Airport month record

ABQMAY

Albuquerque International Sunport in May 2026

Departures: 2,151
Month: May 2026
National, same month: 78.6%
Carriers: 7

Historical statistics for May 2026, not live status or a forecast for this year’s May. For today’s conditions at ABQ, see live FAA status.

ABQ in May lands a B+, 4 points better than the national rate of 78.6%. About one flight in six arrives 15 minutes late or worse, and those flights are late by a little over an hour on average. That rests on 2,151 flights, of which SkyWest Airlines flew 470 at 88.3% on time.

On time

82.1%

Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 2,129 completed departures

Avg delay

71 min

Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights

Cancelled

0.65%

Nationally in May: 0.92%

Whole year

83.1%

ABQ across all twelve months

These figures cover 2,151 departures from Albuquerque International Sunport in May 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

May next to ABQ's other months

Against ABQ's own year, May ran about a point worse than the twelve-month rate of 83.1%, which makes it number nine of twelve months, best first. Either side of it, April ran 83.9% on time and June 78.0%, so this month sits in line with its neighbours.

ABQ month by month
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	2,011	84.5%	72 min	1.04%	B
April 2026	1,969	83.9%	63 min	0.56%	B+
May 2026 (this page)	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 May

Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 31 points, against 10 points between the best and worst carrier.

5am–8am606 flights95.2%
8am–11am343 flights90.2%
11am–2pm458 flights81.0%
2pm–5pm283 flights64.2%
5pm–8pm366 flights72.5%
8pm–5am95 flights64.9%

Scale runs 55% to 100%.

Book the early departure. Flights leaving between 5am–8am arrive on time 95.2% of the time, against 64.2% for the afternoon window. That is 31 points of difference for no extra money, and it comes from the same aircraft having had no earlier flight to fall behind on. The 5am–8am window is the busiest, with 606 flights scheduled in it.

Across the week, Saturday is the strongest day at 89.9% on time and Monday the weakest at 77.5%, a spread of 12 points.

Carrier by carrier

Which airlines ran best at ABQ in May

The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. SkyWest Airlines arrives on time 88.3% of the time; Southwest Airlines manages 78.3%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 969 flights means less than a ten-point one.

Carriers at ABQ in May 2026
Airline	Flights	On time	Avg delay	Cancelled	Grade
Southwest Airlines	969	78.3%	61 min	0.21%	B+
SkyWest Airlines	470	88.3%	72 min	0.00%	A+
American Airlinesthin sample	238	82.3%	121 min	3.78%	B−
United Airlinesthin sample	233	79.1%	72 min	0.86%	B+
Delta Air Linesthin sample	111	91.8%	59 min	0.90%	A+
Alaska Airlinesthin sample	57	86.0%	46 min	0.00%	A+
Envoy Airthin sample	44	79.5%	88 min	0.00%	B+

SkyWest leads Southwest by 10 points. Real, but small enough that a better departure time on the weaker carrier can outweigh it.

Route by route

Busiest routes out of ABQ in May

Routes from ABQ in May 2026
Route	Flights	On time	Avg delay	Cancelled	Grade
ABQ to DEN · Denverthin sample	296	82.4%	56 min	0.34%	B+
ABQ to PHX · Phoenixthin sample	270	82.2%	70 min	0.00%	B+
ABQ to LAX · Los Angelesthin sample	207	90.8%	54 min	0.00%	A+
ABQ to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample	204	79.4%	121 min	4.41%	B−
ABQ to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample	150	83.2%	63 min	0.67%	B+
ABQ to DAL · Dallasthin sample	136	68.4%	65 min	0.74%	C+
ABQ to SLC · Salt Lake Citythin sample	113	92.0%	53 min	0.00%	A+
ABQ to ORD · Chicagothin sample	103	81.0%	85 min	0.00%	B+
ABQ to ATL · Atlantathin sample	87	89.5%	59 min	1.15%	A
ABQ to HOU · Houstonthin sample	84	77.1%	50 min	0.00%	B+
ABQ to AUS · Austinthin sample	80	73.8%	74 min	0.00%	C+
ABQ to SFO · San Franciscothin sample	76	59.2%	67 min	0.00%	D+
ABQ to SEA · Seattlethin sample	57	86.0%	46 min	0.00%	A+
ABQ to SAN · San Diegothin sample	57	80.7%	69 min	0.00%	B+
ABQ to IAH · Houstonthin sample	34	91.2%	108 min	0.00%	A+
ABQ to OAK · Oaklandthin sample	31	90.3%	27 min	0.00%	A+
ABQ to IAD · Washingtonthin sample	31	93.3%	92 min	3.23%	A−
ABQ to BWI · Baltimorethin sample	31	90.0%	51 min	0.00%	A+
ABQ to MDW · Chicagothin sample	31	80.6%	31 min	0.00%	B+

Delay causes

What held ABQ up in May

Late-arriving aircraft accounts for 48% of the 27,000 delay minutes carriers reported here, and the remaining four split what is left.

Late-arriving aircraft
48%
National Airspace System
23%
Carrier
23%
Extreme weather
6%

48% of delay minutes trace back to a late-arriving aircraft, meaning the plane was already behind before it got here. Across 27,000 reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 8 to one. The split is drawn from 26,995 reported delay minutes.

Cancellations are rare at 0.65%, below the national 0.92% and low enough to earn the plus on the grade. Roughly one flight in 100 is called off; the risk here is arriving late, not not arriving.

6.3% of arrivals land an hour or more late, close to the national 7.1%, 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 May

For a May trip through ABQ: expect 82.1% on time and 0.65% cancelled, going by May 2026. The 5am–8am window was the strongest part of the day.

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 March84.5%
ABQ in April83.9%
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 22 October 2026; recomputed monthly. How this data is collected.

Key figures