Bellingham, WA

What the Data Says About BLI

Bellingham, WA in Bellingham, Washington handled 29,229 flights in the Bureau of Transportation Statistics dataset between 2020 and 2025, posting a 85.8% on-time departure rate. Of those flights, 4,158 experienced delays, 424 were cancelled, and 26 were diverted. The cancellation rate works out to 1.45%, the diversion rate to 0.09%, and the average delay when departures run late is 67.4 minutes. These figures are the baseline for comparing BLI against other airports in the same state and nationally.

Breaking down what drives delays at BLI, Carrier leads the pack. Carrier accounts for 39.3% of total delay minutes, followed by Late Aircraft at 32.5% and NAS (National Aviation System) at 16.1%. Weather contributes 11.9% of delay minutes at this airport, while security holds the smallest share at 0.2%. Travelers often overestimate the weather share; the BTS categorization shows late-arriving aircraft and carrier operations as the larger contributors.

Seasonally, May runs the cleanest at BLI with a 95.5% on-time rate, while December is the roughest at 91.3% — a 4-point swing between best and worst month. Volume peaks in April, when average flights hit 488. The busiest route from BLI is to BLI (Bellingham), with 5,958 flights at a 85.1% on-time rate. Combine these numbers — 85.8% on-time, 67.4-minute average delay, 1.45% cancellation rate — and you have a concrete picture of departure reliability at Bellingham, WA.