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Airport · ATY · Watertown, South Dakota

Watertown, SD

According to PlainFlights' airport traffic ranking (BTS On-Time Performance total flights), Watertown, SD (ATY) ranks #350 of 382 tracked US airports by total flights (most flights = #1). Watertown, SD posts top-quartile on-time performance among the 382 tracked U.S. airports, as a smaller regional airport.

Data updated 2026-06-13

87.6%
On-time
Top 12%
on-time, US airports
111 min
Delay when late
1.50%
Cancelled
#350 of 382
Corpus placement
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ATY on-time rate vs. the national average

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

0%100%U.S. average79%87.6%

Delay Cause Breakdown

Top delay cause: Carrier. Total delay minutes: 26,989.

Late Aircraft 17.6% (4,760 min)
Carrier 56.4% (15,229 min)
NAS (National Aviation System) 13.2% (3,555 min)
Weather 12.8% (3,445 min)
Security 0.0% (0 min)

ATY - seasonal on-time pattern

Best: May (97.8%) · worst: February (85.4%)

80%85%90%95%100% JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec 94.5%

ATY - on-time rate by year

2020–2025, year-over-year trend.

40%60%80%100%120% 2020202120222025 95.8% 92.1% ▼ -3.9%

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

Average taxi-out 15.5 min · taxi-in 4.9 min over the last 24 reported months (U.S. airport mean taxi-out ≈ 16.4 min).

5 min10 min15 min20 min25 min30 min Jul 20Dec 25 14 min 27.3 min ▲ +95.0%

ATY's average taxi-out (15.5 min) sits near the recent U.S. airport mean (~16.4 min). Month-to-month, it swings from 10.9 min (September 2020) to 27.3 min (December 2025).

Cancellation & Diversion Analysis

Flight disruption statistics for Watertown, SD.

Cancellation Rate

1.50%

46 of 3,061 flights

Diversion Rate

0.23%

7 of 3,061 flights

Delay Rate

12.4%

380 of 3,061 flights

Top Routes from ATY

Busiest routes to and from Watertown, SD.

Filter routes

Route Flights On-Time Distance
ATY (Watertown) → DEN (Denver) 763 83.7% 519 mi
DEN (Denver) → ATY (Watertown) 763 88.5% 519 mi

Nationwide peers by on-time rate & flight volume

Two PlainFlights-derived comparison paths for Watertown, SD, both outside South Dakota 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: 87.6%).

Victoria, TX

Victoria, TX

87.6% on-time 6,355 flights

Ithaca/Cortland, NY

Ithaca/Cortland, NY

87.6% on-time 6,186 flights

Albany, GA

Albany, GA

87.7% on-time 10,492 flights

Stillwater, OK

Stillwater, OK

87.7% on-time 8,044 flights

Similar flight volume

Nearest out-of-state total flights (this airport: 3,061).

Ogdensburg, NY

Ogdensburg, NY

3,089 flights 84.3% on-time

Dubuque, IA

Dubuque, IA

3,012 flights 89.5% on-time

Erie, PA

Erie, PA

3,197 flights 87.3% on-time

Dillingham, AK

Dillingham, AK

2,866 flights 82.6% on-time

Other Airports in South Dakota

Compare performance with other South Dakota airports.

FSD 81.6%

Sioux Falls, SD

Sioux Falls · 83,262 flights
RAP 83.1%

Rapid City, SD

Rapid City · 58,593 flights
ABR 88.6%

Aberdeen, SD

Aberdeen · 8,753 flights
PIR 87%

Pierre, SD

Pierre · 3,006 flights

ATY delay-share reading

The standout signal at Watertown, SD is the delay mix: Carrier owns 56.4% of 26,989 delay minutes across 3,061 BTS flights. The on-time headline is 87.6% (8.6 pts above the 79% national average), with 380 delayed and 46 cancelled (1.50%).

Delay minutes concentrate in Carrier (17.6% late-aircraft, 56.4% carrier, 13.2% NAS, 12.8% 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, ATY is strongest in May (97.8% on-time) and weakest in February (85.4%), a 12.4-point swing. Volume peaks in March (~115 flights/month). The busiest connecting route is to DEN (Denver) at 83.7% on-time. Field definitions: on-time performance explained.

Statewide aggregates for South Dakota: South Dakota 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 ATY's data

ATY'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 ATY before you book a connection. See top routes
  • Travel in May rather than February if your dates are flexible. Seasonal patterns
  • Gate-to-wheels taxi-out averages 15.5 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.