Des Moines International in January 2026

74.5%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 January 2026, reporting carriers scheduled 1,122 domestic departures from Des Moines International (DSM). 74.5% left less than 15 minutes late and 75.0% reached their destination on time; 4.3% were cancelled.

Nationally that month, 75.6% of flights departed on time and 75.3% arrived on time, so DSM departures were 1.1 points below the national departure figure.

A year earlier, in January 2025, the airport had 1,051 departures with 80.0% leaving on time: a change of −5.5 points, with flights up 7%.

Flights arriving at DSM that month were on time 71.9% of the time (1,126 scheduled arrivals).

Of the delay minutes that carriers assigned to a BTS cause category that month, air carrier 60%, late-arriving aircraft 23% and national aviation system 10%.

On time 75.0%
Arrived 15+ minutes late 20.4%
Cancelled 4.3%
Diverted 0.3%

Every scheduled departure from DSM in January 2026, judged by arrival at the destination.

January 2026 against a year earlier, the airport's year and the nation

Measure	Jan 2026	Jan 2025	DSM, 12 months to Jul 2026	All reported flights, Jan 2026
Departed on time	74.5%	80.0%	78.5%	75.6%
Arrived on time	75.0%	80.4%	77.3%	75.3%
Cancelled	4.3%	2.3%	2.5%	4.7%
Average departure delay (late minutes only)	25.9 min	17.3 min	20.8 min	16.7 min
Scheduled departures a day	37	35	43	18,133
Scheduled departures	1,122	1,051	15,584	544,003

Airlines that month

Reporting carrier	Flights	Share	On time	Avg arrival delay	Cancelled
AA American Airlines	241	21%	69.3%	24.7 min	11.6%
OO SkyWest Airlines	190	17%	73.2%	21.8 min	2.6%
G4 Allegiant Air	158	14%	70.3%	26.2 min	0.6%
WN Southwest Airlines	133	12%	87.2%	-10.4 min	0.0%
UA United Airlines	113	10%	74.3%	13.6 min	0.9%
MQ Envoy Air	106	9%	84.9%	-5.8 min	0.9%
YX Republic Airline	85	8%	74.1%	4.1 min	7.1%
DL Delta Air Lines	77	7%	77.9%	-1.8 min	5.2%
OH PSA Airlines	11	1%	72.7%	-9.6 min	18.2%
F9 Frontier Airlines	8	1%	50.0%	41.4 min	0.0%

Busiest routes that month

Route	Cities	Flights	On time	Avg arrival delay	Cancelled
DSM–ORD	Des Moines to Chicago	197	69.0%	18.6 min	3.0%
DSM–DEN	Des Moines to Denver	162	84.0%	1.3 min	0.6%
DSM–DFW	Des Moines to Dallas/Fort Worth	123	66.7%	18.6 min	13.0%
DSM–PHX	Des Moines to Phoenix	92	78.3%	34.8 min	3.3%
DSM–ATL	Des Moines to Atlanta	77	77.9%	-1.8 min	5.2%
DSM–CLT	Des Moines to Charlotte	62	75.8%	-4.2 min	14.5%
DSM–STL	Des Moines to St. Louis	58	87.9%	-13.1 min	0.0%
DSM–DCA	Des Moines to Washington	56	73.2%	1.9 min	8.9%
DSM–LAS	Des Moines to Las Vegas	48	79.2%	4.9 min	0.0%
DSM–LAX	Des Moines to Los Angeles	31	71.0%	43.5 min	0.0%
DSM–MIA	Des Moines to Miami	31	80.6%	-9.2 min	6.5%
DSM–IAH	Des Moines to Houston	25	84.0%	-1.5 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), January 2026.

Delay causes

BTS cause category	Share of delay minutes	National, Jan 2026	Minutes
Air carrier	60.0%	37.3%	15,194
Late-arriving aircraft	23.3%	35.0%	5,906
National Aviation System	10.2%	18.0%	2,586
Extreme weather	6.4%	9.6%	1,630
Security	0.1%	0.1%	23

25,339 delay minutes on 229 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 January 2026?

74.5% of 1,122 scheduled domestic departures left less than 15 minutes late, and 75.0% reached their destination on time. The national figures that month were 75.6% and 75.3%.

How does that compare with a year earlier?

In January 2025, 80.0% of 1,051 departures left on time and 2.3% were cancelled, against 74.5% and 4.3% in January 2026.

Provenance

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance, file for January 2026; 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.