According to PlainFlights' airport traffic ranking (BTS On-Time Performance total flights), Buffalo, NY (BUF) ranks #67 of 382 tracked US airports by total flights (most flights = #1). Buffalo, NY posts bottom-quartile on-time performance among the 382 tracked U.S. airports, as a high-volume U.S. airport.
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BUF on-time rate vs. the national average
Ahead of the U.S. average across all 382 tracked airports.
Volume vs. on-time rate
Where Buffalo, NY sits on volume vs. on-time rate
Among the 382 U.S. airports in the BTS corpus, Buffalo, NY handles more flight
volume than 83% of them, and has a higher on-time rate than
19% 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.
Buffalo, NY vs. a 29-airport national peer sample, volume percentile vs. on-time-rate percentile.
Total flights (2020-2025): 221,909 ·
On-time rate: 80.6%
Delay Cause Breakdown
Top delay cause: Late Aircraft.
Total delay minutes1,496,372 min
Late Aircraft628,478 min · 42%
Carrier456,068 min · 30%
NAS (National Aviation System)342,879 min · 23%
Weather67,429 min · 5%
Security1,518 min · 0%
Source: U.S. DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, On-Time Performance
BUF - seasonal on-time pattern
Best: September (93.3%) · worst: July (88.4%)
BUF - on-time rate by year
2020–2025, year-over-year trend.
BUF - taxi-out and taxi-in (monthly)
Average taxi-out 15.5 min · taxi-in 5.8 min over the last 24 reported months (U.S. airport mean taxi-out ≈ 16.4 min).
BUF's average taxi-out (15.5 min) sits near the recent U.S. airport mean (~16.4 min). Month-to-month, it swings from 12.6 min (May 2025) to 22.3 min (February 2025).
Two PlainFlights-derived comparison paths for Buffalo, NY, both outside New York 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 Buffalo, NY is the delay mix: Late Aircraft owns 42.0% of 1,496,372 delay minutes across 221,909 BTS flights. The on-time headline is 80.6% (1.6 pts above the 79% national average), with 42,968 delayed and 3,878 cancelled (1.75%).
Delay minutes concentrate in Late Aircraft (42.0% late-aircraft, 30.5% carrier, 22.9% NAS, 4.5% weather, 0.1% security). As a busy airport, that mix matters more for connection planning than for a thin schedule.
On the multi-year calendar, BUF is strongest in September (93.3% on-time) and weakest in July (88.4%), a 4.9-point swing. Volume peaks in October (~3,316 flights/month). The busiest connecting route is to JFK (New York) at 78.5% on-time. Field definitions: on-time performance explained.
Buffalo, NY vs. the national on-time distribution
On-time rate among all 382 tracked U.S. airports
80.6%Top 81%higher than 19% of 382 airports
Buffalo, NY
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.
BUF'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 BUF before you book a connection. See top routes →
Travel in September rather than July 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Buffalo, NY's on-time rate?
Buffalo, NY (BUF) has a 80.6% on-time rate across 221,909 BTS-tracked flights (2020-2025), 1.6 pts above the 79% national flight-weighted average; that places it in roughly the bottom-quartile on-time performance.
How does BUF rank among U.S. airports by traffic volume?
Buffalo, NY ranks #67 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 Buffalo, NY?
Late Aircraft is the leading delay cause at BUF, accounting for 42.0% of delay minutes. The full breakdown: 42.0% late-aircraft, 30.5% carrier, 22.9% NAS/air-traffic-control, 4.5% weather, and 0.1% security.
When is the best time to fly through Buffalo, NY?
September is historically BUF's strongest month at 93.3% on-time, while July is the weakest at 88.4%, a 4.9-point swing across the BTS historical record.