Airport month record
CVGJAN
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International in January 2026
- Departures
- 2,380
- Month
- January 2026
- National, same month
- 79.2%
- Carriers
- 11
Historical statistics for January 2026, not live status or a forecast for this year’s January. For today’s conditions at CVG, see live FAA status.
CVG 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 2,380 flights, with a median arrival 10 minutes early.
Key figures
On time
80.3%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 2,228 completed departures
Avg delay
81 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
6.26%
Nationally in January: 4.71%
Whole year
78.8%
CVG across all twelve months
These figures cover 2,380 departures from Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky 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 CVG's other months
Against CVG's own year, January ran 2 points better than the twelve-month rate of 78.8%, which makes it number seven of twelve months, best first. Cancellations are where January stands out: 6.26% of scheduled departures were called off, 3.3 times the airport's rate across the year. Either side of it, December ran 67.7% on time and February 77.8%, 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 | 3,077 | 71.5% | 94 min | 2.73% | C |
| August 2025 | 2,894 | 80.7% | 81 min | 1.11% | B |
| September 2025 | 2,613 | 85.4% | 69 min | 0.61% | A+ |
| October 2025 | 2,941 | 81.2% | 61 min | 0.48% | B+ |
| November 2025 | 2,713 | 82.7% | 86 min | 2.69% | B |
| December 2025 | 2,710 | 67.7% | 84 min | 1.70% | C |
| January 2026 (this page) | 2,380 | 80.3% | 81 min | 6.26% | B− |
| February 2026 | 2,270 | 77.8% | 70 min | 1.45% | B |
| March 2026 | 3,105 | 75.4% | 90 min | 2.80% | B |
| April 2026 | 2,835 | 83.6% | 85 min | 1.02% | B |
| May 2026 | 3,064 | 82.4% | 66 min | 1.01% | B |
| June 2026 | 3,129 | 77.7% | 83 min | 1.57% | B |
Departure window
The best time of day to leave CVG in January
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 17 points, against half a point between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.
- 5am–8am687 flights84.3%
- 8am–11am434 flights86.6%
- 11am–2pm346 flights80.1%
- 2pm–5pm470 flights78.1%
- 5pm–8pm371 flights69.2%
- 8pm–5am72 flights78.5%
Scale runs 60% to 90%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.
Book the morning departure. Flights leaving between 8am–11am arrive on time 86.6% of the time, against 69.2% for the evening window. That is 17 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 687 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Thursday is the strongest day at 85.9% on time and Sunday the weakest at 74.3%. 12 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at CVG in January
Only one carrier clears this site's 365-flight floor here, so there is no comparison to draw. The table below is the full picture.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delta Air Lines | 511 | 87.2% | 68 min | 4.70% | A− |
| Republic Airwaysthin sample | 273 | 83.6% | 59 min | 8.42% | B− |
| Frontier Airlinesthin sample | 260 | 71.2% | 86 min | 3.46% | C− |
| PSA Airlinesthin sample | 254 | 77.3% | 110 min | 9.84% | B− |
| American Airlinesthin sample | 229 | 78.8% | 106 min | 11.35% | B− |
| Allegiant Airthin sample | 200 | 81.2% | 80 min | 4.00% | B− |
| Envoy Airthin sample | 193 | 83.5% | 51 min | 5.70% | B− |
| United Airlinesthin sample | 177 | 81.3% | 75 min | 3.39% | B− |
| Southwest Airlinesthin sample | 166 | 85.2% | 34 min | 6.63% | A− |
| SkyWest Airlinesthin sample | 87 | 56.6% | 125 min | 4.60% | D− |
| Alaska Airlinesthin sample | 30 | 60.7% | 41 min | 6.67% | D− |
Route by route
Busiest routes out of CVG in January
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVG to ORD · Chicagothin sample | 294 | 68.8% | 94 min | 5.10% | C− |
| CVG to ATL · Atlantathin sample | 212 | 89.6% | 71 min | 4.72% | A− |
| CVG to MCO · Orlandothin sample | 157 | 72.7% | 66 min | 4.46% | C− |
| CVG to BOS · Bostonthin sample | 139 | 87.2% | 65 min | 10.07% | A− |
| CVG to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample | 136 | 78.5% | 83 min | 11.03% | B− |
| CVG to CLT · Charlottethin sample | 135 | 83.2% | 80 min | 11.85% | B− |
| CVG to DEN · Denverthin sample | 115 | 85.5% | 48 min | 4.35% | A− |
| CVG to MIA · Miamithin sample | 109 | 82.9% | 65 min | 3.67% | B− |
| CVG to PHL · Philadelphiathin sample | 90 | 88.0% | 143 min | 7.78% | A− |
| CVG to DCA · Washingtonthin sample | 88 | 58.4% | 100 min | 12.50% | D− |
| CVG to FLL · Fort Lauderdalethin sample | 71 | 75.0% | 48 min | 4.23% | B− |
| CVG to RSW · Fort Myersthin sample | 63 | 76.3% | 45 min | 4.76% | B− |
| CVG to SEA · Seattlethin sample | 61 | 74.6% | 49 min | 3.28% | C− |
| CVG to JFK · New Yorkthin sample | 60 | 83.3% | 45 min | 10.00% | B− |
| CVG to BWI · Baltimorethin sample | 58 | 89.1% | 25 min | 5.17% | A− |
| CVG to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample | 53 | 75.5% | 64 min | 5.66% | B− |
| CVG to IAH · Houstonthin sample | 53 | 94.1% | 126 min | 3.77% | A− |
| CVG to TPA · Tampathin sample | 52 | 78.4% | 111 min | 1.92% | B |
| CVG to SLC · Salt Lake Citythin sample | 49 | 95.7% | 265 min | 6.12% | A− |
| CVG to PHX · Phoenixthin sample | 47 | 71.1% | 152 min | 4.26% | C− |
| CVG to BNA · Nashvillethin sample | 32 | 90.0% | 48 min | 6.25% | A− |
| CVG to LAX · Los Angelesthin sample | 31 | 71.4% | 91 min | 9.68% | C− |
| CVG to MDW · Chicagothin sample | 31 | 89.3% | 22 min | 9.68% | A− |
Delay causes
What held CVG up in January
One category carries most of the weight here. Late-arriving aircraft accounts for 45% of the 36,000 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.
- 45%Late-arriving aircraft
- 26%Carrier
- 22%National Airspace System
- 7%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
45% 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 36,000 reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 6 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 35,635 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations run at 6.26%, 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.
7.6% 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 CVG in January
For a January trip through CVG: expect 80.3% on time and 6.26% cancelled, going by January 2026. The 8am–11am window was the strongest part of the day.
Related
Where to go next
- Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International (CVG), the whole year
- CVG in July71.5%
- CVG in August80.7%
- CVG in September85.4%
- CVG in October81.2%
- CVG in November82.7%
- CVG in December67.7%
- CVG in February77.8%
- CVG in March75.4%
- CVG in April83.6%
- CVG in May82.4%
- CVG in June77.7%
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.