Airport month record
TPAFEB
Tampa International in February 2026
- Departures
- 6,173
- Month
- February 2026
- National, same month
- 80.2%
- Carriers
- 9
Historical statistics for February 2026, not live status or a forecast for this year’s February. For today’s conditions at TPA, see live FAA status.
TPA in February lands a B, 3 points worse than the national rate of 80.2%. Roughly one flight in four arrives 15 minutes late or worse, and those flights are late by about an hour on average. That is a workable record, not a spotless one. That rests on 6,173 flights, of which United Airlines flew 726 at 82.6% on time.
United Airlines is the most reliable of the six carriers covered here at 82.6% on time across 726 flights.
Key figures
On time
77.1%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 6,021 completed departures
Avg delay
61 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
2.25%
Nationally in February: 2.25%
Whole year
78.1%
TPA across all twelve months
These figures cover 6,173 departures from Tampa 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 TPA's other months
Against TPA's own year, February ran about a point worse than the twelve-month rate of 78.1%, which makes it number seven of twelve months, best first. Either side of it, January ran 81.0% on time and March 76.4%, so this month sits in line with its neighbours.
| Month | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2025 | 6,770 | 69.2% | 80 min | 1.79% | C |
| August 2025 | 6,171 | 74.6% | 72 min | 0.70% | C+ |
| September 2025 | 5,502 | 87.1% | 73 min | 0.22% | A+ |
| October 2025 | 6,075 | 79.2% | 68 min | 0.51% | B+ |
| November 2025 | 6,421 | 81.3% | 79 min | 2.41% | B |
| December 2025 | 6,851 | 75.4% | 74 min | 1.36% | B |
| January 2026 | 6,432 | 81.0% | 66 min | 3.81% | B− |
| February 2026 (this page) | 6,173 | 77.1% | 61 min | 2.25% | B |
| March 2026 | 7,679 | 76.4% | 78 min | 2.89% | B |
| April 2026 | 6,952 | 82.3% | 65 min | 0.49% | B+ |
| May 2026 | 6,471 | 77.0% | 76 min | 0.68% | B+ |
| June 2026 | 5,964 | 77.7% | 73 min | 0.86% | B+ |
Departure window
The best time of day to leave TPA in February
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 25 points, against 12 points between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.
- 5am–8am1,114 flights91.0%
- 8am–11am1,278 flights83.5%
- 11am–2pm1,155 flights76.7%
- 2pm–5pm1,049 flights70.1%
- 5pm–8pm1,196 flights66.5%
- 8pm–5am381 flights69.0%
Scale runs 60% to 95%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.
Book the early departure. Flights leaving between 5am–8am arrive on time 91.0% of the time, against 66.5% for the evening window. That is 25 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 1,278 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Wednesday is the strongest day at 86.9% on time and Sunday the weakest at 68.5%. 18 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at TPA in February
The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. United Airlines arrives on time 82.6% of the time; JetBlue Airways manages 70.5%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 434 flights means less than a ten-point one.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 1,882 | 75.6% | 45 min | 0.96% | B+ |
| American Airlines | 1,156 | 78.2% | 73 min | 1.99% | B |
| Delta Air Lines | 1,096 | 81.2% | 58 min | 2.19% | B |
| United Airlines | 726 | 82.6% | 56 min | 1.79% | B |
| Frontier Airlines | 491 | 77.1% | 85 min | 2.44% | B |
| JetBlue Airways | 434 | 70.5% | 60 min | 7.60% | C− |
| Spirit Airlinesthin sample | 230 | 61.0% | 74 min | 6.96% | D− |
| Envoy Airthin sample | 82 | 72.0% | 176 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| Alaska Airlinesthin sample | 73 | 75.3% | 40 min | 0.00% | B+ |
JetBlue Airways cancels 7.6% 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 TPA in February
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TPA to ATL · Atlanta | 487 | 80.8% | 63 min | 0.41% | B+ |
| TPA to ORD · Chicagothin sample | 285 | 70.9% | 63 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| TPA to LGA · New Yorkthin sample | 250 | 74.9% | 54 min | 6.80% | C− |
| TPA to MIA · Miamithin sample | 248 | 76.4% | 115 min | 0.81% | B+ |
| TPA to CLT · Charlottethin sample | 246 | 81.7% | 61 min | 2.03% | B |
| TPA to PHL · Philadelphiathin sample | 243 | 74.7% | 64 min | 5.76% | C− |
| TPA to DEN · Denverthin sample | 238 | 84.5% | 58 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| TPA to DTW · Detroitthin sample | 233 | 78.4% | 47 min | 2.58% | B |
| TPA to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample | 222 | 82.8% | 109 min | 0.45% | B+ |
| TPA to BOS · Bostonthin sample | 222 | 71.1% | 59 min | 9.46% | C− |
| TPA to BWI · Baltimorethin sample | 204 | 77.4% | 41 min | 4.90% | B− |
| TPA to DCA · Washingtonthin sample | 195 | 71.9% | 51 min | 1.03% | C |
| TPA to EWR · Newarkthin sample | 195 | 81.3% | 58 min | 6.67% | B− |
| TPA to BNA · Nashvillethin sample | 183 | 68.9% | 48 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| TPA to JFK · New Yorkthin sample | 173 | 71.3% | 62 min | 9.25% | C− |
| TPA to FLL · Fort Lauderdalethin sample | 140 | 60.9% | 68 min | 5.00% | D− |
| TPA to AUS · Austinthin sample | 122 | 85.2% | 43 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| TPA to IAH · Houstonthin sample | 115 | 95.7% | 78 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| TPA to MDW · Chicagothin sample | 115 | 66.7% | 70 min | 0.87% | C+ |
| TPA to PHX · Phoenixthin sample | 110 | 83.6% | 82 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| TPA to RDU · Raleighthin sample | 109 | 76.9% | 87 min | 0.92% | B+ |
| TPA to DAL · Dallasthin sample | 105 | 79.8% | 48 min | 0.95% | B+ |
| TPA to MSY · New Orleansthin sample | 103 | 80.4% | 66 min | 0.97% | B+ |
| TPA to LAX · Los Angelesthin sample | 99 | 86.7% | 35 min | 1.01% | A |
| TPA to IAD · Washingtonthin sample | 91 | 80.0% | 47 min | 1.10% | B |
Delay causes
What held TPA up in February
Carriers report a reason for every delay minute they cause, in five DOT categories. The split below is by minutes, not by number of flights, so a handful of very long weather delays weighs as much as many short ones. It covers 84,000 reported delay minutes.
- 40%Late-arriving aircraft
- 31%Carrier
- 26%National Airspace System
- 2%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
40% 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 84,000 reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 20 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 84,133 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations sit at 2.25% against a national 2.25%, which is ordinary. Diversions add another 0.21%.
6.5% 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 about an hour, which a normal layover absorbs.
What to do with this
Flying from TPA in February
For a February trip through TPA: expect 77.1% on time and 2.25% cancelled, going by February 2026. The 5am–8am window was the strongest part of the day.
Related
Where to go next
- Tampa International (TPA), the whole year
- TPA in July69.2%
- TPA in August74.6%
- TPA in September87.1%
- TPA in October79.2%
- TPA in November81.3%
- TPA in December75.4%
- TPA in January81.0%
- TPA in March76.4%
- TPA in April82.3%
- TPA in May77.0%
- TPA in June77.7%
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.