Des Moines International in February 2026

80.5%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 February 2026, reporting carriers scheduled 1,095 domestic departures from Des Moines International (DSM). 80.5% left less than 15 minutes late and 81.7% reached their destination on time; 1.0% were cancelled.

Nationally that month, 78.1% of flights departed on time and 78.3% arrived on time, so DSM departures were 2.4 points above the national departure figure.

A year earlier, in February 2025, the airport had 971 departures with 81.5% leaving on time: a change of −1.0 points, with flights up 13%.

Flights arriving at DSM that month were on time 76.7% of the time (1,095 scheduled arrivals).

Of the delay minutes that carriers assigned to a BTS cause category that month, air carrier 52%, late-arriving aircraft 30% and national aviation system 12%.

On time 81.7%
Arrived 15+ minutes late 17.1%
Cancelled 1.0%
Diverted 0.2%

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

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

Measure	Feb 2026	Feb 2025	DSM, 12 months to Jul 2026	All reported flights, Feb 2026
Departed on time	80.5%	81.5%	78.5%	78.1%
Arrived on time	81.7%	78.5%	77.3%	78.3%
Cancelled	1.0%	1.5%	2.5%	2.3%
Average departure delay (late minutes only)	21.5 min	15.3 min	20.8 min	15.0 min
Scheduled departures a day	37	32	43	17,168
Scheduled departures	1,095	971	15,584	515,037

Airlines that month

Reporting carrier	Flights	Share	On time	Avg arrival delay	Cancelled
OO SkyWest Airlines	216	20%	75.5%	22.2 min	0.5%
AA American Airlines	203	19%	83.7%	13.0 min	0.5%
G4 Allegiant Air	141	13%	82.3%	0.1 min	0.0%
WN Southwest Airlines	127	12%	92.9%	-9.7 min	0.0%
UA United Airlines	114	10%	84.2%	2.8 min	2.6%
MQ Envoy Air	104	9%	79.8%	-2.0 min	0.0%
DL Delta Air Lines	78	7%	92.3%	-13.9 min	0.0%
OH PSA Airlines	54	5%	63.0%	49.6 min	7.4%
YX Republic Airline	48	4%	79.2%	0.0 min	4.2%
F9 Frontier Airlines	10	1%	50.0%	39.6 min	0.0%

Busiest routes that month

Route	Cities	Flights	On time	Avg arrival delay	Cancelled
DSM–ORD	Des Moines to Chicago	229	76.9%	21.0 min	0.4%
DSM–DEN	Des Moines to Denver	149	82.6%	-1.7 min	1.3%
DSM–DFW	Des Moines to Dallas/Fort Worth	113	77.0%	17.7 min	0.0%
DSM–PHX	Des Moines to Phoenix	90	83.3%	11.8 min	0.0%
DSM–ATL	Des Moines to Atlanta	78	92.3%	-13.9 min	0.0%
DSM–DCA	Des Moines to Washington	56	75.0%	12.3 min	7.1%
DSM–CLT	Des Moines to Charlotte	55	87.3%	22.6 min	1.8%
DSM–STL	Des Moines to St. Louis	52	94.2%	-14.5 min	0.0%
DSM–LAS	Des Moines to Las Vegas	44	84.1%	3.7 min	0.0%
DSM–IAH	Des Moines to Houston	28	89.3%	10.7 min	3.6%
DSM–LAX	Des Moines to Los Angeles	28	71.4%	11.7 min	0.0%
DSM–MIA	Des Moines to Miami	28	82.1%	-6.9 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), February 2026.

Delay causes

BTS cause category	Share of delay minutes	National, Feb 2026	Minutes
Air carrier	51.6%	38.2%	11,426
Late-arriving aircraft	29.9%	37.2%	6,628
National Aviation System	11.6%	18.5%	2,567
Extreme weather	6.6%	6.0%	1,473
Security	0.3%	0.2%	63

22,157 delay minutes on 187 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 February 2026?

80.5% of 1,095 scheduled domestic departures left less than 15 minutes late, and 81.7% reached their destination on time. The national figures that month were 78.1% and 78.3%.

How does that compare with a year earlier?

In February 2025, 81.5% of 971 departures left on time and 1.5% were cancelled, against 80.5% and 1.0% in February 2026.

Provenance

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