Des Moines International in April 2026

82.8%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 April 2026, reporting carriers scheduled 1,307 domestic departures from Des Moines International (DSM). 82.8% left less than 15 minutes late and 80.3% reached their destination on time; 2.5% were cancelled.

Nationally that month, 79.1% of flights departed on time and 78.9% arrived on time, so DSM departures were 3.7 points above the national departure figure.

A year earlier, in April 2025, the airport had 1,087 departures with 85.9% leaving on time: a change of −3.1 points, with flights up 20%.

Flights arriving at DSM that month were on time 77.5% of the time (1,305 scheduled arrivals).

Of the delay minutes that carriers assigned to a BTS cause category that month, late-arriving aircraft 32%, air carrier 31% and national aviation system 23%.

On time 80.3%
Arrived 15+ minutes late 16.9%
Cancelled 2.5%
Diverted 0.2%

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

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

Measure	Apr 2026	Apr 2025	DSM, 12 months to Jul 2026	All reported flights, Apr 2026
Departed on time	82.8%	85.9%	78.5%	79.1%
Arrived on time	80.3%	83.4%	77.3%	78.9%
Cancelled	2.5%	1.1%	2.5%	0.9%
Average departure delay (late minutes only)	17.9 min	12.1 min	20.8 min	14.5 min
Scheduled departures a day	44	36	43	19,931
Scheduled departures	1,307	1,087	15,584	597,919

Airlines that month

Reporting carrier	Flights	Share	On time	Avg arrival delay	Cancelled
AA American Airlines	226	17%	83.2%	6.4 min	3.1%
OO SkyWest Airlines	225	17%	75.6%	14.7 min	4.4%
WN Southwest Airlines	161	12%	83.2%	0.2 min	0.6%
UA United Airlines	146	11%	78.1%	12.5 min	1.4%
MQ Envoy Air	133	10%	79.7%	3.9 min	1.5%
G4 Allegiant Air	123	9%	74.8%	19.2 min	1.6%
DL Delta Air Lines	108	8%	86.1%	-6.9 min	4.6%
YX Republic Airline	103	8%	83.5%	0.3 min	1.0%
OH PSA Airlines	74	6%	81.1%	3.1 min	4.1%
F9 Frontier Airlines	8	1%	87.5%	-8.6 min	0.0%

Busiest routes that month

Route	Cities	Flights	On time	Avg arrival delay	Cancelled
DSM–ORD	Des Moines to Chicago	370	71.6%	19.6 min	5.7%
DSM–DEN	Des Moines to Denver	188	90.4%	-4.3 min	0.0%
DSM–DFW	Des Moines to Dallas/Fort Worth	121	78.5%	-2.3 min	2.5%
DSM–ATL	Des Moines to Atlanta	108	86.1%	-6.9 min	4.6%
DSM–PHX	Des Moines to Phoenix	105	89.5%	-1.4 min	0.0%
DSM–DCA	Des Moines to Washington	60	85.0%	-0.2 min	1.7%
DSM–CLT	Des Moines to Charlotte	57	86.0%	21.7 min	0.0%
DSM–MDW	Des Moines to Chicago	57	86.0%	-4.5 min	1.8%
DSM–LAS	Des Moines to Las Vegas	47	74.5%	18.4 min	0.0%
DSM–IAH	Des Moines to Houston	30	86.7%	-10.0 min	0.0%
DSM–LAX	Des Moines to Los Angeles	30	63.3%	14.6 min	0.0%
DSM–LGA	Des Moines to New York	22	90.9%	-14.4 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), April 2026.

Delay causes

BTS cause category	Share of delay minutes	National, Apr 2026	Minutes
Air carrier	30.5%	33.5%	6,940
Late-arriving aircraft	32.3%	40.4%	7,343
National Aviation System	23.4%	21.0%	5,313
Extreme weather	13.8%	5.0%	3,150
Security	0.0%	0.1%	0

22,746 delay minutes on 221 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 April 2026?

82.8% of 1,307 scheduled domestic departures left less than 15 minutes late, and 80.3% reached their destination on time. The national figures that month were 79.1% and 78.9%.

How does that compare with a year earlier?

In April 2025, 85.9% of 1,087 departures left on time and 1.1% were cancelled, against 82.8% and 2.5% in April 2026.

Provenance

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