Airlines › Spirit Airlines
Reporting carrier · 12 months to July 2026
Spirit Airlines: on-time performance
BTS: A flight is counted as on time if it arrived less than 15 minutes after its scheduled time. Only carriers with at least 0.5 percent of domestic scheduled passenger revenue report. Data through July 2026.
Spirit Airlines (BTS code NK) reported 117,136 scheduled domestic flights in the 12 months to July 2026, serving 64 airports on 607 routes. It reported in 10 of those 12 months (latest: May 2026).
69.8% of its flights arrived on time, 6.2 points below the 76.0% recorded for all reporting carriers together. 3.9% were cancelled (all carriers: 1.8%) and 0.2% diverted; flights that arrived were 12.2 min late on average.
Its busiest airports by departures are Fort Lauderdale (FLL, 14% of departures), Orlando (MCO, 11% of departures) and Detroit (DTW, 6% of departures).
The on-time share is down 8.2 points on the previous 12 months (78.0%); the cancellation share moved from 1.6% to 3.9%.
Of the delay minutes that carriers assigned to a BTS cause category on its flights, national aviation system 37%, air carrier 31% and late-arriving aircraft 30%.
- On time 69.8%
- Arrived 15+ minutes late 26.1%
- Cancelled 3.9%
- Diverted 0.2%
Against all reporting carriers
| Measure | Spirit Airlines | All reporting carriers | NK, previous 12 months |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arrived on time | 69.8% | 76.0% | 78.0% |
| Departed on time | 69.6% | 76.1% | 77.7% |
| Arrived 15+ minutes late | 26.1% | 21.9% | 20.2% |
| Cancelled | 3.9% | 1.8% | 1.6% |
| Diverted | 0.2% | 0.3% | 0.2% |
| Average arrival delay | 12.2 min | 8.1 min | 5.3 min |
| Arrival delay minutes per 100 flights | 2,027 | 1,684 | 1,534 |
| Scheduled flights | 117,136 | 7,043,858 | 228,953 |
By on-time share, Spirit Airlines is 13 of 13 reporting carriers in the 12 months to July 2026; the full table is on the airline on-time ranking. Year on year: −8.2 pts on time.
Month by month
Busiest airports
| Airport | Departures | Share of carrier | On time | Avg arrival delay | Cancelled | Airport, all carriers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FLL Fort Lauderdale | 16,659 | 14.2% | 63.8% | 17.0 min | 4.0% | 68.9% |
| MCO Orlando | 13,007 | 11.1% | 66.6% | 14.3 min | 3.8% | 73.0% |
| DTW Detroit | 7,436 | 6.3% | 73.1% | 7.9 min | 3.1% | 75.4% |
| LAS Las Vegas | 6,920 | 5.9% | 82.3% | 2.9 min | 1.6% | 76.8% |
| EWR Newark | 6,729 | 5.7% | 64.5% | 15.8 min | 6.6% | 75.3% |
| IAH Houston | 4,744 | 4% | 72.7% | 10.0 min | 2.9% | 77.6% |
| ATL Atlanta | 4,513 | 3.9% | 69.0% | 14.9 min | 3.5% | 76.6% |
| LGA New York | 4,419 | 3.8% | 67.8% | 12.2 min | 6.3% | 69.9% |
| ORD Chicago | 4,062 | 3.5% | 61.8% | 21.9 min | 5.3% | 69.4% |
| DFW Dallas/Fort Worth | 3,742 | 3.2% | 71.9% | 10.9 min | 3.4% | 69.9% |
| LAX Los Angeles | 3,334 | 2.8% | 76.5% | 7.7 min | 2.5% | 79.0% |
| MIA Miami | 3,184 | 2.7% | 62.3% | 19.8 min | 4.8% | 72.3% |
| TPA Tampa | 2,679 | 2.3% | 71.6% | 12.4 min | 3.2% | 76.9% |
| BWI Baltimore | 2,630 | 2.2% | 76.1% | 5.3 min | 2.9% | 76.4% |
| MSY New Orleans | 2,614 | 2.2% | 74.6% | 10.1 min | 2.8% | 76.9% |
| CLT Charlotte | 2,442 | 2.1% | 72.2% | 8.4 min | 4.6% | 74.8% |
| SJU San Juan | 2,361 | 2% | 66.6% | 15.0 min | 4.6% | 75.6% |
| BNA Nashville | 2,020 | 1.7% | 74.2% | 10.0 min | 3.8% | 74.4% |
| BOS Boston | 2,019 | 1.7% | 60.8% | 21.9 min | 5.2% | 73.3% |
| PHL Philadelphia | 1,996 | 1.7% | 69.4% | 9.4 min | 4.8% | 73.4% |
| ACY Atlantic City | 1,941 | 1.7% | 76.7% | 4.6 min | 4.9% | 72.1% |
| MYR Myrtle Beach | 1,883 | 1.6% | 72.3% | 10.3 min | 4.8% | 77.6% |
| IND Indianapolis | 1,193 | 1% | 81.2% | 2.6 min | 3.1% | 78.9% |
| PIT Pittsburgh | 1,080 | 0.9% | 75.4% | 6.9 min | 4.1% | 79.7% |
| RSW Fort Myers | 1,068 | 0.9% | 63.9% | 17.2 min | 5.3% | 76.5% |
The 25 airports with the most NK departures of 64 served. On time means the flight reached its destination less than 15 minutes late; the pill is green when the carrier is at or above the figure for all carriers' departures from that airport (last column).
