Airport month record

BNADEC

Nashville International in December 2025

Departures: 8,776
Month: December 2025
National, same month: 73.2%
Carriers: 13

Historical statistics for December 2025, not live status or a forecast for this year’s December. For today’s conditions at BNA, see live FAA status.

BNA in December sits in the middle of the pack with a C+. Close to three flights in four arrive on time by the DOT's definition, 2 points better than the national rate of 73.2%. The late ones land about an hour behind schedule. That rests on 8,776 flights, of which American Airlines flew 698 at 81.2% on time.

American Airlines is the most reliable of the five carriers covered here at 81.2% on time across 698 flights.

On time

74.9%

Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 8,670 completed departures

Avg delay

64 min

Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights

Cancelled

0.99%

Nationally in December: 1.55%

Whole year

76.2%

BNA across all twelve months

These figures cover 8,776 departures from Nashville International in December 2025. 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

December next to BNA's other months

Against BNA's own year, December ran about a point worse than the twelve-month rate of 76.2%, which makes it number nine of twelve months, best first. Either side of it, November ran 79.0% on time and January 84.3%, so a trip moved by a few weeks would have landed in a better stretch.

BNA month by month
Month	Flights	On time	Avg delay	Cancelled	Grade
July 2025	9,459	69.6%	80 min	2.09%	C
August 2025	9,012	80.8%	63 min	0.81%	B+
September 2025	8,686	85.2%	62 min	0.24%	A+
October 2025	9,841	75.4%	59 min	0.42%	B+
November 2025	8,849	79.0%	68 min	1.22%	B
December 2025 (this page)	8,776	74.9%	64 min	0.99%	C+
January 2026	7,853	84.3%	66 min	7.07%	B−
February 2026	7,542	81.0%	56 min	1.62%	B
March 2026	9,623	75.1%	71 min	2.31%	B
April 2026	9,617	77.7%	58 min	0.60%	B+
May 2026	9,814	70.6%	57 min	0.57%	C+
June 2026	9,725	65.5%	61 min	0.98%	C+

Departure window

The best time of day to leave BNA in December

Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 24 points, against 12 points between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.

5am–8am1,682 flights86.2%
8am–11am1,581 flights83.9%
11am–2pm1,506 flights77.3%
2pm–5pm1,681 flights68.4%
5pm–8pm1,564 flights64.5%
8pm–5am762 flights61.9%

Scale runs 55% to 90%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.

The 8pm–5am window is where this operation falls apart: 61.9% on time, against 86.2% 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 1,682 flights scheduled in it.

Across the week, Wednesday is the strongest day at 86.4% on time and Sunday the weakest at 68.4%. 18 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.

Carrier by carrier

Which airlines ran best at BNA in December

The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. American Airlines arrives on time 81.2% of the time; Republic Airways manages 69.1%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 665 flights means less than a ten-point one.

Carriers at BNA in December 2025
Airline	Flights	On time	Avg delay	Cancelled	Grade
Southwest Airlines	5,069	76.7%	52 min	0.39%	B+
Delta Air Lines	762	78.1%	86 min	3.28%	B−
American Airlines	698	81.2%	83 min	0.14%	B+
Republic Airways	665	69.1%	72 min	1.80%	C
United Airlines	457	72.6%	58 min	0.66%	C+
SkyWest Airlinesthin sample	245	67.4%	101 min	0.82%	C+
Allegiant Airthin sample	184	65.2%	136 min	0.54%	C+
Spirit Airlinesthin sample	174	61.7%	81 min	4.02%	D−
Envoy Airthin sample	154	71.2%	63 min	0.65%	C+
PSA Airlinesthin sample	151	57.2%	82 min	3.97%	D−
JetBlue Airwaysthin sample	90	63.9%	52 min	7.78%	D−
Alaska Airlinesthin sample	90	50.0%	37 min	1.11%	F
Frontier Airlinesthin sample	37	91.7%	52 min	2.70%	A

Delta Air Lines cancels 3.3% of what it schedules here, the highest in the table. A cancelled flight never appears in an on-time rate, so read that column alongside the punctuality one rather than after it.

