.

Previous statistics complied by the Federal aviation Administration have shown that of the 61,000 flight that pass through La Guardia Airport, more than 15 percent were delayed by at least 15 minutes.

But the new analysis, performed by the Department of Transportation's inspector general for The Times, shows that the airport suffers from an enormous share of the worst flights -- those that were delayed for more than an hour or had been canceled outright.

La Guardia topped the list with the worst record with 50 of the 100 worst flights originating or arriving there. Chicago's O'Hare came in a close second with 46, followed by San Francisco with 17. Newark tied with Los Angeles for fourth with 16.

New York's other airport, John F. Kennedy International airport, was not on the list.

The analysis, which was derived from a larger report submitted to Congress on Monday, shows that if there was an actual "flight from hell" it would most likely be a flight from O'Hare to La Guardia. Nineteen of the worst flights followed that route. Sixteen more fly from San Francisco, and 13 others ply the route between Newark and Chicago.