Airport month record
BWIMAR
Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall in March 2026
- Departures
- 7,803
- Month
- March 2026
- National, same month
- 75.7%
- Carriers
- 9
Historical statistics for March 2026, not live status or a forecast for this year’s March. For today’s conditions at BWI, see live FAA status.
BWI in March sits in the middle of the pack with a C. Close to three flights in four arrive on time by the DOT's definition, about a point worse than the national rate of 75.7%. The late ones land a little over an hour behind schedule. That rests on 7,803 flights, of which Delta Air Lines flew 428 at 83.9% on time.
Key figures
On time
74.6%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 7,589 completed departures
Avg delay
69 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
2.58%
Nationally in March: 2.90%
Whole year
77.6%
BWI across all twelve months
These figures cover 7,803 departures from Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall 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 BWI's other months
Against BWI's own year, March ran 3 points worse than the twelve-month rate of 77.6%, which makes it number nine of twelve months, best first. Cancellations are where March stands out: 2.58% of scheduled departures were called off, 1.5 times the airport's rate across the year. Either side of it, February ran 83.1% on time and April 79.9%, so a trip moved by a few weeks would have landed in a better stretch.
| Month | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2025 | 8,922 | 66.2% | 92 min | 3.64% | C− |
| August 2025 | 8,381 | 78.8% | 62 min | 0.76% | B+ |
| September 2025 | 7,968 | 85.5% | 56 min | 0.18% | A+ |
| October 2025 | 8,475 | 81.4% | 49 min | 0.14% | B+ |
| November 2025 | 7,721 | 82.9% | 62 min | 1.80% | B |
| December 2025 | 7,863 | 70.4% | 54 min | 1.27% | C |
| January 2026 | 6,934 | 82.9% | 53 min | 5.61% | B− |
| February 2026 | 6,552 | 83.1% | 58 min | 3.59% | B− |
| March 2026 (this page) | 7,803 | 74.6% | 69 min | 2.58% | C |
| April 2026 | 8,041 | 79.9% | 55 min | 0.34% | B+ |
| May 2026 | 8,161 | 76.7% | 59 min | 0.28% | B+ |
| June 2026 | 8,045 | 70.9% | 63 min | 1.16% | C |
Departure window
The best time of day to leave BWI in March
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 29 points, against 10 points between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.
- 5am–8am1,085 flights89.2%
- 8am–11am1,605 flights86.4%
- 11am–2pm1,057 flights79.8%
- 2pm–5pm1,236 flights70.9%
- 5pm–8pm1,333 flights63.1%
- 8pm–5am1,487 flights60.0%
Scale runs 50% to 95%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.
The 8pm–5am window is where this operation falls apart: 60.0% on time, against 89.2% 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 8am–11am window is the busiest, with 1,605 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Wednesday is the strongest day at 83.8% on time and Friday the weakest at 66.6%. 17 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at BWI in March
The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. Delta Air Lines arrives on time 83.9% of the time; Southwest Airlines manages 73.9%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 6,058 flights means less than a ten-point one.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 6,058 | 73.9% | 59 min | 2.15% | C |
| Delta Air Lines | 428 | 83.9% | 115 min | 3.04% | B− |
| United Airlinesthin sample | 309 | 83.3% | 122 min | 0.65% | B+ |
| American Airlinesthin sample | 291 | 79.4% | 131 min | 2.75% | B |
| Frontier Airlinesthin sample | 250 | 62.9% | 88 min | 7.20% | D− |
| Spirit Airlinesthin sample | 217 | 66.5% | 85 min | 9.22% | C− |
