Airport month record
RSWDEC
Southwest Florida International in December 2025
- Departures
- 3,480
- Month
- December 2025
- National, same month
- 73.2%
- Carriers
- 7
Historical statistics for December 2025, not live status or a forecast for this year’s December. For today’s conditions at RSW, see live FAA status.
RSW in December sits in the middle of the pack with a C. Close to three flights in four arrive on time by the DOT's definition, about a point better than the national rate of 73.2%. The late ones land an hour and a half behind schedule. That rests on 3,480 flights, of which United Airlines flew 638 at 84.2% on time.
United Airlines is the most reliable of the five carriers covered here at 84.2% on time across 638 flights.
Key figures
On time
74.2%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 3,408 completed departures
Avg delay
86 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
1.93%
Nationally in December: 1.55%
Whole year
78.1%
RSW across all twelve months
These figures cover 3,480 departures from Southwest Florida 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 RSW's other months
Against RSW's own year, December ran 4 points worse than the twelve-month rate of 78.1%, which makes it number nine of twelve months, best first. Either side of it, November ran 81.7% on time and January 78.6%, so a trip moved by a few weeks would have landed in a better stretch.
| Month | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2025 | 2,315 | 73.1% | 81 min | 2.46% | C |
| August 2025 | 2,060 | 80.8% | 78 min | 1.12% | B |
| September 2025 | 1,847 | 88.2% | 90 min | 0.16% | A+ |
| October 2025 | 2,369 | 81.2% | 74 min | 0.59% | B+ |
| November 2025 | 2,991 | 81.7% | 95 min | 1.37% | B |
| December 2025 (this page) | 3,480 | 74.2% | 86 min | 1.93% | C |
| January 2026 | 3,454 | 78.6% | 80 min | 4.11% | B− |
| February 2026 | 3,551 | 73.8% | 70 min | 2.87% | C |
| March 2026 | 4,504 | 71.2% | 86 min | 3.22% | C− |
| April 2026 | 3,632 | 81.0% | 80 min | 0.69% | B+ |
| May 2026 | 2,802 | 82.5% | 81 min | 0.54% | B+ |
| June 2026 | 2,087 | 79.6% | 77 min | 0.91% | B+ |
Departure window
The best time of day to leave RSW in December
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 32 points, against 14 points between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.
- 5am–8am597 flights92.9%
- 8am–11am503 flights86.4%
- 11am–2pm757 flights74.4%
- 2pm–5pm633 flights63.7%
- 5pm–8pm738 flights63.6%
- 8pm–5am252 flights60.8%
Scale runs 50% to 100%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.
The 8pm–5am window is where this operation falls apart: 60.8% on time, against 92.9% 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 11am–2pm window is the busiest, with 757 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Wednesday is the strongest day at 84.3% on time and Sunday the weakest at 63.4%. 21 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at RSW in December
The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. United Airlines arrives on time 84.2% of the time; Southwest Airlines manages 69.9%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 797 flights means less than a ten-point one.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 797 | 69.9% | 65 min | 1.63% | C |
| Delta Air Lines | 695 | 75.3% | 106 min | 3.02% | B− |
| American Airlines | 641 | 75.1% | 106 min | 0.94% | B+ |
| United Airlines | 638 | 84.2% | 63 min | 0.78% | B+ |
| JetBlue Airways | 404 | 71.9% | 86 min | 2.97% | C |
| Frontier Airlinesthin sample | 162 | 58.0% | 82 min | 3.09% | D− |
| Spirit Airlinesthin sample | 108 | 67.3% | 85 min | 3.70% | C− |
Delta Air Lines 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 RSW in December
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RSW to ORD · Chicagothin sample | 337 | 72.1% | 77 min | 1.78% | C |
| RSW to ATL · Atlantathin sample | 252 | 83.4% | 103 min | 4.37% | B− |
| RSW to BOS · Bostonthin sample | 231 | 67.3% | 77 min | 2.16% | C |
| RSW to EWR · Newarkthin sample | 205 | 81.5% | 72 min | 2.44% | B |
| RSW to DTW · Detroitthin sample | 197 | 70.1% | 109 min | 1.52% | C |
| RSW to CLT · Charlottethin sample | 167 | 84.4% | 105 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| RSW to BWI · Baltimorethin sample | 134 | 72.7% | 51 min | 4.48% | C− |
| RSW to PHL · Philadelphiathin sample | 133 | 66.4% | 137 min | 1.50% | C |
| RSW to DEN · Denverthin sample | 127 | 79.4% | 57 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| RSW to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample | 122 | 73.0% | 80 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| RSW to JFK · New Yorkthin sample | 115 | 77.6% | 117 min | 6.09% | B− |
| RSW to MSP · Minneapolisthin sample | 112 | 68.8% | 90 min | 2.68% | C |
| RSW to MDW · Chicagothin sample | 95 | 61.1% | 52 min | 0.00% | D+ |
| RSW to IAH · Houstonthin sample | 92 | 85.9% | 46 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| RSW to LGA · New Yorkthin sample | 91 | 67.1% | 130 min | 5.49% | C− |
| RSW to DCA · Washingtonthin sample | 90 | 71.1% | 88 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| RSW to STL · St. Louisthin sample | 87 | 69.8% | 79 min | 1.15% | C |
| RSW to CLE · Clevelandthin sample | 83 | 72.5% | 75 min | 3.61% | C− |
| RSW to IND · Indianapolisthin sample | 79 | 72.2% | 64 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| RSW to CMH · Columbusthin sample | 76 | 78.4% | 70 min | 2.63% | B |
| RSW to BNA · Nashvillethin sample | 75 | 77.0% | 58 min | 1.33% | B |
| RSW to CVG · Cincinnatithin sample | 64 | 71.4% | 61 min | 1.56% | C |
| RSW to MCO · Orlandothin sample | 58 | 77.6% | 62 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| RSW to PIT · Pittsburghthin sample | 48 | 60.4% | 80 min | 0.00% | D+ |
| RSW to HPN · White Plainsthin sample | 47 | 78.3% | 82 min | 2.13% | B |
Delay causes
What held RSW up in December
One category carries most of the weight here. Late-arriving aircraft accounts for 53% of the 76,000 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.
- 53%Late-arriving aircraft
- 24%Carrier
- 18%National Airspace System
- 5%Extreme weather
53% of delay minutes trace back to a late-arriving aircraft, meaning the plane was already behind before it got here. That is a cascade, and cascades start small and grow through the day. Across 76,000 reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 11 to one. It is the strongest argument for booking the first departure of the morning, when the aircraft has been sitting at the gate overnight with nothing to inherit. The split is drawn from 75,925 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations sit at 1.93% against a national 1.55%, which is ordinary. Diversions add another 0.14%.
For anyone connecting, the number to weigh is not the on-time rate but the tail behind it. 11.1% of arrivals land a full hour or more behind schedule, against 10.0% nationally. A 45-minute layover does not survive that, and no amount of walking quickly changes it. Ninety minutes is the honest minimum here, and two hours if the onward flight is on a separate ticket.
What to do with this
Flying from RSW in December
For a December trip through RSW: expect 74.2% on time and 1.93% cancelled, going by December 2025. The 5am–8am window was the strongest part of the day.
Related
Where to go next
- Southwest Florida International (RSW), the whole year
- RSW in July73.1%
- RSW in August80.8%
- RSW in September88.2%
- RSW in October81.2%
- RSW in November81.7%
- RSW in January78.6%
- RSW in February73.8%
- RSW in March71.2%
- RSW in April81.0%
- RSW in May82.5%
- RSW in June79.6%
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.