Airport month record
MCIAPR
Kansas City International in April 2026
- Departures
- 4,184
- Month
- April 2026
- National, same month
- 79.8%
- Carriers
- 12
Historical statistics for April 2026, not live status or a forecast for this year’s April. For today’s conditions at MCI, see live FAA status.
MCI in April lands a B+, 2 points better than the national rate of 79.8%. About one flight in six arrives 15 minutes late or worse, and those flights are late by a little over an hour on average. That is a workable record, not a spotless one. That rests on 4,184 flights, of which Delta Air Lines flew 634 at 89.0% on time.
Delta Air Lines is the most reliable of the three carriers covered here at 89.0% on time across 634 flights.
Key figures
On time
81.9%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 4,133 completed departures
Avg delay
70 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
0.98%
Nationally in April: 0.90%
Whole year
79.6%
MCI across all twelve months
These figures cover 4,184 departures from Kansas City International in April 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
April next to MCI's other months
Against MCI's own year, April ran 2 points better than the twelve-month rate of 79.6%, which makes it number four of twelve months, best first. Either side of it, March ran 79.3% on time and May 79.5%, 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 | 4,442 | 73.2% | 79 min | 1.96% | C |
| August 2025 | 4,113 | 79.7% | 64 min | 0.92% | B+ |
| September 2025 | 3,928 | 82.0% | 58 min | 0.33% | B+ |
| October 2025 | 4,214 | 80.3% | 58 min | 0.33% | B+ |
| November 2025 | 3,956 | 81.1% | 72 min | 1.82% | B |
| December 2025 | 3,969 | 74.5% | 83 min | 1.36% | C |
| January 2026 | 3,508 | 84.3% | 81 min | 3.39% | B− |
| February 2026 | 3,503 | 84.9% | 69 min | 1.48% | B |
| March 2026 | 4,227 | 79.3% | 75 min | 3.41% | B− |
| April 2026 (this page) | 4,184 | 81.9% | 70 min | 0.98% | B+ |
| May 2026 | 4,354 | 79.5% | 65 min | 1.10% | B |
| June 2026 | 4,581 | 76.7% | 73 min | 1.24% | B |
Departure window
The best time of day to leave MCI in April
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 23 points, against 9 points between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.
- 5am–8am1,075 flights89.7%
- 8am–11am700 flights85.2%
- 11am–2pm524 flights84.0%
- 2pm–5pm820 flights80.3%
- 5pm–8pm832 flights73.3%
- 8pm–5am233 flights67.1%
Scale runs 60% to 95%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.
Book the early departure. Flights leaving between 5am–8am arrive on time 89.7% of the time, against 67.1% for the overnight window. That is 23 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 1,075 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Wednesday is the strongest day at 88.3% on time and Monday the weakest at 75.2%. 13 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at MCI in April
The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. Delta Air Lines arrives on time 89.0% of the time; Southwest Airlines manages 80.4%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 1,947 flights means less than a ten-point one.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 1,947 | 80.4% | 48 min | 0.15% | B+ |
| Delta Air Lines | 634 | 89.0% | 64 min | 1.89% | A |
| American Airlines | 372 | 81.9% | 117 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| United Airlinesthin sample | 292 | 81.7% | 74 min | 1.03% | B |
| SkyWest Airlinesthin sample | 240 | 82.5% | 108 min | 2.50% | B |
| Envoy Airthin sample | 213 | 78.2% | 85 min | 2.82% | B |
| Republic Airwaysthin sample | 152 | 82.7% | 154 min | 0.66% | B+ |
| PSA Airlinesthin sample | 112 | 76.1% | 99 min | 2.68% | B |
| Alaska Airlinesthin sample | 87 | 88.4% | 121 min | 1.15% | A |
| Spirit Airlinesthin sample | 63 | 80.7% | 77 min | 9.52% | B− |
| Frontier Airlinesthin sample | 38 | 73.7% | 55 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| Allegiant Airthin sample | 34 | 70.6% | 47 min | 0.00% | C+ |
Delta leads Southwest by 9 points. Real, but small enough that a better departure time on the weaker carrier can outweigh it.
Route by route
Busiest routes out of MCI in April
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MCI to ORD · Chicago | 406 | 73.3% | 121 min | 3.69% | C− |
| MCI to DEN · Denverthin sample | 338 | 79.5% | 43 min | 0.30% | B+ |
| MCI to ATL · Atlantathin sample | 265 | 88.8% | 61 min | 2.26% | A |
| MCI to PHX · Phoenixthin sample | 213 | 80.2% | 65 min | 0.47% | B+ |
| MCI to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample | 206 | 81.9% | 86 min | 0.49% | B+ |
| MCI to DAL · Dallasthin sample | 180 | 87.1% | 58 min | 0.56% | A+ |
| MCI to MDW · Chicagothin sample | 172 | 84.0% | 55 min | 0.58% | B+ |
| MCI to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample | 171 | 72.6% | 40 min | 1.75% | C |
| MCI to LGA · New Yorkthin sample | 165 | 78.3% | 41 min | 1.82% | B |
| MCI to DCA · Washingtonthin sample | 163 | 78.4% | 69 min | 0.61% | B+ |
| MCI to MCO · Orlandothin sample | 134 | 79.4% | 62 min | 2.24% | B |
| MCI to LAX · Los Angelesthin sample | 127 | 81.1% | 55 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| MCI to DTW · Detroitthin sample | 116 | 87.7% | 51 min | 1.72% | A |
| MCI to BNA · Nashvillethin sample | 114 | 86.8% | 60 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| MCI to CLT · Charlottethin sample | 101 | 80.2% | 77 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| MCI to MSP · Minneapolisthin sample | 99 | 86.7% | 134 min | 1.01% | A |
| MCI to HOU · Houstonthin sample | 90 | 81.1% | 46 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| MCI to SEA · Seattlethin sample | 90 | 89.8% | 122 min | 1.11% | A |
| MCI to MIA · Miamithin sample | 88 | 86.4% | 43 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| MCI to STL · St. Louisthin sample | 86 | 84.9% | 55 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| MCI to SLC · Salt Lake Citythin sample | 86 | 90.6% | 36 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| MCI to PHL · Philadelphiathin sample | 84 | 88.1% | 231 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| MCI to AUS · Austinthin sample | 76 | 86.8% | 52 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| MCI to TPA · Tampathin sample | 65 | 83.1% | 41 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| MCI to BWI · Baltimorethin sample | 63 | 81.0% | 53 min | 0.00% | B+ |
Delay causes
What held MCI up in April
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 52,000 reported delay minutes.
- 41%Late-arriving aircraft
- 31%Carrier
- 19%National Airspace System
- 8%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
41% 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 52,000 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 51,741 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations sit at 0.98% against a national 0.90%, which is ordinary. Diversions add another 0.24%.
5.8% of arrivals land an hour or more late, close to the national 6.4%. 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 MCI in April
For a April trip through MCI: expect 81.9% on time and 0.98% cancelled, going by April 2026. The 5am–8am window was the strongest part of the day.
Related
Where to go next
- Kansas City International (MCI), the whole year
- MCI in July73.2%
- MCI in August79.7%
- MCI in September82.0%
- MCI in October80.3%
- MCI in November81.1%
- MCI in December74.5%
- MCI in January84.3%
- MCI in February84.9%
- MCI in March79.3%
- MCI in May79.5%
- MCI in June76.7%
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.