RITA | BTS | Transtats - International and Domestic Tarmac Times by Airport/Airline

United States Department of Transportation

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International and Domestic Tarmac Times by Airline

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Data begins with August 2011. Data available through January 2024 Please limit search using dropdowns to a single calendar year.

This page has tarmac times for all domestic flights and all international flights to and from the United States (U.S. airports only). For tarmac times since 1995 for domestic flights operated by large airlines, see Domestic Tarmac Times

Airline	Tarmac Times	Stage of Operation					Tarmac Flights
Airline	Total	Prior To Cancellation	Multiple Gate Departure	Taxi-Out	Taxi-In	At Diversion Airport	Domestic	International
United	33	8	4	2	3	16	12	21
US Airways	11	1	3	3	4	0	10	1
Delta	9	0	1	6	0	2	2	7
Lufthansa German	9	0	7	1	0	1	0	9
American	8	0	1	0	0	7	3	5
PSA	8	1	0	0	7	0	8	0
Air Wisconsin Corp	7	2	0	0	5	0	7	0
Piedmont	6	0	0	0	6	0	6	0
Chautauqua	6	1	0	1	4	0	6	0
Mesa	6	0	0	2	4	0	6	0
Virgin America	5	0	1	1	3	0	5	0
Air Canada	5	0	1	1	3	0	0	5
Southwest	5	0	0	0	3	2	5	0
British	4	0	1	3	0	0	0	4
Virgin Atlantic	4	0	0	3	0	1	0	4
Emirates	3	0	2	1	0	0	0	3
ExpressJet LLC d/b/a aha!	3	1	1	1	0	0	3	0
Westjet	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	2
Taca International	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	2
SkyWest	2	0	1	0	0	1	2	0
Alis Cargo S.P.A.	2	0	2	0	0	0	2	0
Klm Royal Dutch	2	1	0	0	1	0	0	2
Spirit	2	0	0	0	1	1	2	0
Aeromexico	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	1
Aerovias Nacl De Colombia	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	1
Air Berlin PLC and CO	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	1
Air China	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	1
Alaska	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	0
All Nippon	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
China Ltd.	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
Compania Panamena (Copa)	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
Frontier	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
GoJet LLC d/b/a United Express	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
Hawaiian	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
Jazz Aviation LP	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	1
Jin Air Co Ltd.	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	1
Lan-Chile	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
Shuttle America Corp.	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
Singapore Ltd.	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	1
Trans States	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	0
Transportes Aereos De Cabo	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	1
Envoy Air	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Endeavor Air	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
AirTran	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
JetBlue	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Aer Lingus Plc	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Air New Zealand	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
American Eagle	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
All Airlines	162	16	33	27	50	36	84	78

Note: Tarmac times for all flights by airlines reporting on-time data are available beginning with October 2008 data. From January 1995 through September 2008, airlines reporting on-time data reported only taxi-out and taxi-in times. Airlines currently reporting on-time data.

Note: Numbers found here may differ from those previously available on the BTS website and on the Air Travel Consumer Report. Beginning with the release of May 2010 data, lengthy tarmac times are measured as more than 3 hours (181 minutes plus). Previous releases used the measurement of 3 hours or more (180 minutes plus). 2-hour and 1-hour tarmac times have been changed to conform. Data from previous months on this application have been revised but may differ from the previously-released Air Travel Consumer Report Tables 11 and 12, which were not revised. Air Travel Consumer Report Tables 11 and 12, beginning with the release of May 2010 data in the July report, will reflect the change in measurement.

Note: Click on page headers, it will redirect to detail carrier summary of that specified link

Explanation of Stage of Operation
Prior to Cancellation: Flight left the gate but was cancelled at the origin airport
Multiple Gate Departure: Flight left the gate, then returned and then left again to resume normal operation. Tarmac time is the time before the return to the gate.
Taxi-out: The time between gate departure and wheels-off
Taxi-in: The time between wheels-on and gate arrival
At Diversion Airport: The tarmac time at the alternate airport

The number of reporting carriers has varied as follows:
1995: 10
1996: 10
1997: 10
1998: 10
1999: 10
2000: 10 (11 starting in November when Aloha Airlines started reporting for the first time)
2001: 12 (11 starting in November when Aloha Airlines ceased reporting for the first time)
2002: 10
2003: 17 (18 starting in November when Hawaiian Airlines started reporting)
2004: 19
2005: 20 (19 through April after which Frontier Airlines started reporting)
2006: 20 (19 through March after which Aloha Airlines started reporting for the second time)
2007: 20
2008: 19 (20 through February after which Aloha Airlines ceased reporting)
2009: 19
2010: 18
2011: 16

2012: 15

2013: 16

2014: 14

2015: 13 (14 through June after which American and US Airways began joint reporting)

2016: 12

2017: 12

2018: 17 (18 through March after which Alaska Airlines and Virgin America began joint reporting)

2019: 17

2020: 17

2021: 17