Airport month record
CVGMAR
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International in March 2026
- Departures
- 3,105
- Month
- March 2026
- National, same month
- 75.7%
- Carriers
- 11
Historical statistics for March 2026, not live status or a forecast for this year’s March. For today’s conditions at CVG, see live FAA status.
CVG in March sits in the middle of the pack with a B. Close to three flights in four arrive on time by the DOT's definition, level with the national rate of 75.7%. The late ones land an hour and a half behind schedule. That rests on 3,105 flights, of which Republic Airways flew 393 at 78.5% on time.
Republic Airways is the most reliable of the three carriers covered here at 78.5% on time across 393 flights.
Key figures
On time
75.4%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 3,008 completed departures
Avg delay
90 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
2.80%
Nationally in March: 2.90%
Whole year
78.8%
CVG across all twelve months
These figures cover 3,105 departures from Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International 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 CVG's other months
Against CVG's own year, March ran 3 points worse than the twelve-month rate of 78.8%, which makes it number ten of twelve months, best first. Either side of it, February ran 77.8% on time and April 83.6%, 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 | 3,077 | 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 | 2,380 | 80.3% | 81 min | 6.26% | B− |
| February 2026 | 2,270 | 77.8% | 70 min | 1.45% | B |
| March 2026 (this page) | 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 March
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 24 points, against about a point between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.
- 5am–8am856 flights86.6%
- 8am–11am571 flights76.3%
- 11am–2pm446 flights70.9%
- 2pm–5pm537 flights74.8%
- 5pm–8pm562 flights62.3%
- 8pm–5am133 flights71.5%
Scale runs 55% to 90%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.
The 5pm–8pm window is where this operation falls apart: 62.3% on time, against 86.6% 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 856 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Tuesday is the strongest day at 79.7% on time and Saturday the weakest at 71.5%. 8 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at CVG in March
The three carriers here are closely matched: about a point 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delta Air Lines | 615 | 78.2% | 80 min | 2.28% | B |
| Republic Airways | 393 | 78.5% | 69 min | 3.05% | B− |
| Frontier Airlines | 388 | 77.7% | 63 min | 2.58% | B |
| Allegiant Airthin sample | 333 | 71.5% | 113 min | 0.30% | C+ |
| PSA Airlinesthin sample | 306 | 71.1% | 137 min | 6.21% | C− |
| Envoy Airthin sample | 266 | 76.7% | 72 min | 1.88% | B |
| American Airlinesthin sample | 243 | 78.3% | 72 min | 1.23% | B |
| Southwest Airlinesthin sample | 238 | 78.1% | 71 min | 1.26% | B |
| United Airlinesthin sample | 176 | 82.0% | 95 min | 2.27% | B |
| SkyWest Airlinesthin sample | 116 | 43.1% | 131 min | 12.07% | F− |
| Alaska Airlinesthin sample | 31 | 55.2% | 70 min | 6.45% | D− |
Republic Airways 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 CVG in March
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVG to ORD · Chicago | 407 | 61.7% | 98 min | 5.90% | D− |
| CVG to ATL · Atlantathin sample | 250 | 77.5% | 71 min | 2.40% | B |
| CVG to MCO · Orlandothin sample | 185 | 78.5% | 73 min | 3.78% | B− |
| CVG to CLT · Charlottethin sample | 180 | 79.2% | 113 min | 3.89% | B− |
| CVG to BOS · Bostonthin sample | 173 | 82.9% | 51 min | 1.73% | B |
| CVG to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample | 148 | 77.2% | 79 min | 1.35% | B |
| CVG to DEN · Denverthin sample | 126 | 78.6% | 77 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| CVG to MIA · Miamithin sample | 122 | 80.3% | 62 min | 3.28% | B− |
| CVG to FLL · Fort Lauderdalethin sample | 114 | 60.4% | 106 min | 1.75% | D |
| CVG to PHL · Philadelphiathin sample | 99 | 82.1% | 172 min | 4.04% | B− |
| CVG to PHX · Phoenixthin sample | 91 | 83.5% | 60 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| CVG to DCA · Washingtonthin sample | 90 | 48.1% | 118 min | 10.00% | F− |
| CVG to RSW · Fort Myersthin sample | 90 | 78.4% | 68 min | 1.11% | B |
| CVG to SLC · Salt Lake Citythin sample | 80 | 78.5% | 46 min | 1.25% | B |
| CVG to TPA · Tampathin sample | 80 | 77.6% | 89 min | 5.00% | B− |
| CVG to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample | 64 | 85.7% | 125 min | 1.56% | A |
| CVG to IAH · Houstonthin sample | 62 | 81.7% | 92 min | 3.23% | B− |
| CVG to SEA · Seattlethin sample | 62 | 55.9% | 66 min | 4.84% | D− |
| CVG to JFK · New Yorkthin sample | 62 | 91.7% | 100 min | 3.23% | A− |
| CVG to BWI · Baltimorethin sample | 61 | 85.0% | 85 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| CVG to BNA · Nashvillethin sample | 58 | 80.7% | 81 min | 1.72% | B |
| CVG to MDW · Chicagothin sample | 58 | 71.4% | 77 min | 1.72% | C |
| CVG to EWR · Newarkthin sample | 55 | 87.0% | 58 min | 1.82% | A |
| CVG to PGD · Punta Gordathin sample | 48 | 77.1% | 94 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| CVG to SRQ · Sarasotathin sample | 40 | 70.0% | 92 min | 0.00% | C+ |
Delay causes
What held CVG up in March
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 66,000 reported delay minutes.
- 32%Late-arriving aircraft
- 31%Carrier
- 29%National Airspace System
- 8%Extreme weather
- 1%Security
The practical consequence: the 5am–8am departure is the one that starts clean. Its aircraft has no earlier leg to be late from, which is exactly why that window shows 86.6% on time here. The split is drawn from 66,279 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations run at 2.80%, against 2.90% nationally. That is roughly 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.
For anyone connecting, the number to weigh is not the on-time rate but the tail behind it. 10.0% of arrivals land a full hour or more behind schedule, against 9.5% 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 CVG in March
For a March trip through CVG: plan on this being one of the airport's harder months. The 5am–8am departures held up best at 86.6% on time, and with 10.0% 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
- 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 January80.3%
- CVG in February77.8%
- 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.