Busiest routes
| Route | Cities | Flights | On time | Avg arrival delay | Cancelled |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FLL–ATL | Fort Lauderdale to Atlanta | 1,217 | 57.4% | 21.6 min | 3.7% |
| ATL–FLL | Atlanta to Fort Lauderdale | 1,216 | 62.7% | 19.5 min | 3.9% |
| MCO–EWR | Orlando to Newark | 1,001 | 63.4% | 15.0 min | 5.9% |
| EWR–MCO | Newark to Orlando | 998 | 67.0% | 14.2 min | 5.9% |
| EWR–FLL | Newark to Fort Lauderdale | 985 | 65.4% | 14.4 min | 7.1% |
| FLL–EWR | Fort Lauderdale to Newark | 983 | 56.4% | 22.3 min | 5.9% |
| LGA–FLL | New York to Fort Lauderdale | 919 | 65.1% | 13.4 min | 6.5% |
| FLL–LGA | Fort Lauderdale to New York | 914 | 60.4% | 21.4 min | 6.9% |
| DTW–LGA | Detroit to New York | 911 | 64.4% | 14.6 min | 7.6% |
| LGA–DTW | New York to Detroit | 909 | 69.1% | 12.6 min | 7.4% |
| DTW–MCO | Detroit to Orlando | 873 | 76.4% | 5.3 min | 1.0% |
| MCO–DTW | Orlando to Detroit | 866 | 67.1% | 15.8 min | 2.0% |
| ORD–FLL | Chicago to Fort Lauderdale | 854 | 61.2% | 24.2 min | 4.6% |
| FLL–ORD | Fort Lauderdale to Chicago | 852 | 58.1% | 23.8 min | 3.3% |
| BUR–LAS | Burbank to Las Vegas | 797 | 80.7% | 3.3 min | 2.8% |
| LAS–BUR | Las Vegas to Burbank | 795 | 84.9% | -3.4 min | 2.4% |
| IAH–FLL | Houston to Fort Lauderdale | 789 | 70.6% | 14.1 min | 1.9% |
| FLL–IAH | Fort Lauderdale to Houston | 783 | 70.1% | 11.7 min | 1.9% |
| BWI–FLL | Baltimore to Fort Lauderdale | 775 | 75.1% | 4.2 min | 4.1% |
| FLL–BWI | Fort Lauderdale to Baltimore | 774 | 67.7% | 12.7 min | 4.1% |
| FLL–TPA | Fort Lauderdale to Tampa | 765 | 67.7% | 15.1 min | 2.6% |
| TPA–FLL | Tampa to Fort Lauderdale | 764 | 67.0% | 14.5 min | 3.5% |
| FLL–DTW | Fort Lauderdale to Detroit | 728 | 59.2% | 24.8 min | 2.9% |
| DTW–FLL | Detroit to Fort Lauderdale | 717 | 66.2% | 15.2 min | 2.8% |
| CLT–FLL | Charlotte to Fort Lauderdale | 684 | 72.4% | 5.9 min | 5.0% |
The 25 routes with the most NK flights of 607 flown. Figures are for this carrier's flights only; the route pages compare every carrier on the route.
By scheduled departure hour
Delay causes and cancellations
Cancellations by reported reason (4,614 in the period): air carrier 35%, weather 56%, national aviation system 9%, security 0%.
Questions and answers
What is Spirit Airlines's on-time performance?
69.8% of 117,136 scheduled domestic flights in the 12 months to July 2026 arrived less than 15 minutes late. All reporting carriers together recorded 76.0%.
How often does Spirit Airlines cancel flights?
3.9% of its scheduled domestic flights were cancelled in the period, against 1.8% for all reporting carriers.
What causes Spirit Airlines delays?
For flights that arrived 15 or more minutes late, the carrier attributed the delay minutes as follows: national aviation system 37%, air carrier 31%, late-arriving aircraft 30%, extreme weather 2%, security 0%. Carriers assign these categories themselves under BTS rules.
At which airports does Spirit Airlines have its highest on-time share?
Among its 25 busiest airports with at least 600 departures, flights leaving Las Vegas (LAS) had the highest on-time arrival share at 82.3%, and those leaving Boston (BOS) the lowest at 60.8%.
What time of day has the highest on-time share?
Its flights scheduled to depart from 6 am to 7 am local time arrived on time 83.2% of the time; those scheduled from 6 pm to 7 pm did so 58.5% of the time.
Is it getting better?
The on-time share for the 12 months to July 2026 was 69.8%, down 8.2 points on the previous 12 months (78.0%).
Why are some airlines missing?
Only carriers with at least 0.5 percent of domestic scheduled passenger revenue must report on-time data to BTS. Smaller carriers, charter operators and foreign airlines are not in the files, and flights to or from other countries are not covered.
Provenance
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance (1987 to present), monthly files August 2023 to July 2026; carrier name from the BTS unique carrier lookup. US government works in the public domain. The carrier code is the BTS reporting-carrier code, which identifies the company that operated the flight, not the brand it was sold under. Totals and averages only. See the methodology and which airlines report.