Airport month record
ABQMAR
Albuquerque International Sunport in March 2026
- Departures
- 2,011
- Month
- March 2026
- National, same month
- 75.7%
- Carriers
- 7
Historical statistics for March 2026, not live status or a forecast for this year’s March. For today’s conditions at ABQ, see live FAA status.
ABQ in March earns a B. More than four flights in five arrive inside the 15-minute window the DOT uses to define an on-time arrival, which puts it 9 points better than the national rate of 75.7%. When something does go wrong the average delay runs a little over an hour. That rests on 2,011 flights, of which SkyWest Airlines flew 486 at 87.6% on time.
Set against the rest of the country, ABQ's March record is 9 points better than the US average of 75.7%. That gap is worth roughly 88 fewer late arrivals for every thousand flights.
Key figures
On time
84.5%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 1,985 completed departures
Avg delay
72 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
1.04%
Nationally in March: 2.90%
Whole year
83.1%
ABQ across all twelve months
These figures cover 2,011 departures from Albuquerque International Sunport in March 2026. On time means an arrival less than 15 minutes after the scheduled gate time, the DOT's threshold, and the national comparison uses every US departure in the same month rather than the whole year.
Against the year
March next to ABQ's other months
Against ABQ's own year, March ran about a point better than the twelve-month rate of 83.1%, which makes it number five of twelve months, best first. Either side of it, February ran 87.3% on time and April 83.9%, so this month sits in line with its neighbours.
| Month | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 2025 | 2,049 | 85.7% | 77 min | 0.49% | A+ |
| October 2025 | 2,383 | 84.1% | 75 min | 0.38% | B+ |
| November 2025 | 2,020 | 85.6% | 67 min | 1.63% | A |
| December 2025 | 2,054 | 83.2% | 69 min | 0.44% | B+ |
| January 2026 | 1,759 | 87.0% | 73 min | 2.27% | A |
| February 2026 | 1,679 | 87.3% | 64 min | 0.66% | A+ |
| March 2026 (this page) | 2,011 | 84.5% | 72 min | 1.04% | B |
| April 2026 | 1,969 | 83.9% | 63 min | 0.56% | B+ |
| May 2026 | 2,151 | 82.1% | 71 min | 0.65% | B+ |
| June 2026 | 2,163 | 78.0% | 69 min | 1.06% | B |
| July 2026 | 2,227 | 78.0% | 81 min | 0.72% | B+ |
| August 2026 | 2,082 | 80.3% | 73 min | 0.67% | B+ |
Departure window
The best time of day to leave ABQ in March
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 34 points, against 6 points between the best and worst carrier.
- 5am–8am517 flights95.7%
- 8am–11am352 flights87.1%
- 11am–2pm385 flights85.7%
- 2pm–5pm420 flights76.4%
- 5pm–8pm272 flights76.7%
- 8pm–5am65 flights61.5%
Scale runs 55% to 100%.
The 8pm–5am window is where this operation falls apart: 61.5% on time, against 95.7% for the 5am–8am slot. By evening the aircraft flying these rotations have absorbed a full day of small delays and there is no slack left to recover in. The 5am–8am window is the busiest, with 517 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Wednesday is the strongest day at 90.2% on time and Friday the weakest at 81.0%, a spread of 9 points.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at ABQ in March
The two carriers here are closely matched: 6 points separate the best from the worst. At that spread, schedule and price are better tie-breakers than reliability. Sample sizes are shown so you can see which rows are worth weighing.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 956 | 82.1% | 56 min | 0.63% | B+ |
| SkyWest Airlines | 486 | 87.6% | 75 min | 0.82% | A+ |
| American Airlinesthin sample | 200 | 82.3% | 91 min | 0.50% | B+ |
| United Airlinesthin sample | 189 | 88.7% | 131 min | 1.06% | A |
| Delta Air Linesthin sample | 87 | 84.3% | 126 min | 4.60% | B− |
| Envoy Airthin sample | 58 | 90.6% | 47 min | 5.17% | A− |
| Alaska Airlinesthin sample | 31 | 90.0% | 36 min | 3.23% | A− |
No carrier stands out. SkyWest tops the table at 87.6%, 6 points clear of the bottom, which is inside the range this kind of sample moves year to year.
Route by route
Busiest routes out of ABQ in March
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABQ to PHX · Phoenixthin sample | 306 | 84.6% | 60 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| ABQ to DEN · Denverthin sample | 249 | 81.4% | 70 min | 0.80% | B+ |
| ABQ to LAX · Los Angelesthin sample | 195 | 91.3% | 120 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| ABQ to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample | 173 | 85.3% | 99 min | 1.16% | A |
| ABQ to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample | 145 | 78.6% | 49 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| ABQ to DAL · Dallasthin sample | 145 | 90.1% | 51 min | 2.07% | A |
| ABQ to ORD · Chicagothin sample | 114 | 85.2% | 97 min | 3.51% | A− |
| ABQ to SLC · Salt Lake Citythin sample | 92 | 84.8% | 44 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| ABQ to ATL · Atlantathin sample | 87 | 84.3% | 126 min | 4.60% | B− |
| ABQ to HOU · Houstonthin sample | 84 | 77.1% | 64 min | 1.19% | B |
| ABQ to AUS · Austinthin sample | 72 | 76.4% | 59 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| ABQ to SFO · San Franciscothin sample | 56 | 87.5% | 56 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| ABQ to IAH · Houstonthin sample | 54 | 84.6% | 155 min | 3.70% | B− |
| ABQ to SAN · San Diegothin sample | 54 | 85.2% | 74 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| ABQ to BWI · Baltimorethin sample | 31 | 71.0% | 43 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| ABQ to MDW · Chicagothin sample | 31 | 82.8% | 48 min | 6.45% | B− |
| ABQ to SEA · Seattlethin sample | 31 | 90.0% | 36 min | 3.23% | A− |
Delay causes
What held ABQ up in March
Late-arriving aircraft accounts for 43% of the 22,000 delay minutes carriers reported here, and the remaining four split what is left.
- 43%Late-arriving aircraft
- 31%Carrier
- 19%National Airspace System
- 6%Extreme weather
- 1%Security
43% of delay minutes trace back to a late-arriving aircraft, meaning the plane was already behind before it got here. Across 22,000 reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 8 to one. The split is drawn from 21,944 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations sit at 1.04% against a national 2.90%, which is ordinary. Diversions add another 0.25%.
5.6% of arrivals land an hour or more late, close to the national 9.5%, so a 60 to 75 minute layover is reasonable here while anything under 45 minutes is a bet. Most delays on this route last a little over an hour, which a normal layover absorbs.
What to do with this
Flying from ABQ in March
For a March trip through ABQ: expect 84.5% on time and 1.04% cancelled, going by March 2026. The 5am–8am window was the strongest part of the day.
Related
Where to go next
- Albuquerque International Sunport (ABQ), the whole year
- ABQ in September85.7%
- ABQ in October84.1%
- ABQ in November85.6%
- ABQ in December83.2%
- ABQ in January87.0%
- ABQ in February87.3%
- ABQ in April83.9%
- ABQ in May82.1%
- ABQ in June78.0%
- ABQ in July78.0%
- ABQ in August80.3%
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, on-time performance data, September 2025 to August 2026. Last updated ; recomputed monthly. How this data is collected.