Airport month record

MSPFEB

Minneapolis-St Paul International in February 2026

Departures: 7,923
Month: February 2026
National, same month: 80.2%
Carriers: 10

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

MSP in February lands a B, level with the national rate of 80.2%. 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 7,923 flights, of which Southwest Airlines flew 393 at 87.0% on time.

Southwest Airlines is the most reliable of the three carriers covered here at 87.0% on time across 393 flights.

On time

80.4%

Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 7,817 completed departures

Avg delay

69 min

Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights

Cancelled

1.12%

Nationally in February: 2.25%

Whole year

79.1%

MSP across all twelve months

These figures cover 7,923 departures from Minneapolis-St Paul International in February 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

February next to MSP's other months

Against MSP's own year, February ran about a point better than the twelve-month rate of 79.1%, which makes it number seven of twelve months, best first. Either side of it, January ran 72.9% on time and March 77.2%, so a trip moved by a few weeks would have landed in a worse stretch.

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	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 (this page)	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 February

Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 11 points, against 9 points between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.

5am–8am1,178 flights86.2%
8am–11am1,691 flights81.6%
11am–2pm1,386 flights78.9%
2pm–5pm1,295 flights76.0%
5pm–8pm1,302 flights75.4%
8pm–5am1,071 flights85.2%

Scale runs 65% to 90%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.

Book the early departure. Flights leaving between 5am–8am arrive on time 86.2% of the time, against 75.4% for the evening window. That is 11 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 1,691 flights scheduled in it.

Across the week, Saturday is the strongest day at 87.1% on time and Sunday the weakest at 64.8%. 22 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.

Carrier by carrier

Which airlines ran best at MSP in February

The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. Southwest Airlines arrives on time 87.0% of the time; SkyWest Airlines manages 77.9%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 2,169 flights means less than a ten-point one.

Carriers at MSP in February 2026
Airline	Flights	On time	Avg delay	Cancelled	Grade
Delta Air Lines	4,229	81.1%	61 min	1.16%	B
SkyWest Airlines	2,169	77.9%	86 min	0.74%	B+
Southwest Airlines	393	87.0%	52 min	0.51%	A+
United Airlinesthin sample	339	82.3%	61 min	0.00%	B+
American Airlinesthin sample	302	79.3%	72 min	0.99%	B+
Republic Airwaysthin sample	128	80.7%	41 min	7.03%	B−
Envoy Airthin sample	125	77.4%	66 min	0.80%	B+
Frontier Airlinesthin sample	106	76.4%	79 min	0.00%	B+
PSA Airlinesthin sample	81	79.5%	92 min	9.88%	B−
Alaska Airlinesthin sample	51	82.0%	40 min	1.96%	B

Southwest leads SkyWest by 9 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 February

Routes from MSP in February 2026
Route	Flights	On time	Avg delay	Cancelled	Grade
MSP to ORD · Chicago	442	78.5%	53 min	0.23%	B+
MSP to DEN · Denver	378	81.0%	74 min	0.00%	B+
MSP to ATL · Atlantathin sample	264	85.2%	54 min	0.00%	A+
MSP to PHX · Phoenixthin sample	260	75.8%	63 min	0.00%	B+
MSP to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample	240	82.7%	53 min	0.83%	B+
MSP to DCA · Washingtonthin sample	200	73.5%	47 min	5.00%	C−
MSP to MDW · Chicagothin sample	180	83.9%	59 min	0.00%	B+
MSP to CLT · Charlottethin sample	179	82.3%	106 min	2.23%	B
MSP to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample	174	76.9%	99 min	0.57%	B+
MSP to MCO · Orlandothin sample	166	74.1%	105 min	0.00%	C+
MSP to EWR · Newarkthin sample	157	81.9%	51 min	8.28%	B−
MSP to SEA · Seattlethin sample	157	81.3%	46 min	0.64%	B+
MSP to STL · St. Louisthin sample	149	87.2%	71 min	0.67%	A+
MSP to DTW · Detroitthin sample	141	83.6%	70 min	0.71%	B+
MSP to LGA · New Yorkthin sample	138	89.8%	60 min	7.97%	A−
MSP to LAX · Los Angelesthin sample	135	84.4%	39 min	0.00%	B+
MSP to IAH · Houstonthin sample	134	88.7%	60 min	0.75%	A+
MSP to PHL · Philadelphiathin sample	132	82.9%	115 min	6.82%	B−
MSP to RSW · Fort Myersthin sample	129	74.2%	66 min	0.00%	C+
MSP to SFO · San Franciscothin sample	129	73.6%	57 min	0.00%	C+
MSP to AUS · Austinthin sample	124	88.7%	59 min	0.00%	A+
MSP to SLC · Salt Lake Citythin sample	113	85.7%	67 min	0.00%	A+
MSP to DLH · Duluththin sample	106	80.2%	126 min	4.72%	B−
MSP to BOS · Bostonthin sample	106	80.0%	53 min	5.66%	B−
MSP to OMA · Omahathin sample	106	76.2%	92 min	0.94%	B+

Delay causes

What held MSP up in February

One category carries most of the weight here. Carrier accounts for 53% of the 106,000 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
53%
National Airspace System
23%
Late-arriving aircraft
14%
Extreme weather
10%
Security
0%

The largest share of delay minutes, 53%, 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 56,000 of the 106,000 delay minutes reported here. The split is drawn from 106,148 reported delay minutes.

Cancellations sit at 1.12% against a national 2.25%, which is ordinary. Diversions add another 0.21%.

6.7% of arrivals land an hour or more late, close to the national 6.5%. 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 MSP in February

For a February trip through MSP: expect 80.4% on time and 1.12% cancelled, going by February 2026. 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 August81.5%
MSP in September85.6%
MSP in October84.7%
MSP in November82.1%
MSP in December63.1%
MSP in January72.9%
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