Des Moines International in September 2025

87.6%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 September 2025, reporting carriers scheduled 1,244 domestic departures from Des Moines International (DSM). 87.6% left less than 15 minutes late and 84.2% reached their destination on time; 0.5% were cancelled.

Nationally that month, 83.1% of flights departed on time and 82.8% arrived on time, so DSM departures were 4.5 points above the national departure figure.

A year earlier, in September 2024, the airport had 1,217 departures with 90.2% leaving on time: a change of −2.6 points, with flights up 2%.

Flights arriving at DSM that month were on time 81.2% of the time (1,243 scheduled arrivals).

Of the delay minutes that carriers assigned to a BTS cause category that month, late-arriving aircraft 41%, air carrier 30% and national aviation system 22%.

On time 84.2%
Arrived 15+ minutes late 15.0%
Cancelled 0.5%
Diverted 0.3%

Every scheduled departure from DSM in September 2025, judged by arrival at the destination.

September 2025 against a year earlier, the airport's year and the nation

Measure	Sep 2025	Sep 2024	DSM, 12 months to Jul 2026	All reported flights, Sep 2025
Departed on time	87.6%	90.2%	78.5%	83.1%
Arrived on time	84.2%	88.6%	77.3%	82.8%
Cancelled	0.5%	0.2%	2.5%	0.5%
Average departure delay (late minutes only)	9.1 min	7.6 min	20.8 min	12.2 min
Scheduled departures a day	42	41	43	18,748
Scheduled departures	1,244	1,217	15,584	562,439

Airlines that month

Reporting carrier	Flights	Share	On time	Avg arrival delay	Cancelled
OO SkyWest Airlines	238	19%	85.7%	-4.9 min	0.8%
UA United Airlines	227	18%	79.3%	6.9 min	0.0%
AA American Airlines	158	13%	77.8%	7.2 min	1.3%
WN Southwest Airlines	146	12%	90.4%	-2.0 min	0.0%
G4 Allegiant Air	123	10%	86.2%	-3.7 min	0.0%
DL Delta Air Lines	113	9%	93.8%	-8.9 min	0.0%
OH PSA Airlines	105	8%	76.2%	1.6 min	1.0%
YX Republic Airline	83	7%	86.7%	-6.0 min	1.2%
MQ Envoy Air	34	3%	94.1%	-8.1 min	0.0%
F9 Frontier Airlines	17	1%	76.5%	5.1 min	0.0%

Busiest routes that month

Route	Cities	Flights	On time	Avg arrival delay	Cancelled
DSM–ORD	Des Moines to Chicago	265	81.5%	4.6 min	0.4%
DSM–DEN	Des Moines to Denver	223	87.4%	-2.2 min	0.0%
DSM–DFW	Des Moines to Dallas/Fort Worth	119	68.9%	11.7 min	2.5%
DSM–ATL	Des Moines to Atlanta	112	93.8%	-8.7 min	0.0%
DSM–PHX	Des Moines to Phoenix	68	82.4%	-5.1 min	1.5%
DSM–CLT	Des Moines to Charlotte	62	90.3%	-8.2 min	0.0%
DSM–DCA	Des Moines to Washington	60	70.0%	9.7 min	0.0%
DSM–PHL	Des Moines to Philadelphia	60	88.3%	-7.7 min	1.7%
DSM–STL	Des Moines to St. Louis	56	89.3%	1.6 min	0.0%
DSM–LAS	Des Moines to Las Vegas	47	83.0%	3.5 min	0.0%
DSM–IAH	Des Moines to Houston	30	93.3%	-11.7 min	0.0%
DSM–LGA	Des Moines to New York	22	86.4%	-5.5 min	0.0%

By scheduled departure hour

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

Share of departures that left less than 15 minutes late, by scheduled hour (local time), September 2025.

Delay causes

BTS cause category	Share of delay minutes	National, Sep 2025	Minutes
Air carrier	29.7%	34.3%	3,404
Late-arriving aircraft	40.7%	37.4%	4,665
National Aviation System	21.7%	22.6%	2,490
Extreme weather	7.2%	5.6%	823
Security	0.7%	0.1%	82

11,464 delay minutes on 186 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 September 2025?

87.6% of 1,244 scheduled domestic departures left less than 15 minutes late, and 84.2% reached their destination on time. The national figures that month were 83.1% and 82.8%.

How does that compare with a year earlier?

In September 2024, 90.2% of 1,217 departures left on time and 0.2% were cancelled, against 87.6% and 0.5% in September 2025.

Provenance

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance, file for September 2025; 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.