Airport month record
MKEDEC
Milwaukee Mitchell International in December 2025
- Departures
- 2,273
- Month
- December 2025
- National, same month
- 73.2%
- Carriers
- 9
Historical statistics for December 2025, not live status or a forecast for this year’s December. For today’s conditions at MKE, see live FAA status.
MKE in December sits in the middle of the pack with a C. About seven flights in ten arrive on time by the DOT's definition, 3 points worse than the national rate of 73.2%. The late ones land an hour and a half behind schedule. That rests on 2,273 flights, of which Southwest Airlines flew 863 at 74.4% on time.
Key figures
On time
70.1%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 2,229 completed departures
Avg delay
92 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
1.89%
Nationally in December: 1.55%
Whole year
78.1%
MKE across all twelve months
These figures cover 2,273 departures from Milwaukee Mitchell 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 MKE's other months
Against MKE's own year, December ran 8 points worse than the twelve-month rate of 78.1%, which makes it the worst of the twelve months in the data. Either side of it, November ran 79.2% on time and January 73.8%, 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 | 2,315 | 83.0% | 64 min | 0.56% | B+ |
| October 2025 | 2,564 | 79.6% | 79 min | 0.31% | B+ |
| November 2025 | 2,230 | 79.2% | 81 min | 4.26% | B− |
| December 2025 (this page) | 2,273 | 70.1% | 92 min | 1.89% | C |
| January 2026 | 2,077 | 73.8% | 78 min | 3.71% | C− |
| February 2026 | 2,033 | 82.7% | 79 min | 1.33% | B |
| March 2026 | 2,626 | 74.3% | 98 min | 6.25% | C− |
| April 2026 | 2,588 | 80.7% | 86 min | 2.20% | B |
| May 2026 | 2,735 | 80.6% | 65 min | 0.73% | B+ |
| June 2026 | 2,657 | 79.2% | 72 min | 2.11% | B |
| July 2026 | 2,759 | 76.5% | 82 min | 2.97% | B |
| August 2026 | 2,715 | 77.2% | 85 min | 2.62% | B |
Departure window
The best time of day to leave MKE in December
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 23 points, against 11 points between the best and worst carrier.
- 5am–8am710 flights77.2%
- 8am–11am271 flights74.0%
- 11am–2pm477 flights69.5%
- 2pm–5pm408 flights67.6%
- 5pm–8pm353 flights58.4%
- 8pm–5am54 flights54.0%
Scale runs 45% to 85%.
The 8pm–5am window is where this operation falls apart: 54.0% on time, against 77.2% 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 710 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Saturday is the strongest day at 80.5% on time and Sunday the weakest at 64.3%, a spread of 16 points.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at MKE in December
The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. Southwest Airlines arrives on time 74.4% of the time; SkyWest Airlines manages 63.2%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 524 flights means less than a ten-point one.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 863 | 74.4% | 58 min | 0.35% | C+ |
| SkyWest Airlines | 524 | 63.2% | 112 min | 3.05% | D− |
| Delta Air Linesthin sample | 285 | 75.5% | 113 min | 3.86% | B− |
| American Airlinesthin sample | 203 | 71.8% | 127 min | 0.49% | C+ |
| Republic Airwaysthin sample | 142 | 70.3% | 72 min | 2.82% | C |
| United Airlinesthin sample | 78 | 64.1% | 72 min | 0.00% | D+ |
| PSA Airlinesthin sample | 61 | 50.0% | 177 min | 1.64% | F |
| Alaska Airlinesthin sample | 41 | 57.5% | 36 min | 0.00% | D+ |
| Envoy Airthin sample | 36 | 72.7% | 67 min | 8.33% | C− |
SkyWest Airlines cancels 3.0% 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 MKE in December
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MKE to ORD · Chicago | 405 | 60.8% | 116 min | 3.70% | D− |
| MKE to ATL · Atlantathin sample | 183 | 81.4% | 97 min | 3.28% | B− |
| MKE to DEN · Denverthin sample | 168 | 67.9% | 72 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| MKE to PHX · Phoenixthin sample | 141 | 68.8% | 64 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| MKE to MCO · Orlandothin sample | 133 | 74.4% | 89 min | 3.01% | C− |
| MKE to DTW · Detroitthin sample | 121 | 66.9% | 94 min | 2.48% | C |
| MKE to MSP · Minneapolisthin sample | 115 | 72.3% | 125 min | 2.61% | C |
| MKE to DCA · Washingtonthin sample | 106 | 66.7% | 159 min | 0.94% | C+ |
| MKE to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample | 93 | 71.7% | 48 min | 1.08% | C |
| MKE to CLT · Charlottethin sample | 78 | 67.9% | 208 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| MKE to BNA · Nashvillethin sample | 77 | 76.6% | 38 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| MKE to BWI · Baltimorethin sample | 75 | 83.6% | 63 min | 2.67% | B |
| MKE to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample | 75 | 70.7% | 75 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| MKE to EWR · Newarkthin sample | 60 | 69.0% | 62 min | 3.33% | C− |
| MKE to STL · St. Louisthin sample | 58 | 82.8% | 42 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| MKE to RSW · Fort Myersthin sample | 46 | 73.9% | 72 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| MKE to TPA · Tampathin sample | 42 | 71.4% | 70 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| MKE to DAL · Dallasthin sample | 42 | 76.2% | 47 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| MKE to SEA · Seattlethin sample | 41 | 57.5% | 36 min | 0.00% | D+ |
| MKE to BOS · Bostonthin sample | 32 | 71.0% | 69 min | 3.12% | C− |
| MKE to SLC · Salt Lake Citythin sample | 31 | 53.3% | 104 min | 3.23% | F− |
| MKE to AUS · Austinthin sample | 31 | 80.6% | 43 min | 0.00% | B+ |
Delay causes
What held MKE up in December
Carrier accounts for 46% of the 62,000 delay minutes carriers reported here, and the remaining four split what is left.
- 46%Carrier
- 25%Late-arriving aircraft
- 24%National Airspace System
- 6%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
The largest share of delay minutes, 46%, falls under carrier control: crew scheduling, maintenance, fuelling, baggage. It accounts for 28,000 of the 62,000 delay minutes reported here. The split is drawn from 61,611 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations sit at 1.89% against a national 1.55%, which is ordinary. Diversions add another 0.04%.
11.7% of arrivals land a full hour or more behind schedule, against 10.0% 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 MKE in December
For a December trip through MKE: plan on this being one of the airport's harder months. The 5am–8am departures held up best at 77.2% on time, and with 11.7% 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
- Milwaukee Mitchell International (MKE), the whole year
- MKE in September83.0%
- MKE in October79.6%
- MKE in November79.2%
- MKE in January73.8%
- MKE in February82.7%
- MKE in March74.3%
- MKE in April80.7%
- MKE in May80.6%
- MKE in June79.2%
- MKE in July76.5%
- MKE in August77.2%
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.