| Republic Airwaysthin sample | 143 | 88.3% | 79 min | 4.20% | A− |
| Envoy Airthin sample | 72 | 62.7% | 183 min | 5.56% | D− |
| Alaska Airlinesthin sample | 31 | 38.7% | 53 min | 0.00% | F+ |
Delta Air Lines cancels 3.0% 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 BWI in March
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BWI to MCO · Orlando | 420 | 67.7% | 62 min | 3.81% | C− |
| BWI to ATL · Atlanta | 415 | 76.4% | 85 min | 3.13% | B− |
| BWI to FLL · Fort Lauderdalethin sample | 305 | 70.4% | 65 min | 5.90% | C− |
| BWI to BOS · Bostonthin sample | 266 | 74.3% | 50 min | 3.38% | C− |
| BWI to TPA · Tampathin sample | 263 | 76.5% | 74 min | 3.04% | B− |
| BWI to CLT · Charlottethin sample | 233 | 77.7% | 97 min | 1.72% | B |
| BWI to DEN · Denverthin sample | 211 | 69.6% | 64 min | 2.84% | C |
| BWI to ORD · Chicagothin sample | 198 | 72.3% | 162 min | 4.04% | C− |
| BWI to MIA · Miamithin sample | 180 | 75.7% | 61 min | 3.33% | B− |
| BWI to DTW · Detroitthin sample | 159 | 74.5% | 91 min | 3.77% | C− |
| BWI to ALB · Albanythin sample | 153 | 81.3% | 58 min | 1.96% | B |
| BWI to BNA · Nashvillethin sample | 151 | 80.3% | 64 min | 1.99% | B |
| BWI to RDU · Raleighthin sample | 149 | 77.2% | 46 min | 2.68% | B |
| BWI to PVD · Providencethin sample | 149 | 74.5% | 58 min | 2.68% | C |
| BWI to DAL · Dallasthin sample | 148 | 78.4% | 74 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| BWI to RSW · Fort Myersthin sample | 148 | 66.4% | 56 min | 3.38% | C− |
| BWI to BDL · Hartfordthin sample | 148 | 77.4% | 54 min | 1.35% | B |
| BWI to BUF · Buffalothin sample | 145 | 62.9% | 52 min | 1.38% | D |
| BWI to MHT · Manchesterthin sample | 145 | 81.8% | 47 min | 1.38% | B |
| BWI to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample | 144 | 80.9% | 57 min | 1.39% | B |
| BWI to LAX · Los Angelesthin sample | 143 | 82.3% | 104 min | 0.70% | B+ |
| BWI to SRQ · Sarasotathin sample | 137 | 77.3% | 72 min | 2.92% | B |
| BWI to PBI · West Palm Beachthin sample | 125 | 76.9% | 88 min | 3.20% | B− |
| BWI to MDW · Chicagothin sample | 125 | 68.1% | 69 min | 4.00% | C− |
| BWI to ORF · Norfolkthin sample | 124 | 69.4% | 46 min | 2.42% | C |
Delay causes
What held BWI up in March
One category carries most of the weight here. Late-arriving aircraft accounts for 42% of the 132,000 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.
- 42%Late-arriving aircraft
- 33%Carrier
- 21%National Airspace System
- 3%Extreme weather
- 1%Security
42% 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 132,000 reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 16 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 132,383 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations run at 2.58%, against 2.90% nationally. That is about one flight in 40 cancelled outright. A cancelled flight is invisible in every on-time figure on this page, so the punctuality numbers above describe only the flights that actually operated.
8.2% of arrivals land an hour or more late, close to the national 9.5%. 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 a little over an hour, which a normal layover absorbs.
What to do with this
Flying from BWI in March
For a March trip through BWI: expect 74.6% on time and 2.58% cancelled, going by March 2026. The 5am–8am window was the strongest part of the day.
Related
Where to go next
- Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall (BWI), the whole year
- BWI in July66.2%
- BWI in August78.8%
- BWI in September85.5%
- BWI in October81.4%
- BWI in November82.9%
- BWI in December70.4%
- BWI in January82.9%
- BWI in February83.1%
- BWI in April79.9%
- BWI in May76.7%
- BWI in June70.9%
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.