Airport month record

MSPAUG

Minneapolis-St Paul International in August 2025

Departures: 10,305
Month: August 2025
National, same month: 77.4%
Carriers: 11

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

MSP in August lands a B+, 4 points better than the national rate of 77.4%. Roughly one flight in five arrives 15 minutes late or worse, and those flights are late by about an hour on average. That is a workable record, not a spotless one. That rests on 10,305 flights, of which SkyWest Airlines flew 2,176 at 83.7% on time.

SkyWest Airlines is the most reliable of the five carriers covered here at 83.7% on time across 2,176 flights.

On time

81.5%

Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 10,230 completed departures

Avg delay

68 min

Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights

Cancelled

0.47%

Nationally in August: 1.08%

Whole year

79.1%

MSP across all twelve months

These figures cover 10,305 departures from Minneapolis-St Paul International in August 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

August next to MSP's other months

Against MSP's own year, August ran 2 points better than the twelve-month rate of 79.1%, which makes it number six of twelve months, best first. Cancellations were unusually low for MSP in August, at 0.47% against 1.37% across the year. Either side of it, July ran 74.1% on time and September 85.6%, so this month sits in line with its neighbours.

MSP month by month
Month	Flights	On time	Avg delay	Cancelled	Grade
July 2025	10,565	74.1%	77 min	0.89%	C+
August 2025 (this page)	10,305	81.5%	68 min	0.47%	B+
September 2025	9,559	85.6%	59 min	0.10%	A+
October 2025	9,657	84.7%	60 min	0.22%	B+
November 2025	8,806	82.1%	75 min	2.16%	B
December 2025	8,854	63.1%	78 min	2.28%	D
January 2026	8,055	72.9%	74 min	2.41%	C
February 2026	7,923	80.4%	69 min	1.12%	B
March 2026	9,608	77.2%	80 min	5.04%	B−
April 2026	9,639	83.9%	68 min	0.75%	B+
May 2026	10,400	83.4%	73 min	0.54%	B+
June 2026	10,491	77.9%	67 min	0.92%	B+

Departure window

The best time of day to leave MSP in August

Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 17 points, against 11 points between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.

5am–8am1,437 flights88.4%
8am–11am2,145 flights84.6%
11am–2pm1,820 flights84.7%
2pm–5pm1,711 flights75.2%
5pm–8pm1,460 flights71.8%
8pm–5am1,732 flights82.7%

Scale runs 65% to 95%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.

Book the early departure. Flights leaving between 5am–8am arrive on time 88.4% of the time, against 71.8% for the evening window. That is 17 points of difference for no extra money, and it comes from the same aircraft having had no earlier flight to fall behind on. The 8am–11am window is the busiest, with 2,145 flights scheduled in it.

Across the week, Tuesday is the strongest day at 89.0% on time and Saturday the weakest at 72.8%. 16 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.

Carrier by carrier

Which airlines ran best at MSP in August

The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. SkyWest Airlines arrives on time 83.7% of the time; United Airlines manages 72.9%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 468 flights means less than a ten-point one.

Carriers at MSP in August 2025
Airline	Flights	On time	Avg delay	Cancelled	Grade
Delta Air Lines	6,181	82.0%	60 min	0.28%	B+
SkyWest Airlines	2,176	83.7%	75 min	0.09%	B+
Southwest Airlines	548	77.2%	55 min	0.36%	B+
United Airlines	468	72.9%	89 min	1.07%	C
American Airlines	392	80.2%	107 min	2.81%	B
Alaska Airlinesthin sample	144	81.9%	50 min	0.00%	B+
Republic Airwaysthin sample	128	71.5%	54 min	3.91%	C−
Envoy Airthin sample	88	75.6%	66 min	2.27%	B
Frontier Airlinesthin sample	80	79.5%	130 min	2.50%	B
Spirit Airlinesthin sample	60	88.3%	137 min	0.00%	A+
PSA Airlinesthin sample	33	77.4%	254 min	6.06%	B−

SkyWest leads United by 11 points. Real, but small enough that a better departure time on the weaker carrier can outweigh it.

Route by route

Busiest routes out of MSP in August

Routes from MSP in August 2025
Route	Flights	On time	Avg delay	Cancelled	Grade
MSP to DEN · Denver	549	76.1%	67 min	0.36%	B+
MSP to ORD · Chicago	542	69.1%	64 min	1.66%	C
MSP to ATL · Atlantathin sample	317	86.7%	93 min	0.63%	A+
MSP to SEA · Seattlethin sample	292	87.0%	59 min	0.00%	A+
MSP to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample	268	78.1%	80 min	2.99%	B
MSP to PHX · Phoenixthin sample	251	84.8%	62 min	0.00%	B+
MSP to MDW · Chicagothin sample	238	76.3%	60 min	0.84%	B+
MSP to CLT · Charlottethin sample	214	84.4%	101 min	0.93%	B+
MSP to LAX · Los Angelesthin sample	209	86.0%	55 min	0.48%	A+
MSP to DCA · Washingtonthin sample	203	72.7%	85 min	1.97%	C
MSP to EWR · Newarkthin sample	198	71.9%	80 min	0.51%	C+
MSP to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample	192	88.4%	54 min	1.04%	A
MSP to DTW · Detroitthin sample	190	81.1%	109 min	0.00%	B+
MSP to LGA · New Yorkthin sample	184	89.4%	58 min	2.17%	A
MSP to SFO · San Franciscothin sample	181	81.8%	54 min	0.00%	B+
MSP to BOS · Bostonthin sample	181	82.2%	49 min	0.00%	B+
MSP to PHL · Philadelphiathin sample	170	78.6%	123 min	1.18%	B
MSP to STL · St. Louisthin sample	159	79.7%	54 min	0.00%	B+
MSP to FAR · Fargothin sample	155	79.4%	41 min	0.00%	B+
MSP to BNA · Nashvillethin sample	149	88.6%	36 min	0.00%	A+
MSP to IAH · Houstonthin sample	141	76.4%	61 min	0.71%	B+
MSP to AUS · Austinthin sample	140	74.3%	52 min	0.00%	C+
MSP to PDX · Portlandthin sample	138	91.3%	68 min	0.00%	A+
MSP to BIS · Bismarckthin sample	138	79.7%	89 min	0.00%	B+
MSP to BWI · Baltimorethin sample	135	81.3%	50 min	0.00%	B+

Delay causes

What held MSP up in August

One category carries most of the weight here. Carrier accounts for 51% of the 128,000 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.

Carrier
51%
Late-arriving aircraft
21%
National Airspace System
20%
Extreme weather
8%
Security
0%

The largest share of delay minutes, 51%, falls under carrier control: crew scheduling, maintenance, fuelling, baggage. Unlike weather, that is a management outcome, and it is the category where the gap between two carriers on the same schedule is genuinely earned. It accounts for 65,000 of the 128,000 delay minutes reported here. The split is drawn from 128,179 reported delay minutes.

Cancellations are rare at 0.47%, below the national 1.08% 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.

6.3% of arrivals land an hour or more late, close to the national 8.2%. 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 about an hour, which a normal layover absorbs.

What to do with this

Flying from MSP in August

For a August trip through MSP: expect 81.5% on time and 0.47% cancelled, going by August 2025. The 5am–8am window was the strongest part of the day.

Minneapolis-St Paul International (MSP), the whole year
MSP in July74.1%
MSP in September85.6%
MSP in October84.7%
MSP in November82.1%
MSP in December63.1%
MSP in January72.9%
MSP in February80.4%
MSP in March77.2%
MSP in April83.9%
MSP in May83.4%
MSP in June77.9%

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