Airport month record

MKEMAY

Milwaukee Mitchell International in May 2026

Departures: 2,735
Month: May 2026
National, same month: 78.6%
Carriers: 9

Historical statistics for May 2026, not live status or a forecast for this year’s May. For today’s conditions at MKE, see live FAA status.

MKE in May lands a B+, 2 points better than the national rate of 78.6%. About one flight in five arrives 15 minutes late or worse, and those flights are late by about an hour on average. That rests on 2,735 flights, of which Southwest Airlines flew 866 at 80.8% on time.

On time

80.6%

Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 2,708 completed departures

Avg delay

65 min

Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights

Cancelled

0.73%

Nationally in May: 0.92%

Whole year

78.1%

MKE across all twelve months

These figures cover 2,735 departures from Milwaukee Mitchell International in May 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

May next to MKE's other months

Against MKE's own year, May ran 3 points better than the twelve-month rate of 78.1%, which makes it number four of twelve months, best first. Cancellations were unusually low for MKE in May, at 0.73% against 2.41% across the year. Either side of it, April ran 80.7% on time and June 79.2%, so this month sits in line with its neighbours.

MKE month by month
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	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 (this page)	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 May

Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 23 points, against 5 points between the best and worst carrier.

5am–8am780 flights90.3%
8am–11am489 flights87.1%
11am–2pm439 flights74.0%
2pm–5pm475 flights75.3%
5pm–8pm518 flights70.8%
8pm–5am34 flights67.6%

Scale runs 60% to 95%.

Book the early departure. Flights leaving between 5am–8am arrive on time 90.3% of the time, against 67.6% 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 780 flights scheduled in it.

Across the week, Tuesday is the strongest day at 86.0% on time and Monday the weakest at 72.9%, a spread of 13 points.

Carrier by carrier

Which airlines ran best at MKE in May

The two carriers here are closely matched: 5 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.

Carriers at MKE in May 2026
Airline	Flights	On time	Avg delay	Cancelled	Grade
Southwest Airlines	866	80.8%	52 min	0.12%	B+
SkyWest Airlines	812	75.6%	70 min	0.62%	B+
Delta Air Linesthin sample	331	88.1%	46 min	0.91%	A+
Republic Airwaysthin sample	203	87.6%	87 min	0.99%	A+
American Airlinesthin sample	199	75.8%	74 min	2.01%	B
PSA Airlinesthin sample	151	84.8%	106 min	3.31%	B−
Alaska Airlinesthin sample	55	89.1%	28 min	0.00%	A+
United Airlinesthin sample	54	81.5%	68 min	0.00%	B+
JetBlue Airwaysthin sample	31	74.2%	49 min	0.00%	C+

No carrier stands out. Southwest tops the table at 80.8%, 5 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 MKE in May

Routes from MKE in May 2026
Route	Flights	On time	Avg delay	Cancelled	Grade
MKE to ORD · Chicago	516	71.8%	72 min	0.97%	C+
MKE to ATL · Atlantathin sample	216	88.3%	54 min	1.39%	A
MKE to DEN · Denverthin sample	190	77.2%	45 min	0.00%	B+
MKE to MSP · Minneapolisthin sample	162	92.0%	76 min	0.00%	A+
MKE to DTW · Detroitthin sample	148	78.9%	72 min	0.00%	B+
MKE to PHX · Phoenixthin sample	134	71.6%	68 min	0.00%	C+
MKE to DCA · Washingtonthin sample	114	78.4%	66 min	0.88%	B+
MKE to MCO · Orlandothin sample	108	71.3%	45 min	0.00%	C+
MKE to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample	92	84.6%	43 min	0.00%	B+
MKE to CLT · Charlottethin sample	91	80.2%	45 min	0.00%	B+
MKE to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample	90	76.5%	110 min	4.44%	B−
MKE to BNA · Nashvillethin sample	88	88.6%	62 min	0.00%	A+
MKE to BOS · Bostonthin sample	83	77.1%	63 min	0.00%	B+
MKE to LGA · New Yorkthin sample	82	87.7%	107 min	1.22%	A
MKE to PHL · Philadelphiathin sample	71	89.6%	157 min	5.63%	A−
MKE to EWR · Newarkthin sample	69	94.1%	75 min	1.45%	A
MKE to BWI · Baltimorethin sample	62	87.1%	30 min	0.00%	A+
MKE to MDW · Chicagothin sample	62	77.4%	33 min	0.00%	B+
MKE to STL · St. Louisthin sample	61	85.2%	103 min	0.00%	A+
MKE to SEA · Seattlethin sample	55	89.1%	28 min	0.00%	A+
MKE to IAH · Houstonthin sample	47	66.0%	48 min	0.00%	C+
MKE to TPA · Tampathin sample	41	97.5%	223 min	2.44%	A
MKE to SLC · Salt Lake Citythin sample	31	93.5%	118 min	0.00%	A+
MKE to DAL · Dallasthin sample	31	80.0%	74 min	0.00%	B+
MKE to RSW · Fort Myersthin sample	31	83.9%	21 min	0.00%	B+

Delay causes

What held MKE up in May

Carrier accounts for 44% of the 34,000 delay minutes carriers reported here, and the remaining four split what is left.

Carrier
44%
Late-arriving aircraft
32%
National Airspace System
17%
Extreme weather
7%

The largest share of delay minutes, 44%, falls under carrier control: crew scheduling, maintenance, fuelling, baggage. It accounts for 15,000 of the 34,000 delay minutes reported here. The split is drawn from 34,194 reported delay minutes.

Cancellations are rare at 0.73%, below the national 0.92% and low enough to earn the plus on the grade. Roughly one flight in 100 is called off; the risk here is arriving late, not not arriving.

6.4% of arrivals land an hour or more late, close to the national 7.1%, so a 60 to 75 minute layover is reasonable here while anything under 45 minutes is a bet. Most delays on this route last about an hour, which a normal layover absorbs.

What to do with this

Flying from MKE in May

For a May trip through MKE: expect 80.6% on time and 0.73% cancelled, going by May 2026. The 5am–8am window was the strongest part of the day.

Milwaukee Mitchell International (MKE), the whole year
MKE in September83.0%
MKE in October79.6%
MKE in November79.2%
MKE in December70.1%
MKE in January73.8%
MKE in February82.7%
MKE in March74.3%
MKE in April80.7%
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 22 October 2026; recomputed monthly. How this data is collected.

Key figures