Airlines › Southwest Airlines › May 2026
Carrier month · May 2026
Southwest Airlines in May 2026
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.
In May 2026, Southwest Airlines (WN) reported 120,646 scheduled domestic flights. 71.9% arrived on time, 0.4% were cancelled and 0.3% diverted.
All reporting carriers together recorded 77.6% on time and 0.9% cancelled that month, so the carrier was 5.7 points below the combined figure.
A year earlier, in May 2025, it reported 119,819 flights with 76.3% on time: a change of −4.4 points.
Of the delay minutes that carriers assigned to a BTS cause category that month, late-arriving aircraft 51%, air carrier 30% and national aviation system 16%.
- On time 71.9%
- Arrived 15+ minutes late 27.5%
- Cancelled 0.4%
- Diverted 0.3%
May 2026 against a year earlier, the carrier's year and all carriers
| Measure | May 2026 | May 2025 | WN, 12 months to Jul 2026 | All carriers, May 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arrived on time | 71.9% | 76.3% | 75.5% | 77.6% |
| Departed on time | 66.3% | 73.6% | 71.2% | 77.1% |
| Cancelled | 0.4% | 0.5% | 0.9% | 0.9% |
| Average arrival delay | 9.5 min | 8.3 min | 6.8 min | 6.2 min |
| Scheduled flights a day | 4,022 | 3,994 | 3,808 | 20,391 |
| Scheduled flights | 120,646 | 119,819 | 1,389,951 | 611,735 |
108 airports and 1,604 routes had WN flights that month.
Busiest airports that month
| Airport | Departures | On time | Avg arrival delay | Cancelled |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LAS Las Vegas | 7,611 | 68.5% | 11.0 min | 0.5% |
| DEN Denver | 7,397 | 65.2% | 14.2 min | 0.2% |
| BWI Baltimore | 6,327 | 75.3% | 7.9 min | 0.1% |
| PHX Phoenix | 6,070 | 67.2% | 12.1 min | 0.2% |
| MDW Chicago | 5,999 | 73.3% | 8.2 min | 0.3% |
| DAL Dallas | 5,968 | 62.8% | 18.1 min | 1.7% |
| BNA Nashville | 5,731 | 64.6% | 13.7 min | 0.1% |
| MCO Orlando | 4,586 | 70.9% | 9.8 min | 0.8% |
| HOU Houston | 4,246 | 70.7% | 9.5 min | 0.5% |
| SAN San Diego | 3,387 | 68.0% | 10.6 min | 0.3% |
| AUS Austin | 3,382 | 67.3% | 14.2 min | 0.4% |
| STL St. Louis | 3,236 | 74.1% | 9.4 min | 0.4% |
| SMF Sacramento | 2,719 | 77.9% | 4.3 min | 0.2% |
| OAK Oakland | 2,303 | 74.4% | 7.5 min | 0.6% |
| SJC San Jose | 2,214 | 77.3% | 4.0 min | 0.3% |
By scheduled departure hour
Delay causes
Questions and answers
What share of Southwest Airlines flights were on time in May 2026?
71.9% of 120,646 scheduled domestic flights arrived less than 15 minutes late; all reporting carriers together recorded 77.6% that month.
How does that compare with a year earlier?
In May 2025 the carrier reported 119,819 flights with 76.3% on time and 0.5% cancelled, against 71.9% and 0.4% in May 2026.
Provenance
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance, file for May 2026; public domain. Domestic scheduled flights, totals and averages only. The site's data runs through July 2026. Full record for Southwest Airlines · methodology · corrections.