Airport month record
CMHJAN
John Glenn Columbus International in January 2026
- Departures
- 3,296
- Month
- January 2026
- National, same month
- 79.2%
- Carriers
- 9
Historical statistics for January 2026, not live status or a forecast for this year’s January. For today’s conditions at CMH, see live FAA status.
CMH in January carries a cancellation problem, not just a delay problem: 6.3% of scheduled flights never operate, against 4.7% nationally. Of the ones that do fly, about four flights in five arrive on time, worth a B− overall. The punctuality figure counts only flights that actually departed, so it flatters an operation that cancels this often. That rests on 3,296 flights, of which Southwest Airlines flew 931 at 86.8% on time.
Key figures
On time
81.6%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 3,085 completed departures
Avg delay
78 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
6.28%
Nationally in January: 4.71%
Whole year
80.1%
CMH across all twelve months
These figures cover 3,296 departures from John Glenn Columbus International in January 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
January next to CMH's other months
Against CMH's own year, January ran 2 points better than the twelve-month rate of 80.1%, which makes it number six of twelve months, best first. Cancellations are where January stands out: 6.28% of scheduled departures were called off, 3.1 times the airport's rate across the year. Either side of it, December ran 70.7% on time and February 82.9%, so a trip moved by a few weeks would have landed in a worse 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 | 3,567 | 70.7% | 75 min | 1.68% | C |
| January 2026 (this page) | 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 January
Departure time is the single lever a traveller controls, and it moves the odds more than most people expect. Each bar below is the on-time rate for flights scheduled to leave inside that window, across 3,296 flights.
- 5am–8am938 flights86.1%
- 8am–11am617 flights81.1%
- 11am–2pm632 flights80.3%
- 2pm–5pm452 flights80.2%
- 5pm–8pm581 flights77.3%
- 8pm–5am76 flights80.6%
Scale runs 70% to 90%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.
Book the early departure. Flights leaving between 5am–8am arrive on time 86.1% of the time, against 77.3% for the evening window. That is 9 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 938 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Wednesday is the strongest day at 86.8% on time and Monday the weakest at 73.4%. 13 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at CMH in January
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republic Airways | 1,094 | 81.3% | 64 min | 6.76% | B− |
| Southwest Airlines | 931 | 86.8% | 55 min | 6.12% | A− |
| American Airlinesthin sample | 330 | 83.7% | 118 min | 10.61% | B− |
| Delta Air Linesthin sample | 251 | 80.9% | 101 min | 3.98% | B− |
| Envoy Airthin sample | 207 | 74.9% | 99 min | 1.93% | C |
| United Airlinesthin sample | 173 | 78.8% | 90 min | 4.62% | B− |
| PSA Airlinesthin sample | 94 | 74.1% | 129 min | 9.57% | C− |
| SkyWest Airlinesthin sample | 83 | 73.4% | 97 min | 4.82% | C− |
| Spirit Airlinesthin sample | 83 | 71.2% | 74 min | 3.61% | C− |
Republic Airways cancels 6.8% 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 CMH in January
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CMH to ORD · Chicagothin sample | 303 | 72.7% | 92 min | 4.29% | C− |
| CMH to LGA · New Yorkthin sample | 261 | 83.3% | 83 min | 6.13% | B− |
| CMH to ATL · Atlantathin sample | 233 | 82.4% | 109 min | 5.15% | B− |
| CMH to MCO · Orlandothin sample | 184 | 79.0% | 63 min | 4.35% | B− |
| CMH to EWR · Newarkthin sample | 170 | 87.2% | 47 min | 8.24% | A− |
| CMH to DCA · Washingtonthin sample | 168 | 62.1% | 88 min | 8.93% | D− |
| CMH to BOS · Bostonthin sample | 165 | 84.2% | 56 min | 7.88% | B− |
| CMH to CLT · Charlottethin sample | 158 | 84.3% | 78 min | 11.39% | B− |
| CMH to DEN · Denverthin sample | 131 | 84.7% | 56 min | 5.34% | B− |
| CMH to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample | 126 | 76.1% | 124 min | 10.32% | B− |
| CMH to JFK · New Yorkthin sample | 119 | 80.6% | 40 min | 9.24% | B− |
| CMH to MIA · Miamithin sample | 111 | 80.7% | 86 min | 1.80% | B |
| CMH to DTW · Detroitthin sample | 109 | 74.8% | 83 min | 1.83% | C |
| CMH to MDW · Chicagothin sample | 90 | 78.8% | 48 min | 5.56% | B− |
| CMH to PHL · Philadelphiathin sample | 85 | 85.9% | 84 min | 7.06% | A− |
| CMH to FLL · Fort Lauderdalethin sample | 84 | 75.3% | 58 min | 3.57% | B− |
| CMH to PHX · Phoenixthin sample | 83 | 86.8% | 185 min | 8.43% | A− |
| CMH to IAD · Washingtonthin sample | 79 | 90.7% | 65 min | 5.06% | A− |
| CMH to BWI · Baltimorethin sample | 71 | 90.9% | 77 min | 7.04% | A− |
| CMH to TPA · Tampathin sample | 68 | 93.8% | 41 min | 4.41% | A− |
| CMH to BNA · Nashvillethin sample | 65 | 93.3% | 65 min | 7.69% | A− |
| CMH to RSW · Fort Myersthin sample | 65 | 89.8% | 42 min | 6.15% | A− |
| CMH to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample | 58 | 92.7% | 79 min | 5.17% | A− |
| CMH to STL · St. Louisthin sample | 57 | 88.9% | 88 min | 5.26% | A− |
| CMH to IAH · Houstonthin sample | 37 | 91.7% | 26 min | 2.70% | A |
Delay causes
What held CMH up in January
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 45,000 reported delay minutes.
- 37%Carrier
- 32%Late-arriving aircraft
- 23%National Airspace System
- 8%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
The largest share of delay minutes, 37%, 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 17,000 of the 45,000 delay minutes reported here. The split is drawn from 44,559 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations run at 6.28%, against 4.71% nationally. That is about one flight in fifteen 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.
6.8% of arrivals land an hour or more late, close to the national 7.6%. 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 CMH in January
For a January trip through CMH: expect 81.6% on time and 6.28% cancelled, going by January 2026. The 5am–8am window was the strongest part of the day.
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 December70.7%
- 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.