According to PlainFlights' airport traffic ranking (BTS On-Time Performance total flights), Birmingham, AL (BHM) ranks #76 of 382 tracked US airports by total flights (most flights = #1). Birmingham, AL posts below-median on-time performance among the 382 tracked U.S. airports, as a high-volume U.S. airport.
Compare BHM to another hub, filter routes, or browse airline stats without leaving this profile.
BHM on-time rate vs. the national average
Ahead of the U.S. average across all 382 tracked airports.
Volume vs. on-time rate
Where Birmingham, AL sits on volume vs. on-time rate
Among the 382 U.S. airports in the BTS corpus, Birmingham, AL handles more flight
volume than 80% of them, and has a higher on-time rate than
27% of them, placing it in the quadrant for busy and delay-prone.
Flight volume and on-time rate are independent figures: a busy airport can still run
reliably, and a quiet one can still run late.
Birmingham, AL vs. a 29-airport national peer sample, volume percentile vs. on-time-rate percentile.
Total flights (2020-2025): 178,467 ·
On-time rate: 81.5%
Delay Cause Breakdown
Top delay cause: Late Aircraft.
Total delay minutes1,128,542 min
Late Aircraft495,432 min · 44%
Carrier364,248 min · 32%
NAS (National Aviation System)186,409 min · 17%
Weather80,589 min · 7%
Security1,864 min · 0%
Source: U.S. DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, On-Time Performance
BHM - seasonal on-time pattern
Best: November (93.9%) · worst: July (88.5%)
BHM - on-time rate by year
2020–2025, year-over-year trend.
BHM - taxi-out and taxi-in (monthly)
Average taxi-out 15.4 min · taxi-in 5.1 min over the last 24 reported months (U.S. airport mean taxi-out ≈ 16.4 min).
BHM's average taxi-out (15.4 min) sits near the recent U.S. airport mean (~16.4 min). Month-to-month, it swings from 14.3 min (March 2025) to 16.9 min (September 2024).
Two PlainFlights-derived comparison paths for Birmingham, AL, both outside Alabama so the neighborhoods are not same-state geography. Axes stay disjoint: volume peers exclude the on-time peer set. Same-state compare stays below.
The standout signal at Birmingham, AL is the delay mix: Late Aircraft owns 43.9% of 1,128,542 delay minutes across 178,467 BTS flights. The on-time headline is 81.5% (2.5 pts above the 79% national average), with 33,077 delayed and 2,031 cancelled (1.14%).
Delay minutes concentrate in Late Aircraft (43.9% late-aircraft, 32.3% carrier, 16.5% NAS, 7.1% weather, 0.2% security). As a busy airport, that mix matters more for connection planning than for a thin schedule.
On the multi-year calendar, BHM is strongest in November (93.9% on-time) and weakest in July (88.5%), a 5.4-point swing. Volume peaks in October (~2,697 flights/month). The busiest connecting route is to ATL (Atlanta) at 86.4% on-time. Field definitions: on-time performance explained.
Birmingham, AL vs. the national on-time distribution
On-time rate among all 382 tracked U.S. airports
81.5%Top 73%higher than 27% of 382 airports
Birmingham, AL
60%95%
U.S. airports by on-time rate, bucketed by value
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more airports. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
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.
BHM's on-time book sits in the slower half of the BTS set; check the delay mix and the worst month before treating the headline as typical.
Check the busiest route from BHM before you book a connection. See top routes →
Travel in November rather than July if your dates are flexible. Seasonal patterns →
Gate-to-wheels taxi-out averages 15.4 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Birmingham, AL's on-time rate?
Birmingham, AL (BHM) has a 81.5% on-time rate across 178,467 BTS-tracked flights (2020-2025), 2.5 pts above the 79% national flight-weighted average; that places it in roughly the below-median on-time performance.
How does BHM rank among U.S. airports by traffic volume?
Birmingham, AL ranks #76 of 382 tracked US airports by total BTS flights (most flights = #1), making it a high-volume U.S. airport.
What's the most common cause of delays at Birmingham, AL?
Late Aircraft is the leading delay cause at BHM, accounting for 43.9% of delay minutes. The full breakdown: 43.9% late-aircraft, 32.3% carrier, 16.5% NAS/air-traffic-control, 7.1% weather, and 0.2% security.
When is the best time to fly through Birmingham, AL?
November is historically BHM's strongest month at 93.9% on-time, while July is the weakest at 88.5%, a 5.4-point swing across the BTS historical record.