Airport month record
STLFEB
St. Louis Lambert International in February 2026
- Departures
- 4,484
- 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 STL, see live FAA status.
STL in February 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 80.2%. When something does go wrong the average delay runs about an hour. That rests on 4,484 flights, of which American Airlines flew 414 at 88.4% on time.
Set against the rest of the country, STL's February record is 5 points better than the US average of 80.2%. That gap is worth roughly 47 fewer late arrivals for every thousand flights.
Key figures
On time
84.9%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 4,408 completed departures
Avg delay
64 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
1.32%
Nationally in February: 2.25%
Whole year
78.0%
STL across all twelve months
These figures cover 4,484 departures from St. Louis Lambert 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 STL's other months
Against STL's own year, February ran 7 points better than the twelve-month rate of 78.0%, which makes it the best of the twelve months in the data. Either side of it, January ran 83.1% on time and March 75.3%, so a trip moved by a few weeks would have landed in a worse stretch.
| Month | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2025 | 5,855 | 71.7% | 73 min | 1.57% | C |
| August 2025 | 5,539 | 79.7% | 71 min | 0.96% | B+ |
| September 2025 | 5,321 | 83.8% | 58 min | 0.34% | B+ |
| October 2025 | 5,611 | 78.5% | 60 min | 0.27% | B+ |
| November 2025 | 5,202 | 80.1% | 76 min | 1.46% | B |
| December 2025 | 5,359 | 74.0% | 75 min | 0.90% | C+ |
| January 2026 | 4,683 | 83.1% | 74 min | 3.46% | B− |
| February 2026 (this page) | 4,484 | 84.9% | 64 min | 1.32% | B |
| March 2026 | 5,400 | 75.3% | 74 min | 2.52% | B |
| April 2026 | 5,156 | 80.8% | 65 min | 0.80% | B+ |
| May 2026 | 5,375 | 77.5% | 74 min | 0.84% | B+ |
| June 2026 | 5,463 | 69.0% | 68 min | 1.17% | C |
Departure window
The best time of day to leave STL in February
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 13 points, against 4 points between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.
- 5am–8am772 flights90.9%
- 8am–11am1,155 flights90.7%
- 11am–2pm545 flights85.1%
- 2pm–5pm696 flights79.1%
- 5pm–8pm800 flights80.1%
- 8pm–5am516 flights77.7%
Scale runs 70% to 95%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.
Book the early departure. Flights leaving between 5am–8am arrive on time 90.9% of the time, against 77.7% for the overnight 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 8am–11am window is the busiest, with 1,155 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Tuesday is the strongest day at 88.8% on time and Sunday the weakest at 81.0%. 8 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at STL in February
The two carriers here are closely matched: 4 points separate the best from the worst. At that spread, schedule and price are better tie-breakers than reliability. Sample sizes are shown so you can see which rows are worth weighing.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 2,828 | 84.9% | 44 min | 0.67% | B+ |
| American Airlines | 414 | 88.4% | 105 min | 1.45% | A |
| Delta Air Linesthin sample | 336 | 86.8% | 132 min | 0.89% | A+ |
| Republic Airwaysthin sample | 258 | 85.3% | 73 min | 7.75% | A− |
| SkyWest Airlinesthin sample | 160 | 73.4% | 109 min | 1.25% | C |
| Envoy Airthin sample | 153 | 85.4% | 47 min | 1.31% | A |
| United Airlinesthin sample | 121 | 86.8% | 106 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| Frontier Airlinesthin sample | 97 | 82.5% | 104 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| PSA Airlinesthin sample | 80 | 75.0% | 77 min | 8.75% | B− |
| Alaska Airlinesthin sample | 37 | 91.9% | 33 min | 0.00% | A+ |
No carrier stands out. American tops the table at 88.4%, 4 points clear of the bottom, which is inside the range this kind of sample moves year to year.
Route by route
Busiest routes out of STL in February
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STL to ATL · Atlantathin sample | 254 | 88.9% | 95 min | 0.79% | A+ |
| STL to DEN · Denverthin sample | 250 | 84.8% | 82 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| STL to LGA · New Yorkthin sample | 202 | 80.1% | 51 min | 7.92% | B− |
| STL to MCO · Orlandothin sample | 195 | 84.4% | 65 min | 0.51% | B+ |
| STL to PHX · Phoenixthin sample | 193 | 81.9% | 91 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| STL to ORD · Chicagothin sample | 185 | 83.7% | 53 min | 0.54% | B+ |
| STL to DCA · Washingtonthin sample | 179 | 73.7% | 63 min | 2.79% | C |
| STL to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample | 161 | 85.4% | 89 min | 0.62% | A+ |
| STL to MSP · Minneapolisthin sample | 149 | 85.0% | 55 min | 1.34% | A |
| STL to DAL · Dallasthin sample | 149 | 87.0% | 53 min | 1.34% | A |
| STL to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample | 144 | 81.1% | 49 min | 0.69% | B+ |
| STL to CLT · Charlottethin sample | 136 | 87.9% | 55 min | 2.94% | A |
| STL to DTW · Detroitthin sample | 112 | 79.5% | 85 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| STL to MDW · Chicagothin sample | 111 | 90.1% | 37 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| STL to MIA · Miamithin sample | 110 | 88.2% | 36 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| STL to HOU · Houstonthin sample | 106 | 95.3% | 32 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| STL to BOS · Bostonthin sample | 98 | 83.5% | 53 min | 7.14% | B− |
| STL to BNA · Nashvillethin sample | 96 | 86.5% | 43 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| STL to RSW · Fort Myersthin sample | 94 | 79.8% | 33 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| STL to TPA · Tampathin sample | 90 | 80.0% | 37 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| STL to PHL · Philadelphiathin sample | 84 | 93.5% | 61 min | 8.33% | A− |
| STL to EWR · Newarkthin sample | 83 | 88.2% | 84 min | 8.43% | A− |
| STL to FLL · Fort Lauderdalethin sample | 79 | 84.6% | 34 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| STL to BWI · Baltimorethin sample | 74 | 85.9% | 48 min | 2.70% | A |
| STL to LAX · Los Angelesthin sample | 74 | 75.3% | 126 min | 0.00% | B+ |
Delay causes
What held STL up in February
One category carries most of the weight here. Carrier accounts for 46% of the 43,000 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
- 36%Late-arriving aircraft
- 16%National Airspace System
- 1%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
36% 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 43,000 reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 36 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 42,653 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations sit at 1.32% against a national 2.25%, which is ordinary. Diversions add another 0.38%.
Badly late arrivals are rare here: only 3.9% land an hour or more behind schedule, against 6.5% 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 STL in February
For a February trip through STL: this is one of the better months to be flying from here, 84.9% on time with 1.32% cancelled. That is a base rate for the month as a whole; a single storm can still spoil a particular day.
Related
Where to go next
- St. Louis Lambert International (STL), the whole year
- STL in July71.7%
- STL in August79.7%
- STL in September83.8%
- STL in October78.5%
- STL in November80.1%
- STL in December74.0%
- STL in January83.1%
- STL in March75.3%
- STL in April80.8%
- STL in May77.5%
- STL in June69.0%
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.