Des Moines International Airport (DSM) delays & on-time performance
Des Moines, Iowa · 37 nonstop destinations · 10 airlines · Aug 2025 – Jul 2026
No FAA-reported ground stops or delays at DSM right now. Individual flights can still be delayed by the airline; check with your airline for your flight.
On-time arrivals
79%
arrived < 15 min late
Cancelled
2.5%
388 flights
Avg arrival delay
21 min
99 min when late
Departed on time
80%
avg taxi-out 16 min
Figures cover 15,584 departures from DSM; on-time is measured at arrival. Arrivals into DSM were on time 75% of the time.
Key facts
- Flights departing Des Moines International Airport (DSM) arrived on time 79% of the time in Aug 2025 – Jul 2026, better than the 78% national average.
- 2.5% were cancelled, and 9% arrived an hour or more late.
- Delta Air Lines was the most punctual airline here (89% on time); Allegiant Air was the least (76%).
- Departures scheduled around 6am did best (89% on time); around 7pm did worst (58%).
- The largest source of delay minutes was airline (crew, maintenance, cleaning, fueling) (37%).
Most delayed routes from DSM
Lowest on-time arrival rates among regularly flown routes.
- DFW · Dallas/Fort Worth73%1,438 flts
- ORD · Chicago74%3,411 flts
- DCA · Washington78%702 flts
- PHX · Phoenix80%1,064 flts
- LAS · Las Vegas81%595 flts
- CLT · Charlotte83%809 flts
- DEN · Denver83%2,330 flts
- STL · St. Louis89%403 flts
- ATL · Atlanta89%1,252 flts
Most reliable routes from DSM
Highest on-time arrival rates among regularly flown routes.
- ATL · Atlanta89%1,252 flts
- STL · St. Louis89%403 flts
- DEN · Denver83%2,330 flts
- CLT · Charlotte83%809 flts
- LAS · Las Vegas81%595 flts
- PHX · Phoenix80%1,064 flts
- DCA · Washington78%702 flts
- ORD · Chicago74%3,411 flts
- DFW · Dallas/Fort Worth73%1,438 flts
Best airline at DSM
Departures from this airport, ranked by on-time arrival.
| Airline | On time | Cancelled | Avg delay | Routes | Flights |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delta Air Lines | 89% | 2.4% | 11 min | 2 | 1,253 |
| Southwest Airlines | 83% | 0.8% | 12 min | 5 | 1,783 |
| Envoy Air | 82% | 2.6% | 15 min | 5 | 1,095 |
| Frontier Airlines | 81% | 0.5% | 18 min | 3 | 186 |
| Republic Airways | 80% | 3.7% | 18 min | 5 | 1,162 |
| PSA Airlines | 79% | 5.3% | 26 min | 5 | 980 |
| SkyWest Airlines | 78% | 3.0% | 25 min | 8 | 2,727 |
| United Airlines | 77% | 1.4% | 19 min | 3 | 2,018 |
| American Airlines | 77% | 3.4% | 31 min | 5 | 2,351 |
| Allegiant Air | 76% | 1.5% | 25 min | 21 | 2,029 |
Best time to fly out of DSM
On-time arrival rate by scheduled departure hour (local time).
- 5am88%1,808 flts
- 6am89%1,767 flts
- 7am85%1,031 flts
- 8am86%977 flts
- 9am82%785 flts
- 10am80%324 flts
- 11am82%1,240 flts
- 12pm84%498 flts
- 1pm80%1,303 flts
- 2pm82%1,120 flts
- 3pm69%1,302 flts
- 4pm65%618 flts
- 5pm71%864 flts
- 6pm69%1,216 flts
- 7pm58%476 flts
- 8pm70%197 flts
Monthly trend
Why departures were late
- Airline (crew, maintenance, cleaning, fueling)37%
- Late-arriving aircraft32%
- Air traffic control & airport congestion19%
- Extreme weather11%
- Security0%
Data: U.S. DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Aug 2025 – Jul 2026 (12 months). Latest month published by BTS: July 2026. How we calculate this.