According to PlainFlights' airport traffic ranking (BTS On-Time Performance total flights), Columbia, MO (COU) ranks #211 of 382 tracked US airports by total flights (most flights = #1). Columbia, MO posts bottom-quartile on-time performance among the 382 tracked U.S. airports, as a mid-size U.S. airport.
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COU on-time rate vs. the national average
Ahead of the U.S. average across all 382 tracked airports.
Volume vs. on-time rate
Where Columbia, MO sits on volume vs. on-time rate
Among the 382 U.S. airports in the BTS corpus, Columbia, MO handles more flight
volume than 45% of them, and has a higher on-time rate than
17% of them, placing it in the quadrant for quiet 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.
Columbia, MO vs. a 29-airport national peer sample, volume percentile vs. on-time-rate percentile.
Total flights (2020-2025): 19,935 ·
On-time rate: 80.3%
Delay Cause Breakdown
Top delay cause: Carrier.
Total delay minutes190,515 min
Carrier72,424 min · 38%
Late Aircraft64,308 min · 34%
Weather30,910 min · 16%
NAS (National Aviation System)22,800 min · 12%
Security73 min · 0%
Source: U.S. DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, On-Time Performance
COU - seasonal on-time pattern
Best: February (92.7%) · worst: June (87.1%)
COU - on-time rate by year
2020–2025, year-over-year trend.
COU - taxi-out and taxi-in (monthly)
Average taxi-out 15.8 min · taxi-in 5.3 min over the last 24 reported months (U.S. airport mean taxi-out ≈ 16.4 min).
COU's average taxi-out (15.8 min) sits near the recent U.S. airport mean (~16.4 min). Month-to-month, it swings from 12.5 min (October 2024) to 20.7 min (December 2025).
Two PlainFlights-derived comparison paths for Columbia, MO, both outside Missouri 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 Columbia, MO is the delay mix: Carrier owns 38.0% of 190,515 delay minutes across 19,935 BTS flights. The on-time headline is 80.3% (1.3 pts above the 79% national average), with 3,923 delayed and 390 cancelled (1.96%).
Delay minutes concentrate in Carrier (33.8% late-aircraft, 38.0% carrier, 12.0% NAS, 16.2% weather, 0.0% security). Mid-volume books still show a clear delay fingerprint rather than a weather-only story.
On the multi-year calendar, COU is strongest in February (92.7% on-time) and weakest in June (87.1%), a 5.6-point swing. Volume peaks in October (~320 flights/month). The busiest connecting route is to DFW (Dallas/Fort Worth) at 78.6% on-time. Field definitions: on-time performance explained.
Columbia, MO vs. the national on-time distribution
On-time rate among all 382 tracked U.S. airports
80.3%Top 83%higher than 17% of 382 airports
Columbia, MO
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.
COU'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 COU before you book a connection. See top routes →
Travel in February rather than June if your dates are flexible. Seasonal patterns →
Gate-to-wheels taxi-out averages 15.8 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 Columbia, MO's on-time rate?
Columbia, MO (COU) has a 80.3% on-time rate across 19,935 BTS-tracked flights (2020-2025), 1.3 pts above the 79% national flight-weighted average; that places it in roughly the bottom-quartile on-time performance.
How does COU rank among U.S. airports by traffic volume?
Columbia, MO ranks #211 of 382 tracked US airports by total BTS flights (most flights = #1), making it a mid-size U.S. airport.
What's the most common cause of delays at Columbia, MO?
Carrier is the leading delay cause at COU, accounting for 38.0% of delay minutes. The full breakdown: 33.8% late-aircraft, 38.0% carrier, 12.0% NAS/air-traffic-control, 16.2% weather, and 0.0% security.
When is the best time to fly through Columbia, MO?
February is historically COU's strongest month at 92.7% on-time, while June is the weakest at 87.1%, a 5.6-point swing across the BTS historical record.