Or ORD, Or LGA, Or JFK...

Just in time for the holidays, in what could be taken as a precautionary measure -- or simply rubbing it in -- Forbes has released its list of the most stressful US commercial airports.

The business publication took information gleaned from the Department of Transportation's November 2008 Air Travel Consumer Report, to determine which airports had the worst records for on-time arrivals and departures from September 2007 through September 2008. Airports were then rated worst-to-best.

It will likely not come as a surprise to anyone used to flying from the Northeastern US that four area airports appear in the top five: Philadelphia International, John F. Kennedy International, Newark International and LaGuardia International. Only Chicago O'Hare -- tied for second with JFK on the worst list -- breaks the stranglehold.

In fact, an airport's on-time performance generally improves the further west you go. Los Angeles International handles more traffic than JFK or O'Hare... and rates much better when it comes to delays. The secret, according to AAA, is that LAX has a lot more breathing room -- more gates, parallel runways, and less-congested airspace.

There's some good news to report. If you're traveling onboard a commercial airliner over the upcoming holiday season, you'll be doing so with 7.2 percent fewer people around, according to the American Automobile Association. The overall number of planes flying has dropped by 12 percent, the result of cuts in capacity seen over the past year.

In doing the math, however, passengers will arrive at a sad reality: the planes that are flying will still be jam-packed. The Air Transport Association says commercial airliners will be 90 percent full on the three busiest travel days of the Thanksgiving season -- November 26, November 30 and December 1.

That's news that makes the idea of a horse-drawn sleigh seem more than just nostalgic. It may just be preferable!

FMI: www.airlines.org, www.aaa.com