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Airport · ALO · Waterloo, Iowa

Waterloo, IA

According to PlainFlights' airport traffic ranking (BTS On-Time Performance total flights), Waterloo, IA (ALO) ranks #336 of 382 tracked US airports by total flights (most flights = #1). Waterloo, IA posts top-quartile on-time performance among the 382 tracked U.S. airports, as a smaller regional airport.

Data updated 2026-06-13

87.7%
On-time
Top 12%
on-time, US airports
77 min
Delay when late
1.82%
Cancelled
#336 of 382
Corpus placement
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ALO on-time rate vs. the national average

Ahead of the U.S. average across all 382 tracked airports.

0%100%U.S. average79%87.7%

Delay Cause Breakdown

Top delay cause: Late Aircraft. Total delay minutes: 25,070.

Late Aircraft 34.6% (8,685 min)
Carrier 21.4% (5,357 min)
NAS (National Aviation System) 26.0% (6,515 min)
Weather 18.0% (4,513 min)
Security 0.0% (0 min)

ALO - seasonal on-time pattern

Best: March (98.4%) · worst: June (90.4%)

90%92%94%96%98%100% JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec 92.9%

ALO - on-time rate by year

2020–2025, year-over-year trend.

88%90%92%94%96%98% 20202021202220232025 96.2% 90.4% ▼ -6.0%

ALO - taxi-out and taxi-in (monthly)

Average taxi-out 13.6 min · taxi-in 4.3 min over the last 24 reported months (U.S. airport mean taxi-out ≈ 16.4 min).

5 min10 min15 min20 min25 min30 min Oct 21Dec 25 11 min 23.6 min ▲ +114.5%

ALO's average taxi-out (13.6 min) stays shorter than the recent U.S. airport mean (~16.4 min). Even the heaviest month (December 2025, 23.6 min) is milder than many hubs' typical book.

Cancellation & Diversion Analysis

Flight disruption statistics for Waterloo, IA.

Cancellation Rate

1.82%

79 of 4,350 flights

Diversion Rate

0.02%

1 of 4,350 flights

Delay Rate

12.3%

535 of 4,350 flights

Top Routes from ALO

Busiest routes to and from Waterloo, IA.

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Route Flights On-Time Distance
ORD (Chicago) → ALO (Waterloo) 1,988 86.3% 234 mi
ALO (Waterloo) → ORD (Chicago) 1,987 84.2% 234 mi

Nationwide peers by on-time rate & flight volume

Two PlainFlights-derived comparison paths for Waterloo, IA, both outside Iowa so the neighborhoods are not same-state geography. Axes stay disjoint: volume peers exclude the on-time peer set. Same-state compare stays below.

Similar on-time rate

Nearest out-of-state BTS on-time rate (this airport: 87.7%).

Albany, GA

Albany, GA

87.7% on-time 10,492 flights

Stillwater, OK

Stillwater, OK

87.7% on-time 8,044 flights

Victoria, TX

Victoria, TX

87.6% on-time 6,355 flights

Ithaca/Cortland, NY

Ithaca/Cortland, NY

87.6% on-time 6,186 flights

Similar flight volume

Nearest out-of-state total flights (this airport: 4,350).

North Bend/Coos Bay, OR

North Bend/Coos Bay, OR

4,337 flights 80.6% on-time

Paducah, KY

Paducah, KY

4,333 flights 88.2% on-time

Portsmouth, NH

Portsmouth, NH

4,468 flights 80.6% on-time

Barrow, AK

Barrow, AK

4,483 flights 74.4% on-time

Other Airports in Iowa

Compare performance with other Iowa airports.

DSM 82.6%

Des Moines, IA

Des Moines · 169,476 flights
CID 82.2%

Cedar Rapids/Iowa City, IA

Cedar Rapids/Iowa City · 91,140 flights
SUX 81.8%

Sioux City, IA

Sioux City · 9,052 flights
MCW 83.4%

Mason City, IA

Mason City · 5,851 flights
FOD 83.4%

Fort Dodge, IA

Fort Dodge · 5,848 flights
DBQ 89.5%

Dubuque, IA

Dubuque · 3,012 flights

ALO delay-share reading

The standout signal at Waterloo, IA is on-time standing: 87.7% (8.7 pts above the 79% national flight-weighted average; roughly the top-quartile on-time performance) across 4,350 BTS flights (2020–2025). When a departure runs late, the average delay is 77.3 minutes; cancellations run 1.82%.

Delay minutes concentrate in Late Aircraft (34.6% late-aircraft, 21.4% carrier, 26.0% NAS, 18.0% weather, 0.0% security). As a quieter airport, a single late inbound can swing the month more than at a mega-hub.

On the multi-year calendar, ALO is strongest in March (98.4% on-time) and weakest in June (90.4%), a 8.0-point swing. Volume peaks in July (~118 flights/month). The busiest connecting route is to ORD (Chicago) at 86.3% on-time. Field definitions: on-time performance explained.

Statewide aggregates for Iowa: Iowa flight data.

Data Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), On-Time Performance Data (2020–2025). Statistics reflect cumulative performance across all available reporting periods. On-time rates exclude cancelled and diverted flights.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Using ALO's data

ALO's on-time book is stronger than most peers; the remaining risk sits in the delay mix, not a weak headline rate.

  • Check the busiest route from ALO before you book a connection. See top routes
  • Travel in March rather than June if your dates are flexible. Seasonal patterns
  • Gate-to-wheels taxi-out averages 13.6 min here; check the monthly series before a tight connection. Taxi times

On-time rate reflects the BTS historical average across all reporting carriers at this airport, not any single flight or airline.

Data sourced from U.S. Department of Transportation Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) On-Time Performance data. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainFlights

Source: U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) Airline on-time performance and operational reliability · 2025

Every figure on PlainFlights is rendered directly from BTS On-Time Performance data, no number is typed in by an editor. Airport figures are computed directly from BTS On-Time Performance data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.