Airport month record

CVGMAY

Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International in May 2026

Departures: 3,064
Month: May 2026
National, same month: 78.6%
Carriers: 11

Historical statistics for May 2026, not live status or a forecast for this year’s May. For today’s conditions at CVG, see live FAA status.

CVG in May lands a B, 4 points better than the national rate of 78.6%. About one flight in six arrives 15 minutes late or worse, and those flights are late by about an hour on average. That is a workable record, not a spotless one. That rests on 3,064 flights, of which Republic Airways flew 464 at 89.3% on time.

On time

82.4%

Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 3,031 completed departures

Avg delay

66 min

Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights

Cancelled

1.01%

Nationally in May: 0.92%

Whole year

78.8%

CVG across all twelve months

These figures cover 3,064 departures from Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International in May 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

May next to CVG's other months

Against CVG's own year, May ran 4 points better than the twelve-month rate of 78.8%, which makes it number four of twelve months, best first. Cancellations were unusually low for CVG in May, at 1.01% against 1.91% across the year. Either side of it, April ran 83.6% on time and June 77.7%, so this month sits in line with its neighbours.

CVG month by month
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	3,105	75.4%	90 min	2.80%	B
April 2026	2,835	83.6%	85 min	1.02%	B
May 2026 (this page)	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 May

Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 17 points, against 2 points between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.

5am–8am861 flights90.4%
8am–11am437 flights86.9%
11am–2pm395 flights80.7%
2pm–5pm658 flights77.9%
5pm–8pm464 flights73.2%
8pm–5am249 flights79.2%

Scale runs 65% to 95%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.

Book the early departure. Flights leaving between 5am–8am arrive on time 90.4% of the time, against 73.2% 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 861 flights scheduled in it.

Across the week, Tuesday is the strongest day at 85.1% on time and Thursday the weakest at 79.7%. 5 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.

Carrier by carrier

Which airlines ran best at CVG in May

The two carriers here are closely matched: 2 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.

Carriers at CVG in May 2026
Airline	Flights	On time	Avg delay	Cancelled	Grade
Delta Air Lines	672	87.3%	56 min	0.74%	A+
Republic Airways	464	89.3%	59 min	0.86%	A+
Allegiant Airthin sample	319	72.0%	63 min	0.00%	C+
American Airlinesthin sample	264	77.0%	68 min	3.03%	B−
Envoy Airthin sample	257	86.3%	68 min	0.39%	A+
Southwest Airlinesthin sample	239	81.2%	50 min	0.00%	B+
United Airlinesthin sample	236	82.2%	73 min	2.54%	B
PSA Airlinesthin sample	232	77.1%	83 min	0.43%	B+
Frontier Airlinesthin sample	228	86.3%	62 min	0.00%	A+
SkyWest Airlinesthin sample	122	65.8%	96 min	4.10%	C−
Alaska Airlinesthin sample	31	83.3%	31 min	3.23%	B−

No carrier stands out. Republic tops the table at 89.3%, 2 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 CVG in May

Routes from CVG in May 2026
Route	Flights	On time	Avg delay	Cancelled	Grade
CVG to ORD · Chicago	457	78.7%	79 min	2.19%	B
CVG to ATL · Atlantathin sample	252	84.9%	61 min	0.40%	B+
CVG to BOS · Bostonthin sample	186	85.9%	51 min	0.54%	A+
CVG to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample	165	74.2%	67 min	5.45%	C−
CVG to CLT · Charlottethin sample	152	85.5%	47 min	0.00%	A+
CVG to MCO · Orlandothin sample	151	82.8%	46 min	0.00%	B+
CVG to PHL · Philadelphiathin sample	136	83.6%	98 min	1.47%	B
CVG to DEN · Denverthin sample	127	87.3%	88 min	0.79%	A+
CVG to FLL · Fort Lauderdalethin sample	94	83.0%	62 min	0.00%	B+
CVG to EWR · Newarkthin sample	93	96.7%	63 min	1.08%	A
CVG to SLC · Salt Lake Citythin sample	87	93.1%	32 min	0.00%	A+
CVG to DCA · Washingtonthin sample	85	69.4%	84 min	0.00%	C+
CVG to MSP · Minneapolisthin sample	80	91.0%	75 min	2.50%	A
CVG to MIA · Miamithin sample	73	90.4%	60 min	0.00%	A+
CVG to TPA · Tampathin sample	70	82.9%	67 min	0.00%	B+
CVG to IAH · Houstonthin sample	62	82.0%	77 min	1.61%	B
CVG to BNA · Nashvillethin sample	62	74.2%	46 min	0.00%	C+
CVG to BWI · Baltimorethin sample	62	87.1%	66 min	0.00%	A+
CVG to SEA · Seattlethin sample	62	90.2%	29 min	1.61%	A
CVG to MDW · Chicagothin sample	61	80.3%	50 min	0.00%	B+
CVG to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample	58	80.7%	89 min	1.72%	B
CVG to PHX · Phoenixthin sample	50	78.0%	97 min	0.00%	B+
CVG to RSW · Fort Myersthin sample	46	87.0%	39 min	0.00%	A+
CVG to VPS · Valparaisothin sample	45	63.6%	58 min	0.00%	D+
CVG to IAD · Washingtonthin sample	41	95.1%	40 min	0.00%	A+

Delay causes

What held CVG up in May

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 35,000 reported delay minutes.

Late-arriving aircraft
35%
Carrier
33%
National Airspace System
28%
Extreme weather
3%
Security
1%

35% 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 35,000 reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 14 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 35,161 reported delay minutes.

Cancellations sit at 1.01% against a national 0.92%, which is ordinary. Diversions add another 0.07%.

5.8% of arrivals land an hour or more late, close to the national 7.1%. 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 about an hour, which a normal layover absorbs.

What to do with this

Flying from CVG in May

For a May trip through CVG: expect 82.4% on time and 1.01% cancelled, going by May 2026. The 5am–8am window was the strongest part of the day.

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 March75.4%
CVG in April83.6%
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.

Key figures