Airport month record
SLCMAY
Salt Lake City International in May 2026
- Departures
- 10,146
- Month
- May 2026
- National, same month
- 78.6%
- Carriers
- 8
Historical statistics for May 2026, not live status or a forecast for this year’s May. For today’s conditions at SLC, see live FAA status.
SLC in May earns an A+. More than four flights in five arrive inside the 15-minute window the DOT uses to define an on-time arrival, which puts it 7 points better than the national rate of 78.6%. When something does go wrong the average delay runs about an hour. That rests on 10,146 flights, of which SkyWest Airlines flew 3,286 at 89.5% on time.
SkyWest Airlines is the most reliable of the four carriers covered here at 89.5% on time across 3,286 flights.
Key figures
On time
85.3%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 10,066 completed departures
Avg delay
57 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
0.42%
Nationally in May: 0.92%
Whole year
84.8%
SLC across all twelve months
These figures cover 10,146 departures from Salt Lake City 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 SLC's other months
Against SLC's own year, May ran level with the twelve-month rate of 84.8%, which makes it number seven of twelve months, best first. Cancellations were unusually low for SLC in May, at 0.42% against 0.76% across the year. Either side of it, April ran 84.4% on time and June 83.3%, so this month sits in line with its neighbours.
| Month | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2025 | 10,346 | 79.5% | 69 min | 0.67% | B+ |
| August 2025 | 9,985 | 84.3% | 62 min | 0.39% | B+ |
| September 2025 | 9,344 | 88.2% | 62 min | 0.19% | A+ |
| October 2025 | 9,841 | 85.7% | 60 min | 0.11% | A+ |
| November 2025 | 9,197 | 86.5% | 71 min | 1.72% | A |
| December 2025 | 9,740 | 83.8% | 64 min | 0.84% | B+ |
| January 2026 | 9,515 | 85.5% | 66 min | 1.79% | A |
| February 2026 | 9,167 | 85.5% | 73 min | 0.99% | A+ |
| March 2026 | 10,632 | 85.8% | 67 min | 1.21% | A |
| April 2026 | 9,877 | 84.4% | 60 min | 0.38% | B+ |
| May 2026 (this page) | 10,146 | 85.3% | 57 min | 0.42% | A+ |
| June 2026 | 10,084 | 83.3% | 64 min | 0.48% | B+ |
Departure window
The best time of day to leave SLC in May
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 13 points, against 14 points between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.
- 5am–8am891 flights93.0%
- 8am–11am2,119 flights89.8%
- 11am–2pm1,952 flights86.7%
- 2pm–5pm1,753 flights80.5%
- 5pm–8pm1,311 flights80.0%
- 8pm–5am2,120 flights83.5%
Scale runs 70% to 100%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.
Book the early departure. Flights leaving between 5am–8am arrive on time 93.0% of the time, against 80.0% for the evening window. That is 13 points of difference for no extra money, and it comes from the same aircraft having had no earlier flight to fall behind on. The 8pm–5am window is the busiest, with 2,120 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Saturday is the strongest day at 89.1% on time and Friday the weakest at 81.3%. 8 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at SLC in May
The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. SkyWest Airlines arrives on time 89.5% of the time; Southwest Airlines manages 75.7%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 903 flights means less than a ten-point one.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delta Air Lines | 4,776 | 85.6% | 53 min | 0.59% | A+ |
| SkyWest Airlines | 3,286 | 89.5% | 63 min | 0.03% | A+ |
| Southwest Airlines | 903 | 75.7% | 45 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| American Airlines | 389 | 80.1% | 76 min | 2.31% | B |
| United Airlinesthin sample | 364 | 81.5% | 77 min | 1.10% | B |
| Frontier Airlinesthin sample | 280 | 73.1% | 61 min | 0.36% | C+ |
| Alaska Airlinesthin sample | 113 | 84.8% | 33 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| JetBlue Airwaysthin sample | 31 | 83.9% | 237 min | 0.00% | B+ |
The spread between SkyWest and Southwest is 14 points, wide enough that it should decide the booking. On a hundred trips that is 14 more arrivals inside the on-time window.
Route by route
Busiest routes out of SLC in May
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SLC to DEN · Denver | 663 | 78.9% | 51 min | 0.30% | B+ |
| SLC to PHX · Phoenix | 501 | 85.4% | 60 min | 0.20% | A+ |
| SLC to SEA · Seattlethin sample | 338 | 82.8% | 45 min | 0.30% | B+ |
| SLC to LAX · Los Angelesthin sample | 330 | 87.9% | 49 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| SLC to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample | 329 | 77.9% | 79 min | 3.04% | B− |
| SLC to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample | 315 | 78.9% | 62 min | 0.32% | B+ |
| SLC to SFO · San Franciscothin sample | 307 | 46.1% | 57 min | 0.98% | F+ |
| SLC to ORD · Chicagothin sample | 283 | 76.9% | 87 min | 0.35% | B+ |
| SLC to ATL · Atlantathin sample | 249 | 85.9% | 45 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| SLC to SAN · San Diegothin sample | 240 | 85.3% | 44 min | 0.83% | A+ |
| SLC to SMF · Sacramentothin sample | 200 | 91.0% | 38 min | 0.50% | A+ |
| SLC to PDX · Portlandthin sample | 192 | 92.6% | 66 min | 1.04% | A |
| SLC to SGU · St. Georgethin sample | 163 | 90.8% | 78 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| SLC to SJC · San Josethin sample | 162 | 87.0% | 49 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| SLC to BOI · Boisethin sample | 155 | 88.4% | 72 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| SLC to JFK · New Yorkthin sample | 155 | 85.8% | 101 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| SLC to SNA · Santa Anathin sample | 151 | 87.4% | 48 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| SLC to AUS · Austinthin sample | 150 | 86.4% | 44 min | 0.67% | A+ |
| SLC to GEG · Spokanethin sample | 149 | 88.6% | 32 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| SLC to IAH · Houstonthin sample | 149 | 80.4% | 92 min | 0.67% | B+ |
| SLC to MSP · Minneapolisthin sample | 149 | 87.2% | 39 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| SLC to DTW · Detroitthin sample | 148 | 93.8% | 60 min | 0.68% | A+ |
| SLC to OAK · Oaklandthin sample | 141 | 88.7% | 58 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| SLC to LGB · Long Beachthin sample | 136 | 84.6% | 32 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| SLC to MCO · Orlandothin sample | 135 | 89.4% | 45 min | 0.74% | A+ |
Delay causes
What held SLC up in May
One category carries most of the weight here. Carrier accounts for 46% of the 85,000 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.
- 46%Carrier
- 26%National Airspace System
- 25%Late-arriving aircraft
- 3%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
The largest share of delay minutes, 46%, 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 39,000 of the 85,000 delay minutes reported here. The split is drawn from 84,618 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations are rare at 0.42%, 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.
Badly late arrivals are rare here: only 3.9% land an hour or more behind schedule, against 7.1% 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 SLC in May
For a May trip through SLC: expect 85.3% on time and 0.42% cancelled, going by May 2026. The 5am–8am window was the strongest part of the day.
Related
Where to go next
- Salt Lake City International (SLC), the whole year
- SLC in July79.5%
- SLC in August84.3%
- SLC in September88.2%
- SLC in October85.7%
- SLC in November86.5%
- SLC in December83.8%
- SLC in January85.5%
- SLC in February85.5%
- SLC in March85.8%
- SLC in April84.4%
- SLC in June83.3%
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.