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Airport · CIU · Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

Sault Ste. Marie, MI

According to PlainFlights' airport traffic ranking (BTS On-Time Performance total flights), Sault Ste. Marie, MI (CIU) ranks #264 of 382 tracked US airports by total flights (most flights = #1). Sault Ste. Marie, MI posts above-median on-time performance among the 382 tracked U.S. airports, as a smaller regional airport.

Data updated 2026-06-13

84.6%
On-time
Top 37%
on-time, US airports
120 min
Delay when late
0.76%
Cancelled
#264 of 382
Corpus placement
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CIU on-time rate vs. the national average

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

0%100%U.S. average79%84.6%

Delay Cause Breakdown

Top delay cause: Carrier. Total delay minutes: 93,640.

Late Aircraft 1.7% (1,610 min)
Carrier 68.8% (64,427 min)
NAS (National Aviation System) 3.4% (3,224 min)
Weather 25.8% (24,127 min)
Security 0.3% (252 min)

CIU - seasonal on-time pattern

Best: November (94.5%) · worst: December (88%)

86%88%90%92%94%96% JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec 88%

CIU - on-time rate by year

2020–2025, year-over-year trend.

88%90%92%94%96% 202020212022202320242025 94.4% 90.7% ▼ -3.9%

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

Average taxi-out 23 min · taxi-in 4.5 min over the last 24 reported months (U.S. airport mean taxi-out ≈ 16.4 min).

10 min20 min30 min40 min Jan 24Dec 25 31.7 min 37.1 min ▲ +17.0%

CIU's average taxi-out (23 min) runs longer than the recent U.S. airport mean (~16.4 min). The heaviest month in this window is December 2025 at 37.1 min; the lightest is September 2024 at 16.5 min.

Cancellation & Diversion Analysis

Flight disruption statistics for Sault Ste. Marie, MI.

Cancellation Rate

0.76%

68 of 8,922 flights

Diversion Rate

0.10%

9 of 8,922 flights

Delay Rate

15.4%

1,373 of 8,922 flights

Top Routes from CIU

Busiest routes to and from Sault Ste. Marie, MI.

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Route Flights On-Time Distance
CIU (Sault Ste. Marie) → MSP (Minneapolis) 1,988 86.6% 435 mi
MSP (Minneapolis) → CIU (Sault Ste. Marie) 1,958 85.4% 435 mi
DTW (Detroit) → CIU (Sault Ste. Marie) 1,561 84.7% 284 mi
CIU (Sault Ste. Marie) → DTW (Detroit) 1,530 84.5% 284 mi

Nationwide peers by on-time rate & flight volume

Two PlainFlights-derived comparison paths for Sault Ste. Marie, MI, both outside Michigan 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: 84.6%).

Honolulu, HI

Honolulu, HI

84.6% on-time 631,778 flights

Greensboro/High Point, NC

Greensboro/High Point, NC

84.6% on-time 116,389 flights

Hays, KS

Hays, KS

84.6% on-time 8,353 flights

Elmira/Corning, NY

Elmira/Corning, NY

84.5% on-time 13,181 flights

Similar flight volume

Nearest out-of-state total flights (this airport: 8,922).

New Bern/Morehead/Beaufort, NC

New Bern/Morehead/Beaufort, NC

8,887 flights 85.7% on-time

Dothan, AL

Dothan, AL

8,886 flights 88.1% on-time

Sioux City, IA

Sioux City, IA

9,052 flights 81.8% on-time

Prescott, AZ

Prescott, AZ

9,056 flights 82.5% on-time

Other Airports in Michigan

Compare performance with other Michigan airports.

DTW 84.8%

Detroit, MI

Detroit · 1,488,949 flights
GRR 81.9%

Grand Rapids, MI

Grand Rapids · 195,613 flights
TVC 81.3%

Traverse City, MI

Traverse City · 50,174 flights
FNT 78.1%

Flint, MI

Flint · 31,426 flights
LAN 85%

Lansing, MI

Lansing · 21,361 flights
MBS 84.1%

Saginaw/Bay City/Midland, MI

Saginaw/Bay City/Midland · 20,046 flights
AZO 87.1%

Kalamazoo, MI

Kalamazoo · 17,506 flights
MQT 83.1%

Marquette, MI

Marquette · 12,906 flights

CIU delay-share reading

The standout signal at Sault Ste. Marie, MI is the delay mix: Carrier owns 68.8% of 93,640 delay minutes across 8,922 BTS flights. The on-time headline is 84.6% (5.6 pts above the 79% national average), with 1,373 delayed and 68 cancelled (0.76%).

Delay minutes concentrate in Carrier (1.7% late-aircraft, 68.8% carrier, 3.4% NAS, 25.8% weather, 0.3% security). As a quieter airport, a single late inbound can swing the month more than at a mega-hub.

On the multi-year calendar, CIU is strongest in November (94.5% on-time) and weakest in December (88%), a 6.5-point swing. Volume peaks in August (~133 flights/month). The busiest connecting route is to MSP (Minneapolis) at 86.6% on-time. Field definitions: on-time performance explained.

Statewide aggregates for Michigan: Michigan 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 CIU's data

CIU's on-time book is mid-pack; month and delay-cause mix move more than the headline rate.

  • Check the busiest route from CIU before you book a connection. See top routes
  • Travel in November rather than December if your dates are flexible. Seasonal patterns
  • Build extra connection buffer when taxi-out spikes. December 2025 averaged 37.1 min. 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.