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Airport · COU · Columbia, Missouri

Columbia, MO

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.

Data updated 2026-06-13

80.3%
On-time
Top 83%
on-time, US airports
87 min
Delay when late
1.96%
Cancelled
#211 of 382
Corpus placement
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COU on-time rate vs. the national average

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

0%100%U.S. average79%80.3%

Delay Cause Breakdown

Top delay cause: Carrier. Total delay minutes: 190,515.

Late Aircraft 33.8% (64,308 min)
Carrier 38.0% (72,424 min)
NAS (National Aviation System) 12.0% (22,800 min)
Weather 16.2% (30,910 min)
Security 0.0% (73 min)

COU - seasonal on-time pattern

Best: February (92.7%) · worst: June (87.1%)

86%88%90%92%94% JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec 87.6%

COU - on-time rate by year

2020–2025, year-over-year trend.

88%90%92%94%96% 202020212022202320242025 95.3% 89.4% ▼ -6.2%

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).

10 min15 min20 min25 min Jan 24Dec 25 18.8 min 20.7 min ▲ +10.1%

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).

Cancellation & Diversion Analysis

Flight disruption statistics for Columbia, MO.

Cancellation Rate

1.96%

390 of 19,935 flights

Diversion Rate

0.13%

25 of 19,935 flights

Delay Rate

19.7%

3,923 of 19,935 flights

Top Routes from COU

Busiest routes to and from Columbia, MO.

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Route Flights On-Time Distance
COU (Columbia) → DFW (Dallas/Fort Worth) 5,954 78.6% 490 mi
DFW (Dallas/Fort Worth) → COU (Columbia) 5,948 81.1% 490 mi
ORD (Chicago) → COU (Columbia) 3,747 76.8% 315 mi
COU (Columbia) → ORD (Chicago) 3,737 80% 315 mi

Nationwide peers by on-time rate & flight volume

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.

Similar on-time rate

Nearest out-of-state BTS on-time rate (this airport: 80.3%).

Lincoln, NE

Lincoln, NE

80.3% on-time 16,123 flights

Worcester, MA

Worcester, MA

80.3% on-time 12,995 flights

Jacksonville, FL

Jacksonville, FL

80.4% on-time 316,106 flights

Colorado Springs, CO

Colorado Springs, CO

80.4% on-time 134,711 flights

Similar flight volume

Nearest out-of-state total flights (this airport: 19,935).

Yuma, AZ

Yuma, AZ

20,032 flights 86.8% on-time

Saginaw/Bay City/Midland, MI

Saginaw/Bay City/Midland, MI

20,046 flights 84.1% on-time

Provo, UT

Provo, UT

20,217 flights 76.5% on-time

Everett, WA

Everett, WA

19,411 flights 84.3% on-time

Other Airports in Missouri

Compare performance with other Missouri airports.

STL 81.3%

St. Louis, MO

St. Louis · 687,272 flights
MCI 82%

Kansas City, MO

Kansas City · 524,365 flights
SGF 81.7%

Springfield, MO

Springfield · 92,073 flights
JLN 83.1%

Joplin, MO

Joplin · 8,632 flights
CGI 89.7%

Cape Girardeau, MO

Cape Girardeau · 3,473 flights
TBN 90.5%

Fort Leonard Wood, MO

Fort Leonard Wood · 1,262 flights
BKG 77.4%

Branson, MO

Branson · 363 flights

COU delay-share reading

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.

Statewide aggregates for Missouri: Missouri 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 COU's data

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.

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.