USA Banner

Official US Government Icon

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure Site Icon

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Site Notification

Site Notification

U.S. Department of TransportationU.S. Department of Transportation IconUnited States Department of TransportationUnited States Department of Transportation
BTS> TranStats
Airlines and Airports
Airline On-Time Statistics and Delay Causes
Delay Cause Definition  Understanding Delay Data   Database Tables  Flight Delays at a Glance
Note: The numbers are for the marketing, reporting operating, and codeshare carriers from January 2018.
Show all reporting carriersShow all airports (by state)(Select 6-18 individual months)
Flight Delays by Cause
National (October, 2023 - March, 2024)
Most Recent Month      Year to DateView All Months  View Bar Chart  Print Table  Download Raw Data     
 OctoberNovemberDecemberJanuaryFebruaryMarchTotal
Air Carrier Delay
Number of Delays34,18527,44629,94638,70826,55636,034192,876
% of Total Operations5.71%4.87%5.25%7.07%5.11%6.09%5.69%
Delayed Minutes2,350,7201,924,4112,095,2193,111,4121,885,5762,735,37614,102,714
% of Total Operations41.26%42.46%37.08%32.62%35.87%32.11%35.98%
Aircraft Arriving Late
Number of Delays34,63026,08631,30845,51326,69146,189210,416
% of Total Operations5.78%4.63%5.49%8.32%5.14%7.81%6.20%
Delayed Minutes2,305,2691,691,0322,191,6943,715,5821,938,9103,583,29315,425,780
% of Total Operations40.46%37.31%38.79%38.95%36.88%42.07%39.36%
Security Delay
Number of Delays3343414184792913852,249
% of Total Operations0.06%0.06%0.07%0.09%0.06%0.07%0.07%
Delayed Minutes13,54713,58918,87822,61614,10317,710100,443
% of Total Operations0.24%0.30%0.33%0.24%0.27%0.21%0.26%
National Aviation System Delay
Number of Delays21,81720,91125,17034,68226,10336,120164,803
% of Total Operations3.64%3.71%4.41%6.34%5.03%6.10%4.86%
Delayed Minutes818,852733,355993,7481,709,6941,138,3611,823,2877,217,297
% of Total Operations14.37%16.18%17.59%17.92%21.65%21.41%18.41%
Extreme Weather
Number of Delays2,0181,5632,3117,0292,3953,30518,620
% of Total Operations0.34%0.28%0.41%1.28%0.46%0.56%0.55%
Delayed Minutes209,067169,884351,297979,360280,346357,9612,347,915
% of Total Operations3.67%3.75%6.22%10.27%5.33%4.20%5.99%

A flight is considered delayed when it arrived 15 or more minutes than the schedule (see definitions in Frequently Asked Questions). Delayed minutes are calculated for delayed flights only.
When multiple causes are assigned to one delayed flight, each cause is prorated based on delayed minutes it is responsible for. The displayed numbers are rounded and may not add up to the total.

SOURCE: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Airline Service Quality Performance 234
More Topics:
Ontime Arrival Performance
Weather's Share of Delayed Flights
Weather's Share of National Aviation System (NAS) Delays
National Aviation System (NAS) Delay by Cause