Columbia, MO

What the Data Says About COU

Columbia, MO in Columbia, Missouri handled 19,935 flights in the Bureau of Transportation Statistics dataset between 2020 and 2025, posting a 80.3% on-time departure rate. Of those flights, 3,923 experienced delays, 390 were cancelled, and 25 were diverted. The cancellation rate works out to 1.96%, the diversion rate to 0.13%, and the average delay when departures run late is 86.5 minutes. These figures are the baseline for comparing COU against other airports in the same state and nationally.

Breaking down what drives delays at COU, Carrier leads the pack. Carrier accounts for 38.0% of total delay minutes, followed by Late Aircraft at 33.8% and Weather at 16.2%. Weather contributes 16.2% 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, February runs the cleanest at COU with a 92.7% on-time rate, while June is the roughest at 87.1% — a 6-point swing between best and worst month. Volume peaks in October, when average flights hit 320. The busiest route from COU is to DFW (Dallas/Fort Worth), with 5,954 flights at a 78.6% on-time rate. Combine these numbers — 80.3% on-time, 86.5-minute average delay, 1.96% cancellation rate — and you have a concrete picture of departure reliability at Columbia, MO.