Des Moines International in December 2024

79.8%departed on time

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 December 2024, reporting carriers scheduled 1,271 domestic departures from Des Moines International (DSM). 79.8% left less than 15 minutes late and 78.2% reached their destination on time; 0.4% were cancelled.

Nationally that month, 77.8% of flights departed on time and 78.1% arrived on time, so DSM departures were 2.0 points above the national departure figure.

A year earlier, in December 2023, the airport had 1,251 departures with 84.4% leaving on time: a change of −4.6 points, with flights up 2%.

Flights arriving at DSM that month were on time 77.6% of the time (1,268 scheduled arrivals).

Of the delay minutes that carriers assigned to a BTS cause category that month, air carrier 38%, late-arriving aircraft 28% and national aviation system 20%.

On time 78.2%
Arrived 15+ minutes late 21.2%
Cancelled 0.4%
Diverted 0.2%

Every scheduled departure from DSM in December 2024, judged by arrival at the destination.

December 2024 against a year earlier, the airport's year and the nation

Measure	Dec 2024	Dec 2023	DSM, 12 months to Jul 2026	All reported flights, Dec 2024
Departed on time	79.8%	84.4%	78.5%	77.8%
Arrived on time	78.2%	85.2%	77.3%	78.1%
Cancelled	0.4%	0.2%	2.5%	0.7%
Average departure delay (late minutes only)	21.1 min	12.8 min	20.8 min	16.6 min
Scheduled departures a day	42	42	43	19,686
Scheduled departures	1,271	1,251	15,584	590,581

Airlines that month

Reporting carrier	Flights	Share	On time	Avg arrival delay	Cancelled
9E Endeavor Air	213	17%	79.8%	12.7 min	0.0%
AA American Airlines	173	14%	76.3%	15.9 min	0.6%
G4 Allegiant Air	173	14%	68.2%	21.4 min	0.6%
WN Southwest Airlines	154	12%	83.8%	-1.7 min	0.0%
UA United Airlines	148	12%	77.7%	11.1 min	2.0%
MQ Envoy Air	119	9%	82.4%	2.9 min	0.0%
DL Delta Air Lines	103	8%	84.5%	-4.0 min	0.0%
YX Republic Airline	76	6%	78.9%	14.1 min	0.0%
OO SkyWest Airlines	52	4%	84.6%	7.7 min	0.0%
OH PSA Airlines	47	4%	61.7%	31.8 min	0.0%
F9 Frontier Airlines	13	1%	92.3%	-6.4 min	0.0%

Busiest routes that month

Route	Cities	Flights	On time	Avg arrival delay	Cancelled
DSM–DEN	Des Moines to Denver	166	83.1%	3.2 min	1.2%
DSM–ORD	Des Moines to Chicago	132	76.5%	15.5 min	0.8%
DSM–ATL	Des Moines to Atlanta	106	83.0%	9.4 min	0.0%
DSM–PHX	Des Moines to Phoenix	106	86.8%	-7.9 min	0.0%
DSM–DFW	Des Moines to Dallas/Fort Worth	95	74.7%	18.2 min	1.1%
DSM–MSP	Des Moines to Minneapolis	88	83.0%	2.2 min	0.0%
DSM–LGA	Des Moines to New York	76	65.8%	18.9 min	0.0%
DSM–DTW	Des Moines to Detroit	75	89.3%	5.8 min	0.0%
DSM–CLT	Des Moines to Charlotte	62	74.2%	24.1 min	0.0%
DSM–STL	Des Moines to St. Louis	60	86.7%	-3.7 min	0.0%
DSM–LAS	Des Moines to Las Vegas	53	81.1%	5.3 min	0.0%
DSM–DCA	Des Moines to Washington	47	61.7%	31.8 min	0.0%

By scheduled departure hour

100

On-time share:under 62%6270768288% and over

Share of departures that left less than 15 minutes late, by scheduled hour (local time), December 2024.

Delay causes

BTS cause category	Share of delay minutes	National, Dec 2024	Minutes
Air carrier	37.8%	34.3%	9,900
Late-arriving aircraft	28.3%	40.2%	7,421
National Aviation System	19.5%	17.8%	5,101
Extreme weather	14.4%	7.5%	3,768
Security	0.1%	0.2%	21

26,211 delay minutes on 269 flights that arrived 15 or more minutes late and carried a cause report. Carriers assign the categories; see what each category means.

Questions and answers

How many flights left DSM on time in December 2024?

79.8% of 1,271 scheduled domestic departures left less than 15 minutes late, and 78.2% reached their destination on time. The national figures that month were 77.8% and 78.1%.

How does that compare with a year earlier?

In December 2023, 84.4% of 1,251 departures left on time and 0.2% were cancelled, against 79.8% and 0.4% in December 2024.

Provenance

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance, file for December 2024; public domain. Domestic scheduled flights by reporting carriers, totals and averages only. The site's data runs through July 2026. Full record for DSM · methodology · corrections.