Airport month record
MEMMAR
Memphis International in March 2026
- Departures
- 2,053
- Month
- March 2026
- National, same month
- 75.7%
- Carriers
- 11
Historical statistics for March 2026, not live status or a forecast for this year’s March. For today’s conditions at MEM, see live FAA status.
MEM in March carries a cancellation problem, not just a delay problem: 3.6% of scheduled flights never operate, against 2.9% nationally. Of the ones that do fly, close to three flights in four arrive on time, worth a B− overall. The punctuality figure counts only flights that actually departed, so it flatters an operation that cancels this often. That rests on 2,053 flights, of which Delta Air Lines flew 396 at 80.9% on time.
Key figures
On time
77.1%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 1,978 completed departures
Avg delay
100 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
3.60%
Nationally in March: 2.90%
Whole year
80.0%
MEM across all twelve months
These figures cover 2,053 departures from Memphis International in March 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
March next to MEM's other months
Against MEM's own year, March ran 3 points worse than the twelve-month rate of 80.0%, which makes it number ten of twelve months, best first. Cancellations are where March stands out: 3.60% of scheduled departures were called off, 1.6 times the airport's rate across the year. Either side of it, February ran 85.3% on time and April 82.1%, so a trip moved by a few weeks would have landed in a better stretch.
| Month | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 2025 | 2,059 | 87.5% | 68 min | 0.19% | A+ |
| October 2025 | 2,283 | 82.8% | 64 min | 0.48% | B+ |
| November 2025 | 1,991 | 80.0% | 74 min | 1.96% | B |
| December 2025 | 1,956 | 77.7% | 83 min | 1.48% | B |
| January 2026 | 1,727 | 79.7% | 97 min | 9.50% | B− |
| February 2026 | 1,609 | 85.3% | 73 min | 1.74% | A |
| March 2026 (this page) | 2,053 | 77.1% | 100 min | 3.60% | B− |
| April 2026 | 2,146 | 82.1% | 84 min | 0.98% | B+ |
| May 2026 | 2,228 | 79.8% | 85 min | 1.08% | B |
| June 2026 | 2,221 | 76.4% | 88 min | 2.34% | B |
| July 2026 | 2,259 | 74.1% | 74 min | 3.01% | C− |
| August 2026 | 2,105 | 78.7% | 89 min | 2.14% | B |
Departure window
The best time of day to leave MEM in March
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 25 points, against 2 points between the best and worst carrier.
- 5am–8am683 flights87.9%
- 8am–11am333 flights81.1%
- 11am–2pm362 flights75.3%
- 2pm–5pm225 flights63.3%
- 5pm–8pm382 flights64.2%
- 8pm–5am68 flights74.6%
Scale runs 55% to 95%.
Book the early departure. Flights leaving between 5am–8am arrive on time 87.9% of the time, against 63.3% for the afternoon window. That is 25 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 683 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Tuesday is the strongest day at 82.3% on time and Friday the weakest at 73.1%, a spread of 9 points.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at MEM in March
The two 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 397 | 79.4% | 64 min | 2.27% | B |
| Delta Air Lines | 396 | 80.9% | 144 min | 3.54% | B− |
| American Airlinesthin sample | 267 | 87.9% | 106 min | 0.75% | A+ |
| SkyWest Airlinesthin sample | 219 | 75.0% | 110 min | 1.37% | B |
| PSA Airlinesthin sample | 202 | 65.2% | 91 min | 7.43% | C− |
| Republic Airwaysthin sample | 189 | 72.2% | 105 min | 6.35% | C− |
| Envoy Airthin sample | 149 | 79.6% | 76 min | 4.70% | B− |
| United Airlinesthin sample | 124 | 78.3% | 69 min | 3.23% | B− |
| Allegiant Airthin sample | 46 | 45.5% | 170 min | 4.35% | F− |
| Frontier Airlinesthin sample | 33 | 62.5% | 49 min | 3.03% | D− |
| Spirit Airlinesthin sample | 31 | 65.4% | 66 min | 16.13% | C− |
Delta Air Lines cancels 3.5% of what it schedules here, the highest in the table. A cancelled flight never appears in an on-time rate, so read that column alongside the punctuality one rather than after it.
Route by route
Busiest routes out of MEM in March
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MEM to ATL · Atlantathin sample | 294 | 79.2% | 137 min | 3.74% | B− |
| MEM to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample | 209 | 81.1% | 84 min | 1.44% | B |
| MEM to ORD · Chicagothin sample | 196 | 76.8% | 87 min | 5.61% | B− |
| MEM to CLT · Charlottethin sample | 145 | 82.3% | 51 min | 2.76% | B |
| MEM to DEN · Denverthin sample | 129 | 76.0% | 87 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| MEM to IAH · Houstonthin sample | 91 | 79.8% | 114 min | 2.20% | B |
| MEM to DCA · Washingtonthin sample | 89 | 68.7% | 108 min | 6.74% | C− |
| MEM to DTW · Detroitthin sample | 88 | 67.4% | 146 min | 2.27% | C |
| MEM to HOU · Houstonthin sample | 81 | 82.5% | 44 min | 1.23% | B |
| MEM to LGA · New Yorkthin sample | 77 | 56.7% | 120 min | 11.69% | D− |
| MEM to MCO · Orlandothin sample | 70 | 69.4% | 55 min | 11.43% | C− |
| MEM to MDW · Chicagothin sample | 60 | 72.7% | 35 min | 8.33% | C− |
| MEM to BNA · Nashvillethin sample | 58 | 87.9% | 53 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| MEM to MSP · Minneapolisthin sample | 57 | 84.9% | 78 min | 7.02% | B− |
| MEM to PHL · Philadelphiathin sample | 57 | 67.9% | 116 min | 7.02% | C− |
| MEM to MIA · Miamithin sample | 52 | 82.4% | 96 min | 1.92% | B |
| MEM to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample | 43 | 79.1% | 80 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| MEM to PHX · Phoenixthin sample | 41 | 95.1% | 373 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| MEM to DAL · Dallasthin sample | 39 | 82.1% | 87 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| MEM to AUS · Austinthin sample | 31 | 90.3% | 21 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| MEM to SLC · Salt Lake Citythin sample | 31 | 83.9% | 88 min | 0.00% | B+ |
Delay causes
What held MEM up in March
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 45,000 reported delay minutes.
- 38%Carrier
- 31%Late-arriving aircraft
- 22%National Airspace System
- 8%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
The largest share of delay minutes, 38%, falls under carrier control: crew scheduling, maintenance, fuelling, baggage. It accounts for 17,000 of the 45,000 delay minutes reported here. The split is drawn from 45,297 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations run at 3.60%, against 2.90% nationally. That is about one flight in 30 cancelled outright. A cancelled flight is invisible in every on-time figure on this page, so the punctuality numbers above describe only the flights that actually operated.
10.5% of arrivals land a full hour or more behind schedule, against 9.5% nationally. Ninety minutes is the honest minimum for a connection here, and two hours if the onward flight is on a separate ticket.
What to do with this
Flying from MEM in March
For a March trip through MEM: plan on this being one of the airport's harder months. The 5am–8am departures held up best at 87.9% on time, and with 10.5% 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
- Memphis International (MEM), the whole year
- MEM in September87.5%
- MEM in October82.8%
- MEM in November80.0%
- MEM in December77.7%
- MEM in January79.7%
- MEM in February85.3%
- MEM in April82.1%
- MEM in May79.8%
- MEM in June76.4%
- MEM in July74.1%
- MEM in August78.7%
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, on-time performance data, September 2025 to August 2026. Last updated ; recomputed monthly. How this data is collected.