Route by route

Busiest routes out of BNA in December

Routes from BNA in December 2025
Route	Flights	On time	Avg delay	Cancelled	Grade
BNA to ORD · Chicago	367	65.9%	86 min	0.82%	C+
BNA to ATL · Atlantathin sample	344	80.8%	77 min	1.74%	B
BNA to DCA · Washingtonthin sample	344	70.2%	65 min	0.29%	C+
BNA to LGA · New Yorkthin sample	325	68.1%	78 min	4.92%	C−
BNA to CLT · Charlottethin sample	296	76.2%	69 min	0.68%	B+
BNA to MCO · Orlandothin sample	296	76.0%	64 min	1.35%	B
BNA to DEN · Denverthin sample	279	76.6%	47 min	0.36%	B+
BNA to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample	266	81.6%	58 min	0.00%	B+
BNA to AUS · Austinthin sample	251	79.3%	62 min	0.00%	B+
BNA to FLL · Fort Lauderdalethin sample	218	66.0%	58 min	1.38%	C
BNA to MIA · Miamithin sample	214	80.3%	56 min	0.47%	B+
BNA to DAL · Dallasthin sample	211	79.1%	51 min	0.00%	B+
BNA to DTW · Detroitthin sample	206	69.2%	87 min	2.43%	C
BNA to PHL · Philadelphiathin sample	204	74.2%	73 min	2.94%	C
BNA to BOS · Bostonthin sample	203	74.4%	52 min	1.48%	C
BNA to TPA · Tampathin sample	202	70.9%	51 min	0.99%	C+
BNA to RDU · Raleighthin sample	200	72.7%	60 min	0.50%	C+
BNA to LAX · Los Angelesthin sample	195	74.7%	75 min	0.51%	C+
BNA to PHX · Phoenixthin sample	188	83.5%	123 min	0.00%	B+
BNA to HOU · Houstonthin sample	162	77.6%	43 min	0.00%	B+
BNA to EWR · Newarkthin sample	152	63.5%	59 min	2.63%	D
BNA to MDW · Chicagothin sample	152	80.8%	42 min	0.00%	B+
BNA to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample	148	83.1%	40 min	0.00%	B+
BNA to BWI · Baltimorethin sample	134	81.4%	62 min	3.73%	B−
BNA to JFK · New Yorkthin sample	131	67.2%	82 min	6.87%	C−

Delay causes

What held BNA up in December

One category carries most of the weight here. Late-arriving aircraft accounts for 49% of the 140,000 delay minutes carriers reported, and the remaining four split what is left. The split is by minutes rather than by flights, so a few very long delays count for as much as many short ones.

Late-arriving aircraft
49%
Carrier
33%
National Airspace System
17%
Extreme weather
1%
Security
0%

49% of delay minutes trace back to a late-arriving aircraft, meaning the plane was already behind before it got here. That is a cascade, and cascades start small and grow through the day. Across 140,000 reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 42 to one. It is the strongest argument for booking the first departure of the morning, when the aircraft has been sitting at the gate overnight with nothing to inherit. The split is drawn from 139,620 reported delay minutes.

Cancellations sit at 0.99% against a national 1.55%, which is ordinary. Diversions add another 0.22%.

8.0% of arrivals land an hour or more late, close to the national 10.0%. That is the figure that decides a connection, and it says a 60 to 75 minute layover is reasonable here while anything under 45 minutes is a bet. Most delays on this route last about an hour, which a normal layover absorbs.

What to do with this

Flying from BNA in December

For a December trip through BNA: expect 74.9% on time and 0.99% cancelled, going by December 2025. The 5am–8am window was the strongest part of the day.

Nashville International (BNA), the whole year
BNA in July69.6%
BNA in August80.8%
BNA in September85.2%
BNA in October75.4%
BNA in November79.0%
BNA in January84.3%
BNA in February81.0%
BNA in March75.1%
BNA in April77.7%
BNA in May70.6%
BNA in June65.5%

Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, on-time performance data, July 2025 to June 2026. Last updated 15 September 2026; recomputed monthly. How this data is collected.

Key figures