Airport month record

MCINOV

Kansas City International in November 2025

Departures: 3,956
Month: November 2025
National, same month: 79.4%
Carriers: 11

Historical statistics for November 2025, not live status or a forecast for this year’s November. For today’s conditions at MCI, see live FAA status.

MCI in November lands a B, 2 points better than the national rate of 79.4%. About one flight in five 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 3,956 flights, of which Delta Air Lines flew 698 at 83.5% on time.

Delta Air Lines is the most reliable of the three carriers covered here at 83.5% on time across 698 flights.

On time

81.1%

Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 3,877 completed departures

Avg delay

72 min

Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights

Cancelled

1.82%

Nationally in November: 2.49%

Whole year

79.6%

MCI across all twelve months

These figures cover 3,956 departures from Kansas City International in November 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

November next to MCI's other months

Against MCI's own year, November ran 2 points better than the twelve-month rate of 79.6%, which makes it number five of twelve months, best first. Either side of it, October ran 80.3% on time and December 74.5%, so a trip moved by a few weeks would have landed in a worse stretch.

MCI month by month
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 (this page)	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	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 November

Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 26 points, against 6 points between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.

5am–8am1,005 flights90.9%
8am–11am605 flights85.9%
11am–2pm745 flights83.6%
2pm–5pm771 flights76.4%
5pm–8pm703 flights68.7%
8pm–5am127 flights64.8%

Scale runs 55% to 95%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.

The 8pm–5am window is where this operation falls apart: 64.8% on time, against 90.9% 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 1,005 flights scheduled in it.

Across the week, Wednesday is the strongest day at 89.3% on time and Sunday the weakest at 69.7%. 20 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.

Carrier by carrier

Which airlines ran best at MCI in November

The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. Delta Air Lines arrives on time 83.5% of the time; American Airlines manages 77.2%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 466 flights means less than a ten-point one.

Carriers at MCI in November 2025
Airline	Flights	On time	Avg delay	Cancelled	Grade
Southwest Airlines	1,859	81.4%	53 min	0.81%	B+
Delta Air Lines	698	83.5%	95 min	1.58%	B
American Airlines	466	77.2%	90 min	2.79%	B
United Airlinesthin sample	286	81.7%	98 min	2.80%	B
SkyWest Airlinesthin sample	156	77.9%	101 min	4.49%	B−
PSA Airlinesthin sample	92	79.1%	107 min	5.43%	B−
Envoy Airthin sample	90	74.1%	79 min	5.56%	C−
Republic Airwaysthin sample	87	81.2%	44 min	8.05%	B−
Alaska Airlinesthin sample	79	84.6%	49 min	1.27%	B
Spirit Airlinesthin sample	67	86.6%	62 min	0.00%	A+
Frontier Airlinesthin sample	58	87.9%	73 min	0.00%	A+

Delta leads American by 6 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 November

Routes from MCI in November 2025
Route	Flights	On time	Avg delay	Cancelled	Grade
MCI to DEN · Denverthin sample	352	84.6%	65 min	0.57%	B+
MCI to ORD · Chicagothin sample	348	75.7%	89 min	5.46%	B−
MCI to ATL · Atlantathin sample	273	89.9%	67 min	1.83%	A
MCI to PHX · Phoenixthin sample	222	73.3%	67 min	0.45%	C+
MCI to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample	217	70.7%	94 min	4.15%	C−
MCI to DAL · Dallasthin sample	171	83.9%	49 min	1.75%	B
MCI to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample	169	83.4%	49 min	0.00%	B+
MCI to DCA · Washingtonthin sample	165	78.5%	63 min	3.64%	B−
MCI to MDW · Chicagothin sample	157	84.8%	44 min	3.18%	B−
MCI to LGA · New Yorkthin sample	140	68.9%	94 min	2.86%	C
MCI to MCO · Orlandothin sample	126	92.1%	50 min	0.00%	A+
MCI to BNA · Nashvillethin sample	113	81.4%	52 min	0.00%	B+
MCI to DTW · Detroitthin sample	107	86.8%	97 min	0.00%	A+
MCI to CLT · Charlottethin sample	100	85.6%	155 min	3.00%	A
MCI to LAX · Los Angelesthin sample	99	79.8%	63 min	0.00%	B+
MCI to SLC · Salt Lake Citythin sample	87	79.3%	68 min	0.00%	B+
MCI to STL · St. Louisthin sample	81	87.7%	56 min	0.00%	A+
MCI to SEA · Seattlethin sample	79	84.8%	44 min	0.00%	B+
MCI to HOU · Houstonthin sample	78	74.4%	55 min	0.00%	C+
MCI to AUS · Austinthin sample	71	74.3%	46 min	0.00%	C+
MCI to BWI · Baltimorethin sample	63	82.3%	40 min	1.59%	B
MCI to MSP · Minneapolisthin sample	61	84.7%	132 min	3.28%	B−
MCI to PHL · Philadelphiathin sample	58	79.3%	120 min	0.00%	B+
MCI to TPA · Tampathin sample	57	84.2%	63 min	0.00%	B+
MCI to EWR · Newarkthin sample	54	78.0%	42 min	7.41%	B−

Delay causes

What held MCI up in November

One category carries most of the weight here. Late-arriving aircraft accounts for 43% of the 53,000 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.

Late-arriving aircraft
43%
National Airspace System
28%
Carrier
27%
Extreme weather
2%
Security
0%

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 53,000 reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 24 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 52,681 reported delay minutes.

Cancellations sit at 1.82% against a national 2.49%, which is ordinary. Diversions add another 0.18%.

6.7% of arrivals land an hour or more late, close to the national 7.8%. 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 November

For a November trip through MCI: expect 81.1% on time and 1.82% cancelled, going by November 2025. The 5am–8am window was the strongest part of the day.

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 December74.5%
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.

Key figures