Airport month record

INDMAY

Indianapolis International in May 2026

Departures: 4,324
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 IND, see live FAA status.

IND 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 4,324 flights, of which Delta Air Lines flew 375 at 92.5% on time.

Delta Air Lines is the most reliable of the four carriers covered here at 92.5% on time across 375 flights.

On time

82.5%

Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 4,278 completed departures

Avg delay

62 min

Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights

Cancelled

0.88%

Nationally in May: 0.92%

Whole year

80.2%

IND across all twelve months

These figures cover 4,324 departures from Indianapolis 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 IND's other months

Against IND's own year, May ran 2 points better than the twelve-month rate of 80.2%, which makes it number six of twelve months, best first. Cancellations were unusually low for IND in May, at 0.88% against 1.91% across the year. Either side of it, April ran 83.0% on time and June 79.9%, so this month sits in line with its neighbours.

IND month by month
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	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 (this page)	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 May

Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 28 points, against 15 points between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.

5am–8am1,098 flights92.4%
8am–11am660 flights89.8%
11am–2pm729 flights86.4%
2pm–5pm736 flights77.0%
5pm–8pm834 flights70.9%
8pm–5am267 flights64.1%

Scale runs 55% to 100%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.

The 8pm–5am window is where this operation falls apart: 64.1% on time, against 92.4% 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 1,098 flights scheduled in it.

Across the week, Saturday is the strongest day at 85.9% on time and Monday the weakest at 77.9%. 8 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.

Carrier by carrier

Which airlines ran best at IND in May

The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. Delta Air Lines arrives on time 92.5% of the time; Southwest Airlines manages 77.3%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 1,119 flights means less than a ten-point one.

Carriers at IND in May 2026
Airline	Flights	On time	Avg delay	Cancelled	Grade
Republic Airways	1,208	86.4%	64 min	0.91%	A+
Southwest Airlines	1,119	77.3%	52 min	0.09%	B+
American Airlines	712	81.6%	83 min	1.54%	B
Delta Air Lines	375	92.5%	64 min	1.07%	A
SkyWest Airlinesthin sample	279	83.6%	61 min	1.43%	B
United Airlinesthin sample	257	75.9%	66 min	1.56%	B
Allegiant Airthin sample	138	73.2%	48 min	0.00%	C+
Frontier Airlinesthin sample	76	88.2%	43 min	0.00%	A+
Alaska Airlinesthin sample	62	91.9%	39 min	0.00%	A+
PSA Airlinesthin sample	57	74.5%	50 min	3.51%	C−
Envoy Airthin sample	37	91.7%	29 min	2.70%	A

The spread between Delta and Southwest is 15 points, wide enough that it should decide the booking. On a hundred trips that is 15 more arrivals inside the on-time window.

Route by route

Busiest routes out of IND in May

Routes from IND in May 2026
Route	Flights	On time	Avg delay	Cancelled	Grade
IND to ORD · Chicago	572	81.8%	73 min	1.92%	B
IND to ATL · Atlantathin sample	257	88.9%	64 min	1.56%	A
IND to LGA · New Yorkthin sample	219	83.6%	70 min	1.37%	B
IND to DEN · Denverthin sample	216	79.4%	51 min	0.93%	B+
IND to EWR · Newarkthin sample	181	92.7%	42 min	1.10%	A
IND to DCA · Washingtonthin sample	173	79.8%	49 min	2.89%	B
IND to CLT · Charlottethin sample	172	83.1%	49 min	0.00%	B+
IND to MCO · Orlandothin sample	170	80.5%	68 min	0.00%	B+
IND to BOS · Bostonthin sample	167	86.7%	55 min	0.60%	A+
IND to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample	166	85.7%	115 min	3.01%	A−
IND to PHL · Philadelphiathin sample	160	79.1%	101 min	1.25%	B
IND to PHX · Phoenixthin sample	142	84.5%	38 min	0.00%	B+
IND to AUS · Austinthin sample	130	82.9%	50 min	0.00%	B+
IND to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample	119	77.3%	52 min	0.00%	B+
IND to MSP · Minneapolisthin sample	118	92.4%	60 min	0.00%	A+
IND to DTW · Detroitthin sample	112	82.1%	63 min	0.00%	B+
IND to BWI · Baltimorethin sample	105	82.9%	49 min	0.00%	B+
IND to IAD · Washingtonthin sample	93	87.9%	55 min	1.08%	A
IND to MIA · Miamithin sample	84	79.8%	35 min	0.00%	B+
IND to LAX · Los Angelesthin sample	83	91.6%	85 min	0.00%	A+
IND to TPA · Tampathin sample	79	64.6%	55 min	0.00%	D+
IND to JFK · New Yorkthin sample	73	89.0%	113 min	0.00%	A+
IND to DAL · Dallasthin sample	66	76.9%	48 min	0.00%	B+
IND to RSW · Fort Myersthin sample	66	83.1%	88 min	0.00%	B+
IND to IAH · Houstonthin sample	62	77.0%	55 min	1.61%	B

Delay causes

What held IND 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 46,000 reported delay minutes.

Late-arriving aircraft
42%
Carrier
30%
National Airspace System
24%
Extreme weather
4%

42% 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 46,000 reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 11 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 46,061 reported delay minutes.

Cancellations are rare at 0.88%, below the national 0.92% and low enough to earn the plus on the grade. Roughly one flight in 100 is called off; the risk here is arriving late, not not arriving.

5.0% 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 IND in May

For a May trip through IND: expect 82.5% on time and 0.88% cancelled, going by May 2026. The 5am–8am window was the strongest part of the day.

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 December69.5%
IND in January79.7%
IND in February83.3%
IND in March76.7%
IND in April83.0%
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.

Key figures