Airport month record
INDDEC
Indianapolis International in December 2025
- Departures
- 3,906
- Month
- December 2025
- National, same month
- 73.2%
- Carriers
- 11
Historical statistics for December 2025, not live status or a forecast for this year’s December. For today’s conditions at IND, see live FAA status.
IND 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, 4 points worse than the national rate of 73.2%. The late ones land a little over an hour behind schedule. That rests on 3,906 flights, of which Southwest Airlines flew 1,086 at 70.9% on time.
Southwest Airlines is the most reliable of the three carriers covered here at 70.9% on time across 1,086 flights.
Key figures
On time
69.5%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 3,838 completed departures
Avg delay
75 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
1.59%
Nationally in December: 1.55%
Whole year
80.2%
IND across all twelve months
These figures cover 3,906 departures from Indianapolis 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 IND's other months
Against IND's own year, December ran 11 points worse than the twelve-month rate of 80.2%, which makes it the worst of the twelve months in the data. Either side of it, November ran 83.1% on time and January 79.7%, 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 | 4,222 | 74.9% | 85 min | 3.01% | C− |
| August 2025 | 3,876 | 81.4% | 78 min | 1.11% | B |
| September 2025 | 3,742 | 85.1% | 68 min | 0.56% | A+ |
| October 2025 | 4,354 | 83.2% | 70 min | 0.57% | B+ |
| November 2025 | 3,904 | 83.1% | 77 min | 2.84% | B |
| December 2025 (this page) | 3,906 | 69.5% | 75 min | 1.59% | C |
| January 2026 | 3,690 | 79.7% | 78 min | 4.44% | B− |
| February 2026 | 3,457 | 83.3% | 61 min | 2.57% | B |
| March 2026 | 4,362 | 76.7% | 87 min | 2.57% | B |
| April 2026 | 4,290 | 83.0% | 65 min | 1.19% | B |
| May 2026 | 4,324 | 82.5% | 62 min | 0.88% | B+ |
| June 2026 | 4,249 | 79.9% | 76 min | 1.88% | B |
Departure window
The best time of day to leave IND in December
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 28 points, against 2 points between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.
- 5am–8am1,060 flights77.5%
- 8am–11am569 flights75.2%
- 11am–2pm781 flights71.3%
- 2pm–5pm592 flights62.9%
- 5pm–8pm739 flights61.5%
- 8pm–5am165 flights49.4%
Scale runs 40% to 85%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.
The 8pm–5am window is where this operation falls apart: 49.4% on time, against 77.5% 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 1,060 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Wednesday is the strongest day at 81.4% on time and Friday the weakest at 58.9%. 23 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at IND in December
The three 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.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republic Airways | 1,220 | 70.5% | 72 min | 2.21% | C |
| Southwest Airlines | 1,086 | 70.9% | 52 min | 0.46% | C+ |
| American Airlines | 488 | 68.8% | 110 min | 0.20% | C+ |
| Delta Air Linesthin sample | 359 | 76.8% | 78 min | 1.67% | B |
| United Airlinesthin sample | 192 | 70.2% | 66 min | 0.52% | C+ |
| Allegiant Airthin sample | 144 | 54.5% | 73 min | 0.69% | F+ |
| SkyWest Airlinesthin sample | 142 | 56.1% | 113 min | 6.34% | D− |
| Spirit Airlinesthin sample | 101 | 73.7% | 85 min | 5.94% | C− |
| Frontier Airlinesthin sample | 62 | 60.0% | 74 min | 3.23% | D− |
| PSA Airlinesthin sample | 44 | 58.5% | 108 min | 6.82% | D− |
| Alaska Airlinesthin sample | 41 | 55.0% | 57 min | 2.44% | D |
No carrier stands out. Southwest tops the table at 70.9%, 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 IND in December
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IND to ORD · Chicago | 380 | 68.5% | 89 min | 3.68% | C− |
| IND to ATL · Atlantathin sample | 256 | 77.1% | 84 min | 1.17% | B |
| IND to MCO · Orlandothin sample | 214 | 74.6% | 61 min | 2.34% | C |
| IND to EWR · Newarkthin sample | 208 | 73.2% | 80 min | 4.81% | C− |
| IND to LGA · New Yorkthin sample | 195 | 70.1% | 68 min | 3.08% | C− |
| IND to DEN · Denverthin sample | 189 | 62.6% | 51 min | 0.53% | D+ |
| IND to CLT · Charlottethin sample | 164 | 69.3% | 147 min | 0.61% | C+ |
| IND to BOS · Bostonthin sample | 160 | 72.8% | 72 min | 1.25% | C |
| IND to DCA · Washingtonthin sample | 150 | 61.6% | 63 min | 2.00% | D |
| IND to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample | 146 | 68.5% | 58 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| IND to PHX · Phoenixthin sample | 127 | 65.4% | 63 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| IND to MSP · Minneapolisthin sample | 108 | 66.7% | 67 min | 2.78% | C |
| IND to AUS · Austinthin sample | 104 | 76.9% | 71 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| IND to JFK · New Yorkthin sample | 103 | 74.0% | 88 min | 2.91% | C |
| IND to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample | 101 | 65.3% | 49 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| IND to PHL · Philadelphiathin sample | 99 | 70.4% | 108 min | 1.01% | C |
| IND to BWI · Baltimorethin sample | 96 | 77.1% | 48 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| IND to DTW · Detroitthin sample | 92 | 60.2% | 88 min | 4.35% | D− |
| IND to MIA · Miamithin sample | 88 | 62.5% | 134 min | 0.00% | D+ |
| IND to FLL · Fort Lauderdalethin sample | 87 | 62.8% | 66 min | 1.15% | D |
| IND to RSW · Fort Myersthin sample | 80 | 68.8% | 64 min | 2.50% | C |
| IND to TPA · Tampathin sample | 73 | 74.0% | 52 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| IND to LAX · Los Angelesthin sample | 72 | 70.8% | 72 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| IND to DAL · Dallasthin sample | 65 | 68.8% | 48 min | 1.54% | C |
| IND to IAD · Washingtonthin sample | 63 | 65.1% | 71 min | 0.00% | C+ |
Delay causes
What held IND 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 87,000 reported delay minutes.
- 35%Late-arriving aircraft
- 30%National Airspace System
- 29%Carrier
- 7%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
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 87,000 reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 5 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 87,196 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations sit at 1.59% against a national 1.55%, which is ordinary. Diversions add another 0.15%.
For anyone connecting, the number to weigh is not the on-time rate but the tail behind it. 10.4% 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 IND in December
For a December trip through IND: plan on this being one of the airport's harder months. The 5am–8am departures held up best at 77.5% on time, and with 10.4% 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
- Indianapolis International (IND), the whole year
- IND in July74.9%
- IND in August81.4%
- IND in September85.1%
- IND in October83.2%
- IND in November83.1%
- IND in January79.7%
- IND in February83.3%
- IND in March76.7%
- IND in April83.0%
- IND in May82.5%
- IND in June79.9%
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.