Airport month record
CMHDEC
John Glenn Columbus International in December 2025
- Departures
- 3,567
- Month
- December 2025
- National, same month
- 73.2%
- Carriers
- 10
Historical statistics for December 2025, not live status or a forecast for this year’s December. For today’s conditions at CMH, see live FAA status.
CMH in December sits in the middle of the pack with a C. About seven flights in ten arrive on time by the DOT's definition, 3 points worse than the national rate of 73.2%. The late ones land a little over an hour behind schedule. That rests on 3,567 flights, of which Southwest Airlines flew 1,102 at 75.3% on time.
Key figures
On time
70.7%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 3,504 completed departures
Avg delay
75 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
1.68%
Nationally in December: 1.55%
Whole year
80.1%
CMH across all twelve months
These figures cover 3,567 departures from John Glenn Columbus 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 CMH's other months
Against CMH's own year, December ran 9 points worse than the twelve-month rate of 80.1%, which makes it the worst of the twelve months in the data. Either side of it, November ran 79.9% on time and January 81.6%, 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 | 3,933 | 73.3% | 79 min | 3.41% | C− |
| August 2025 | 3,758 | 82.1% | 68 min | 1.41% | B |
| September 2025 | 3,726 | 85.2% | 67 min | 0.51% | A+ |
| October 2025 | 4,031 | 81.1% | 67 min | 0.72% | B+ |
| November 2025 | 3,641 | 79.9% | 77 min | 1.81% | B |
| December 2025 (this page) | 3,567 | 70.7% | 75 min | 1.68% | C |
| January 2026 | 3,296 | 81.6% | 78 min | 6.28% | B− |
| February 2026 | 3,231 | 82.9% | 75 min | 2.72% | B |
| March 2026 | 4,010 | 76.4% | 86 min | 3.24% | B− |
| April 2026 | 3,713 | 84.2% | 72 min | 0.51% | B+ |
| May 2026 | 3,860 | 83.4% | 65 min | 1.22% | B |
| June 2026 | 3,876 | 81.0% | 78 min | 1.57% | B |
Departure window
The best time of day to leave CMH in December
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 21 points, against 5 points between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.
- 5am–8am1,026 flights78.2%
- 8am–11am509 flights75.4%
- 11am–2pm659 flights70.9%
- 2pm–5pm507 flights64.7%
- 5pm–8pm704 flights63.5%
- 8pm–5am162 flights56.9%
Scale runs 50% to 85%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.
The 8pm–5am window is where this operation falls apart: 56.9% on time, against 78.2% 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 1,026 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Wednesday is the strongest day at 76.7% on time and Sunday the weakest at 63.8%. 13 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at CMH in December
The two carriers here are closely matched: 5 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 | 1,102 | 75.3% | 57 min | 0.45% | B+ |
| Republic Airways | 1,050 | 70.6% | 64 min | 2.95% | C |
| American Airlinesthin sample | 319 | 74.7% | 129 min | 0.94% | C+ |
| Delta Air Linesthin sample | 267 | 78.4% | 92 min | 1.12% | B |
| Envoy Airthin sample | 259 | 68.9% | 72 min | 0.77% | C+ |
| United Airlinesthin sample | 210 | 57.4% | 90 min | 0.48% | D+ |
| PSA Airlinesthin sample | 125 | 62.1% | 65 min | 7.20% | D− |
| SkyWest Airlinesthin sample | 92 | 48.3% | 134 min | 3.26% | F− |
| Spirit Airlinesthin sample | 89 | 60.5% | 67 min | 2.25% | D |
| Alaska Airlinesthin sample | 31 | 38.7% | 59 min | 0.00% | F+ |
No carrier stands out. Southwest tops the table at 75.3%, 5 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 CMH in December
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CMH to ORD · Chicagothin sample | 349 | 58.6% | 100 min | 1.72% | D |
| CMH to LGA · New Yorkthin sample | 260 | 71.7% | 69 min | 4.62% | C− |
| CMH to ATL · Atlantathin sample | 253 | 78.4% | 92 min | 1.19% | B |
