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Airport · MSO · Missoula, Montana

Missoula, MT

According to PlainFlights' airport traffic ranking (BTS On-Time Performance total flights), Missoula, MT (MSO) ranks #144 of 382 tracked US airports by total flights (most flights = #1). Missoula, MT posts above-median on-time performance among the 382 tracked U.S. airports, as a mid-size U.S. airport.

Data updated 2026-06-13

83.9%
On-time
Top 45%
on-time, US airports
83 min
Delay when late
0.70%
Cancelled
#144 of 382
Corpus placement
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MSO on-time rate vs. the national average

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

0%100%U.S. average79%83.9%

Delay Cause Breakdown

Top delay cause: Carrier. Total delay minutes: 396,973.

Late Aircraft 29.3% (116,205 min)
Carrier 40.9% (162,229 min)
NAS (National Aviation System) 18.6% (73,934 min)
Weather 11.1% (44,024 min)
Security 0.1% (581 min)

MSO - seasonal on-time pattern

Best: November (94.6%) · worst: July (89.4%)

88%90%92%94%96% JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec 89.5%

MSO - on-time rate by year

2020–2025, year-over-year trend.

90%92%94%96%98% 202020212022202320242025 95.6% 91.5% ▼ -4.3%

MSO - taxi-out and taxi-in (monthly)

Average taxi-out 19 min · taxi-in 5.4 min over the last 24 reported months (U.S. airport mean taxi-out ≈ 16.4 min).

10 min15 min20 min25 min30 min35 min Jan 24Dec 25 26.7 min 24.1 min ▼ -9.7%

MSO's average taxi-out (19 min) runs longer than the recent U.S. airport mean (~16.4 min). The heaviest month in this window is January 2025 at 28.7 min; the lightest is September 2024 at 14.4 min.

Cancellation & Diversion Analysis

Flight disruption statistics for Missoula, MT.

Cancellation Rate

0.70%

370 of 52,758 flights

Diversion Rate

0.14%

73 of 52,758 flights

Delay Rate

16.1%

8,501 of 52,758 flights

Top Routes from MSO

Busiest routes to and from Missoula, MT.

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Route Flights On-Time Distance
SLC (Salt Lake City) → MSO (Missoula) 6,617 91% 436 mi
MSO (Missoula) → SLC (Salt Lake City) 6,616 90.4% 436 mi
DEN (Denver) → MSO (Missoula) 6,021 79.9% 679 mi
MSO (Missoula) → DEN (Denver) 6,021 78.7% 679 mi
SEA (Seattle) → MSO (Missoula) 2,929 82.2% 389 mi
MSO (Missoula) → SEA (Seattle) 2,926 80% 389 mi
MSO (Missoula) → MSP (Minneapolis) 2,543 86.5% 1,013 mi
DFW (Dallas/Fort Worth) → MSO (Missoula) 2,528 78.2% 1,320 mi
MSP (Minneapolis) → MSO (Missoula) 2,513 84.4% 1,013 mi
MSO (Missoula) → DFW (Dallas/Fort Worth) 2,497 79.7% 1,320 mi
MSO (Missoula) → ORD (Chicago) 1,132 75.8% 1,332 mi
ORD (Chicago) → MSO (Missoula) 1,131 82.5% 1,332 mi
LAX (Los Angeles) → MSO (Missoula) 682 82.7% 923 mi
MSO (Missoula) → LAX (Los Angeles) 682 76% 923 mi
MSO (Missoula) → SFO (San Francisco) 523 83.9% 769 mi
SFO (San Francisco) → MSO (Missoula) 522 82.2% 769 mi

Nationwide peers by on-time rate & flight volume

Two PlainFlights-derived comparison paths for Missoula, MT, both outside Montana 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: 83.9%).

Wilmington, NC

Wilmington, NC

83.9% on-time 80,728 flights

Monterey, CA

Monterey, CA

83.9% on-time 47,880 flights

Augusta, GA

Augusta, GA

84% on-time 41,579 flights

Dickinson, ND

Dickinson, ND

84% on-time 4,996 flights

Similar flight volume

Nearest out-of-state total flights (this airport: 52,758).

Juneau, AK

Juneau, AK

52,533 flights 85.3% on-time

Baton Rouge, LA

Baton Rouge, LA

53,837 flights 84.2% on-time

Islip, NY

Islip, NY

54,300 flights 77.9% on-time

Shreveport, LA

Shreveport, LA

55,112 flights 83.1% on-time

Other Airports in Montana

Compare performance with other Montana airports.

BZN 82.3%

Bozeman, MT

Bozeman · 117,386 flights
BIL 85.7%

Billings, MT

Billings · 51,010 flights
FCA 84.4%

Kalispell, MT

Kalispell · 50,123 flights
GTF 88.3%

Great Falls, MT

Great Falls · 29,395 flights
HLN 89.2%

Helena, MT

Helena · 17,569 flights
BTM 91%

Butte, MT

Butte · 8,024 flights
WYS 87.9%

West Yellowstone, MT

West Yellowstone · 3,872 flights

MSO delay-share reading

The standout signal at Missoula, MT is the delay mix: Carrier owns 40.9% of 396,973 delay minutes across 52,758 BTS flights. The on-time headline is 83.9% (4.9 pts above the 79% national average), with 8,501 delayed and 370 cancelled (0.70%).

Delay minutes concentrate in Carrier (29.3% late-aircraft, 40.9% carrier, 18.6% NAS, 11.1% weather, 0.1% security). Mid-volume books still show a clear delay fingerprint rather than a weather-only story.

On the multi-year calendar, MSO is strongest in November (94.6% on-time) and weakest in July (89.4%), a 5.2-point swing. Volume peaks in July (~1,113 flights/month). The busiest connecting route is to SLC (Salt Lake City) at 91% on-time. Field definitions: on-time performance explained.

Statewide aggregates for Montana: Montana 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 MSO's data

MSO's on-time book is mid-pack; month and delay-cause mix move more than the headline rate.

  • Check the busiest route from MSO before you book a connection. See top routes
  • Travel in November rather than July if your dates are flexible. Seasonal patterns
  • Build extra connection buffer when taxi-out spikes. January 2025 averaged 28.7 min. 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.