Airport month record
MCIDEC
Kansas City International in December 2025
- Departures
- 3,969
- 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 MCI, see live FAA status.
MCI in December sits in the middle of the pack with a C. Close to three flights in four arrive on time by the DOT's definition, about a point better than the national rate of 73.2%. The late ones land an hour and a half behind schedule. That rests on 3,969 flights, of which Southwest Airlines flew 1,942 at 76.1% on time.
Southwest Airlines is the most reliable of the three carriers covered here at 76.1% on time across 1,942 flights.
Key figures
On time
74.5%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 3,911 completed departures
Avg delay
83 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
1.36%
Nationally in December: 1.55%
Whole year
79.6%
MCI across all twelve months
These figures cover 3,969 departures from Kansas City 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 MCI's other months
Against MCI's own year, December ran 5 points worse than the twelve-month rate of 79.6%, which makes it number eleven of twelve months, best first. Either side of it, November ran 81.1% on time and January 84.3%, 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 | 4,442 | 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 (this page) | 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 | 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 December
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 24 points, against 4 points between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.
- 5am–8am996 flights87.6%
- 8am–11am543 flights77.0%
- 11am–2pm737 flights75.1%
- 2pm–5pm863 flights67.4%
- 5pm–8pm690 flights64.1%
- 8pm–5am140 flights63.6%
Scale runs 55% to 95%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.
The 8pm–5am window is where this operation falls apart: 63.6% on time, against 87.6% 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 996 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Wednesday is the strongest day at 83.5% on time and Monday the weakest at 65.4%. 18 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at MCI in December
The three carriers here are closely matched: 4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 1,942 | 76.1% | 59 min | 0.67% | B+ |
| Delta Air Lines | 619 | 76.0% | 130 min | 2.91% | B |
| American Airlines | 431 | 72.6% | 101 min | 0.23% | C+ |
| United Airlinesthin sample | 212 | 73.8% | 84 min | 0.94% | C+ |
| Republic Airwaysthin sample | 192 | 70.9% | 79 min | 1.56% | C |
| SkyWest Airlinesthin sample | 144 | 65.5% | 148 min | 0.69% | C+ |
| Envoy Airthin sample | 118 | 74.1% | 58 min | 5.08% | C− |
| PSA Airlinesthin sample | 92 | 67.1% | 90 min | 7.61% | C− |
| Alaska Airlinesthin sample | 79 | 76.9% | 51 min | 1.27% | B |
| Spirit Airlinesthin sample | 74 | 68.5% | 98 min | 1.35% | C |
| Frontier Airlinesthin sample | 44 | 76.7% | 92 min | 2.27% | B |
No carrier stands out. Southwest tops the table at 76.1%, 4 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 MCI in December
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MCI to DEN · Denverthin sample | 337 | 72.8% | 71 min | 0.89% | C+ |
| MCI to ORD · Chicagothin sample | 312 | 65.0% | 102 min | 1.92% | C |
| MCI to ATL · Atlantathin sample | 263 | 81.2% | 122 min | 2.28% | B |
| MCI to PHX · Phoenixthin sample | 236 | 74.8% | 86 min | 0.85% | C+ |
| MCI to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample | 214 | 67.6% | 74 min | 0.47% | C+ |
| MCI to DAL · Dallasthin sample | 179 | 79.2% | 50 min | 0.56% | B+ |
| MCI to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample | 173 | 80.3% | 63 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| MCI to MDW · Chicagothin sample | 165 | 77.6% | 52 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| MCI to DCA · Washingtonthin sample | 163 | 79.4% | 83 min | 1.84% | B |
| MCI to MCO · Orlandothin sample | 146 | 77.8% | 83 min | 1.37% | B |
| MCI to LGA · New Yorkthin sample | 141 | 60.3% | 132 min | 7.09% | D− |
| MCI to BNA · Nashvillethin sample | 119 | 79.7% | 72 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| MCI to DTW · Detroitthin sample | 110 | 76.6% | 106 min | 2.73% | B |
| MCI to CLT · Charlottethin sample | 103 | 75.7% | 58 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| MCI to SLC · Salt Lake Citythin sample | 90 | 76.4% | 50 min | 1.11% | B |
| MCI to SEA · Seattlethin sample | 85 | 66.3% | 55 min | 2.35% | C |
| MCI to STL · St. Louisthin sample | 85 | 89.3% | 28 min | 1.18% | A |
| MCI to LAX · Los Angelesthin sample | 79 | 70.5% | 69 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| MCI to HOU · Houstonthin sample | 79 | 86.1% | 63 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| MCI to MSP · Minneapolisthin sample | 74 | 72.6% | 167 min | 1.35% | C |
| MCI to AUS · Austinthin sample | 73 | 79.5% | 81 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| MCI to BWI · Baltimorethin sample | 71 | 81.4% | 44 min | 1.41% | B |
| MCI to MIA · Miamithin sample | 68 | 76.1% | 60 min | 1.47% | B |
| MCI to PHL · Philadelphiathin sample | 59 | 68.5% | 196 min | 8.47% | C− |
| MCI to FLL · Fort Lauderdalethin sample | 59 | 62.1% | 78 min | 1.69% | D |
Delay causes
What held MCI up in December
One category carries most of the weight here. Late-arriving aircraft accounts for 43% of the 83,000 delay minutes carriers reported, and the remaining four split what is left. The split is by minutes rather than by flights, so a few very long delays count for as much as many short ones.
- 43%Late-arriving aircraft
- 35%Carrier
- 19%National Airspace System
- 4%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
43% 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 83,000 reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 12 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 82,862 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations sit at 1.36% against a national 1.55%, which is ordinary. Diversions add another 0.10%.
For anyone connecting, the number to weigh is not the on-time rate but the tail behind it. 10.3% 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 MCI in December
For a December trip through MCI: plan on this being one of the airport's harder months. The 5am–8am departures held up best at 87.6% on time, and with 10.3% of arrivals an hour or more late, a connection here deserves more slack than the same trip in February would.
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 January84.3%
- MCI in February84.9%
- MCI in March79.3%
- MCI in April81.9%
- 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.