Airport month record

MSPOCT

Minneapolis-St Paul International in October 2025

Departures: 9,657
Month: October 2025
National, same month: 79.7%
Carriers: 11

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

MSP in October earns a B+. More than four flights in five arrive inside the 15-minute window the DOT uses to define an on-time arrival, which puts it 5 points better than the national rate of 79.7%. When something does go wrong the average delay runs about an hour. That rests on 9,657 flights, of which SkyWest Airlines flew 2,109 at 91.4% on time.

SkyWest Airlines is the most reliable of the five carriers covered here at 91.4% on time across 2,109 flights.

On time

84.7%

Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 9,623 completed departures

Avg delay

60 min

Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights

Cancelled

0.22%

Nationally in October: 0.53%

Whole year

79.1%

MSP across all twelve months

These figures cover 9,657 departures from Minneapolis-St Paul International in October 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

October next to MSP's other months

Against MSP's own year, October ran 6 points better than the twelve-month rate of 79.1%, which makes it number two of twelve months, best first. Cancellations were unusually low for MSP in October, at 0.22% against 1.37% across the year. Either side of it, September ran 85.6% on time and November 82.1%, 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	10,305	81.5%	68 min	0.47%	B+
September 2025	9,559	85.6%	59 min	0.10%	A+
October 2025 (this page)	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 October

Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 14 points, against 13 points between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.

5am–8am1,318 flights89.9%
8am–11am1,971 flights90.5%
11am–2pm1,791 flights84.2%
2pm–5pm1,642 flights80.2%
5pm–8pm1,365 flights76.3%
8pm–5am1,570 flights85.3%

Scale runs 70% to 95%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.

Book the morning departure. Flights leaving between 8am–11am arrive on time 90.5% of the time, against 76.3% for the evening window. That is 14 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 1,971 flights scheduled in it.

Across the week, Wednesday is the strongest day at 89.4% on time and Sunday the weakest at 80.1%. 9 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.

Carrier by carrier

Which airlines ran best at MSP in October

The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. SkyWest Airlines arrives on time 91.4% of the time; United Airlines manages 78.4%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 497 flights means less than a ten-point one.

Carriers at MSP in October 2025
Airline	Flights	On time	Avg delay	Cancelled	Grade
Delta Air Lines	5,598	83.4%	56 min	0.23%	B+
SkyWest Airlines	2,109	91.4%	67 min	0.00%	A+
Southwest Airlines	550	83.1%	45 min	0.00%	B+
United Airlines	497	78.4%	54 min	0.20%	B+
American Airlines	387	86.5%	126 min	0.52%	A+
Republic Airwaysthin sample	137	74.3%	61 min	0.73%	C+
Alaska Airlinesthin sample	104	88.1%	24 min	2.88%	A
Envoy Airthin sample	102	62.4%	53 min	0.00%	D+
Frontier Airlinesthin sample	97	83.3%	115 min	1.03%	B
PSA Airlinesthin sample	46	76.1%	87 min	0.00%	B+
Spirit Airlinesthin sample	30	83.3%	75 min	0.00%	B+

The spread between SkyWest and United is 13 points, wide enough that it should decide the booking. On a hundred trips that is 13 more arrivals inside the on-time window.

Route by route

Busiest routes out of MSP in October

Routes from MSP in October 2025
Route	Flights	On time	Avg delay	Cancelled	Grade
MSP to ORD · Chicago	574	72.7%	57 min	0.00%	C+
MSP to DEN · Denver	529	80.2%	61 min	0.38%	B+
MSP to ATL · Atlantathin sample	319	88.4%	74 min	0.00%	A+
MSP to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample	298	84.0%	128 min	1.01%	B
MSP to PHX · Phoenixthin sample	268	82.4%	41 min	0.00%	B+
MSP to MDW · Chicagothin sample	246	89.8%	55 min	0.00%	A+
MSP to SEA · Seattlethin sample	230	89.4%	35 min	1.30%	A
MSP to DCA · Washingtonthin sample	224	79.7%	52 min	0.89%	B+
MSP to CLT · Charlottethin sample	223	83.9%	62 min	0.00%	B+
MSP to EWR · Newarkthin sample	202	73.9%	64 min	1.49%	C
MSP to PHL · Philadelphiathin sample	192	81.2%	63 min	0.52%	B+
MSP to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample	192	80.0%	37 min	0.52%	B+
MSP to LAX · Los Angelesthin sample	186	83.3%	33 min	0.00%	B+
MSP to BOS · Bostonthin sample	176	67.6%	66 min	0.00%	C+
MSP to SFO · San Franciscothin sample	170	78.2%	46 min	0.00%	B+
MSP to AUS · Austinthin sample	159	81.8%	52 min	0.00%	B+
MSP to DTW · Detroitthin sample	156	89.1%	57 min	0.00%	A+
MSP to BNA · Nashvillethin sample	154	84.4%	42 min	0.00%	B+
MSP to PDX · Portlandthin sample	151	86.0%	59 min	0.66%	A+
MSP to IAH · Houstonthin sample	151	83.3%	55 min	0.00%	B+
MSP to LGA · New Yorkthin sample	151	80.4%	68 min	1.32%	B
MSP to MCO · Orlandothin sample	146	86.1%	52 min	0.68%	A+
MSP to OMA · Omahathin sample	141	83.7%	48 min	0.00%	B+
MSP to STL · St. Louisthin sample	138	80.4%	76 min	0.00%	B+
MSP to BWI · Baltimorethin sample	128	85.2%	52 min	0.00%	A+

Delay causes

What held MSP up in October

One category carries most of the weight here. Carrier accounts for 50% of the 88,000 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
50%
National Airspace System
25%
Late-arriving aircraft
22%
Extreme weather
2%
Security
0%

The largest share of delay minutes, 50%, 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 44,000 of the 88,000 delay minutes reported here. The split is drawn from 88,406 reported delay minutes.

Cancellations are rare at 0.22%, below the national 0.53% 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.

Badly late arrivals are rare here: only 4.5% land an hour or more behind schedule, against 6.3% nationally. Connections built on this flight are about as safe as US domestic connections get, though a cancelled flight still ignores every layover you give it.

What to do with this

Flying from MSP in October

For a October trip through MSP: this is one of the better months to be flying from here, 84.7% on time with 0.22% cancelled. That is a base rate for the month as a whole; a single storm can still spoil a particular day.

Minneapolis-St Paul International (MSP), the whole year
MSP in July74.1%
MSP in August81.5%
MSP in September85.6%
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