| CMH to MCO · Orlandothin sample | 194 | 73.1% | 69 min | 0.52% | C+ |
| CMH to EWR · Newarkthin sample | 178 | 66.9% | 66 min | 5.06% | C− |
| CMH to CLT · Charlottethin sample | 171 | 75.7% | 73 min | 1.17% | B |
| CMH to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample | 158 | 70.3% | 103 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| CMH to DCA · Washingtonthin sample | 149 | 53.5% | 55 min | 3.36% | F− |
| CMH to BOS · Bostonthin sample | 148 | 82.2% | 54 min | 1.35% | B |
| CMH to DEN · Denverthin sample | 141 | 63.1% | 64 min | 0.00% | D+ |
| CMH to JFK · New Yorkthin sample | 133 | 69.0% | 67 min | 2.26% | C |
| CMH to MIA · Miamithin sample | 108 | 69.4% | 58 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| CMH to DTW · Detroitthin sample | 107 | 64.4% | 90 min | 2.80% | D |
| CMH to MDW · Chicagothin sample | 106 | 73.6% | 59 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| CMH to PHX · Phoenixthin sample | 100 | 73.7% | 154 min | 1.00% | C |
| CMH to BWI · Baltimorethin sample | 94 | 80.6% | 46 min | 1.06% | B |
| CMH to BNA · Nashvillethin sample | 91 | 81.3% | 53 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| CMH to PHL · Philadelphiathin sample | 91 | 79.1% | 70 min | 5.49% | B− |
| CMH to TPA · Tampathin sample | 86 | 77.6% | 70 min | 1.16% | B |
| CMH to RSW · Fort Myersthin sample | 76 | 65.8% | 53 min | 2.63% | C |
| CMH to IAD · Washingtonthin sample | 76 | 75.0% | 61 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| CMH to FLL · Fort Lauderdalethin sample | 73 | 64.3% | 57 min | 4.11% | D− |
| CMH to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample | 64 | 71.9% | 83 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| CMH to STL · St. Louisthin sample | 57 | 80.7% | 33 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| CMH to DAL · Dallasthin sample | 50 | 84.0% | 39 min | 0.00% | B+ |
Delay causes
What held CMH up in December
Carriers report a reason for every delay minute they cause, in five DOT categories. The split below is by minutes, not by number of flights, so a handful of very long weather delays weighs as much as many short ones. It covers 77,000 reported delay minutes.
- 35%Carrier
- 34%Late-arriving aircraft
- 27%National Airspace System
- 4%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
The largest share of delay minutes, 35%, falls under carrier control: crew scheduling, maintenance, fuelling, baggage. Unlike weather, that is a management outcome, and it is the category where the gap between two carriers on the same schedule is genuinely earned. It accounts for 27,000 of the 77,000 delay minutes reported here. The split is drawn from 76,964 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations sit at 1.68% against a national 1.55%, which is ordinary. Diversions add another 0.08%.
For anyone connecting, the number to weigh is not the on-time rate but the tail behind it. 10.9% of arrivals land a full hour or more behind schedule, against 10.0% nationally. A 45-minute layover does not survive that, and no amount of walking quickly changes it. Ninety minutes is the honest minimum here, and two hours if the onward flight is on a separate ticket.
What to do with this
Flying from CMH in December
For a December trip through CMH: plan on this being one of the airport's harder months. The 5am–8am departures held up best at 78.2% on time, and with 10.9% of arrivals an hour or more late, a connection here deserves more slack than the same trip in September would.
Related
Where to go next
- John Glenn Columbus International (CMH), the whole year
- CMH in July73.3%
- CMH in August82.1%
- CMH in September85.2%
- CMH in October81.1%
- CMH in November79.9%
- CMH in January81.6%
- CMH in February82.9%
- CMH in March76.4%
- CMH in April84.2%
- CMH in May83.4%
- CMH in June81.0%
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.