Sioux Falls, SD

What the Data Says About FSD

Sioux Falls, SD in Sioux Falls, South Dakota handled 83,262 flights in the Bureau of Transportation Statistics dataset between 2020 and 2025, posting a 81.6% on-time departure rate. Of those flights, 15,354 experienced delays, 1,075 were cancelled, and 80 were diverted. The cancellation rate works out to 1.29%, the diversion rate to 0.10%, and the average delay when departures run late is 85.1 minutes. These figures are the baseline for comparing FSD against other airports in the same state and nationally.

Breaking down what drives delays at FSD, Carrier leads the pack. Carrier accounts for 37.6% of total delay minutes, followed by Late Aircraft at 31.3% and NAS (National Aviation System) at 17.4%. Weather contributes 13.4% of delay minutes at this airport, while security holds the smallest share at 0.3%. Travelers often overestimate the weather share; the BTS categorization shows late-arriving aircraft and carrier operations as the larger contributors.

Seasonally, April runs the cleanest at FSD with a 94% on-time rate, while December is the roughest at 88.7% — a 5-point swing between best and worst month. Volume peaks in March, when average flights hit 1,262. The busiest route from FSD is to FSD (Sioux Falls), with 9,046 flights at a 85.7% on-time rate. Combine these numbers — 81.6% on-time, 85.1-minute average delay, 1.29% cancellation rate — and you have a concrete picture of departure reliability at Sioux Falls, SD.