Colorado Springs, CO

What the Data Says About COS

Colorado Springs, CO in Colorado Springs, Colorado handled 134,711 flights in the Bureau of Transportation Statistics dataset between 2020 and 2025, posting a 80.4% on-time departure rate. Of those flights, 26,469 experienced delays, 1,292 were cancelled, and 196 were diverted. The cancellation rate works out to 0.96%, the diversion rate to 0.15%, and the average delay when departures run late is 75.0 minutes. These figures are the baseline for comparing COS against other airports in the same state and nationally.

Breaking down what drives delays at COS, Carrier leads the pack. Carrier accounts for 42.0% of total delay minutes, followed by Late Aircraft at 32.9% and NAS (National Aviation System) at 18.0%. Weather contributes 7.1% of delay minutes at this airport, while security holds the smallest share at 0.0%. Travelers often overestimate the weather share; the BTS categorization shows late-arriving aircraft and carrier operations as the larger contributors.

Seasonally, November runs the cleanest at COS with a 93.5% on-time rate, while July is the roughest at 87.8% — a 6-point swing between best and worst month. Volume peaks in August, when average flights hit 2,067. The busiest route from COS is to DEN (Denver), with 22,924 flights at a 80.3% on-time rate. Combine these numbers — 80.4% on-time, 75.0-minute average delay, 0.96% cancellation rate — and you have a concrete picture of departure reliability at Colorado Springs, CO.