Routes › Des Moines (DSM) › DSM to BNA
Route · 12 months to July 2026
Des Moines to Nashville: on-time record
Des Moines International to Nashville International
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. Data through July 2026; this is a monthly history, not live flight status.
In the 12 months to July 2026, reporting carriers scheduled 165 flights from Des Moines (DSM) to Nashville (BNA), a distance of 530 miles. 81.8% of them arrived within 15 minutes of schedule.
That is 5.8 points above the national on-time share of 76.0% for the same period and 4.5 points above the 77.3% recorded for all departures from DSM. Flights that did arrive were 15.1 min late on average, and 1.8% of scheduled flights were cancelled (national: 1.8%).
Allegiant Air is the only reporting carrier on the route, with 165 flights in the period.
The on-time share is up 2.6 points on the previous 12 months (79.2%); cancellations moved from 0.0% to 1.8%.
Of the delay minutes that carriers assigned to a BTS cause category on this route, air carrier 49%, extreme weather 24% and late-arriving aircraft 21%.
- On time 81.8%
- Arrived 15+ minutes late 16.4%
- Cancelled 1.8%
- Diverted 0.0%
Airlines on the route compared
| Reporting carrier | Flights | Share | On time | Avg arrival delay | Cancelled |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G4 Allegiant Air | 165 | 100% | 81.8% | 15.1 min | 1.8% |
Carriers with at least 24 flights in the 12 months to July 2026. The on-time pill is green when a carrier is at or above the route's overall share. Regional carriers operate flights sold under larger airlines' brands; BTS lists the carrier that operated the flight.
Compared with the airports and the nation
| Measure | DSM to BNA | All departures from DSM | All arrivals at BNA | All reported flights |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arrived on time | 81.8% | 77.3% | 75.3% | 76.0% |
| Arrived 15+ minutes late | 16.4% | 20.0% | 23.1% | 21.9% |
| Cancelled | 1.8% | 2.5% | 1.5% | 1.8% |
| Diverted | 0.0% | 0.3% | 0.1% | 0.3% |
| Average arrival delay | 15.1 min | 10.3 min | 8.3 min | 8.1 min |
| Delay minutes per 100 flights | 2,551 | 2,069 | 1,508 | 1,684 |
| Scheduled flights | 165 | 15,584 | 109,436 | 7,043,858 |
12 months to July 2026. Delay minutes count late arrivals only (an early arrival is zero), so the per-100-flights row is a normalised total rather than an average of early and late.
The return direction, BNA to DSM, recorded 79.4% on time across 165 flights in the same period.
Month by month
Year on year: on time 81.8% against 79.2% (+2.6 pts), cancelled 1.8% against 0.0%, flights 165 against 183.
By scheduled departure hour
Delay causes
Seasonality
| Calendar month | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Avg arrival delay | Years in sample |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 36 | 55.6% | 11.1% | 57.3 min | 3 |
| Feb | 33 | 81.8% | 0.0% | 31.8 min | 3 |
| Mar | 38 | 86.8% | 2.6% | -2.1 min | 3 |
| Apr | 33 | 78.8% | 0.0% | 49.5 min | 3 |
| May | 48 | 81.3% | 0.0% | 5.4 min | 3 |
| Jun | 62 | 85.5% | 0.0% | 2.9 min | 3 |
| Jul | 63 | 73.0% | 1.6% | 7.0 min | 3 |
| Aug | 59 | 76.3% | 0.0% | 6.5 min | 3 |
| Sep | 52 | 88.5% | 0.0% | -5.8 min | 3 |
| Oct | 53 | 86.8% | 0.0% | 4.4 min | 3 |
| Nov | 44 | 81.8% | 2.3% | 16.5 min | 3 |
| Dec | 40 | 70.0% | 0.0% | 32.5 min | 3 |
Each calendar month summed across the 36 months on file, so most rows combine three years. The pill compares the month with the route's own 12-month share.
Other routes from Des Moines (DSM)
| Route | Cities | Flights | On time | Avg arrival delay | Cancelled |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DSM–ORD | Des Moines to Chicago | 3,411 | 70.7% | 17.5 min | 4.1% |
| DSM–DEN | Des Moines to Denver | 2,330 | 82.8% | 3.7 min | 0.6% |
| DSM–DFW | Des Moines to Dallas/Fort Worth | 1,438 | 70.2% | 18.0 min | 3.8% |
| DSM–ATL | Des Moines to Atlanta | 1,252 | 86.6% | -6.3 min | 2.4% |
| DSM–PHX | Des Moines to Phoenix | 1,064 | 78.9% | 16.0 min | 1.5% |
| DSM–CLT | Des Moines to Charlotte | 809 | 80.3% | 9.0 min | 3.0% |
| DSM–DCA | Des Moines to Washington | 702 | 73.2% | 11.0 min | 5.3% |
| DSM–LAS | Des Moines to Las Vegas | 595 | 80.7% | 9.9 min | 0.2% |
All 37 routes and the airport record for DSM · airport record for BNA
Questions and answers
How often are flights from Des Moines to Nashville on time?
81.8% of the 165 flights scheduled from DSM to BNA in the 12 months to July 2026 arrived less than 15 minutes after their scheduled time. The national share for the same period was 76.0%. Cancelled and diverted flights count as not on time.
Which airline has the highest on-time share from DSM to BNA?
Allegiant Air is the only reporting carrier with at least 60 flights on the route in the period, so there is no comparison to make.
What causes delays between Des Moines and Nashville?
For flights that arrived 15 or more minutes late, carriers attributed the delay minutes as follows: air carrier 49%, extreme weather 24%, late-arriving aircraft 21%, national aviation system 6%, security 0%. The categories are the carriers' own reports to BTS; weather that slows the wider system is usually recorded under the National Aviation System rather than extreme weather.
What time of day has the highest on-time share from DSM?
Too few departure hours carry enough flights on this route to compare them.
Is it getting better?
The on-time share for the 12 months to July 2026 was 81.8%, up 2.6 points on the previous 12 months (79.2%). The monthly chart on this page shows each of the last 36 months.
Where does this data come from?
Every figure is computed from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance files, which list each scheduled domestic flight by the carriers required to report. This page covers August 2023 to July 2026. It shows totals and averages only; it is not a live flight-status service.
Provenance
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance (1987 to present), monthly files August 2023 to July 2026, a US government work in the public domain. Figures are totals and averages over all scheduled flights by reporting carriers on the route; no individual flight or aircraft is identified. Times are local to the departure airport. The load factor and passenger counts from the BTS T-100 series are not included in this edition. See the methodology; report processing errors through corrections.