Airport · PBI · West Palm Beach/Palm Beach, Florida
West Palm Beach/Palm Beach, FL
According to PlainFlights' airport traffic ranking (BTS On-Time Performance total flights), West Palm Beach/Palm Beach, FL (PBI) ranks #54 of 382 tracked US airports by total flights (most flights = #1). West Palm Beach/Palm Beach, FL posts bottom-quartile on-time performance among the 382 tracked U.S. airports, as a high-volume U.S. airport.
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PBI on-time rate vs. the national average
Behind the U.S. average across all 382 tracked airports.
Delay Cause Breakdown
Top delay cause: Late Aircraft.
Total delay minutes: 2,653,398.
Late Aircraft47.4% (1,258,998 min)
Carrier28.4% (753,013 min)
NAS (National Aviation System)20.9% (553,764 min)
Weather3.2% (83,717 min)
Security0.1% (3,906 min)
PBI - seasonal on-time pattern
Best: October (92.1%) · worst: July (87.2%)
PBI - on-time rate by year
2020–2025, year-over-year trend.
PBI - taxi-out and taxi-in (monthly)
Average taxi-out 15.6 min · taxi-in 5.6 min over the last 24 reported months (U.S. airport mean taxi-out ≈ 16.4 min).
PBI's average taxi-out (15.6 min) sits near the recent U.S. airport mean (~16.4 min). Month-to-month, it swings from 13.7 min (October 2024) to 17.9 min (March 2025).
Cancellation & Diversion Analysis
Flight disruption statistics for West Palm Beach/Palm Beach, FL.
Cancellation Rate
1.32%
3,995 of 302,058 flights
Diversion Rate
0.16%
491 of 302,058 flights
Delay Rate
23.1%
69,881 of 302,058 flights
Top Routes from PBI
Busiest routes to and from West Palm Beach/Palm Beach, FL.
Two PlainFlights-derived comparison paths for West Palm Beach/Palm Beach, FL, both outside Florida 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 West Palm Beach/Palm Beach, FL is the delay mix: Late Aircraft owns 47.4% of 2,653,398 delay minutes across 302,058 BTS flights. The on-time headline is 76.9% (2.1 pts below the 79% national average), with 69,881 delayed and 3,995 cancelled (1.32%).
Delay minutes concentrate in Late Aircraft (47.4% late-aircraft, 28.4% carrier, 20.9% NAS, 3.2% weather, 0.1% security). As a busy airport, that mix matters more for connection planning than for a thin schedule.
On the multi-year calendar, PBI is strongest in October (92.1% on-time) and weakest in July (87.2%), a 4.9-point swing. Volume peaks in March (~5,793 flights/month). The busiest connecting route is to ATL (Atlanta) at 79.6% on-time. Field definitions: on-time performance explained.
West Palm Beach/Palm Beach, FL vs. the national on-time distribution
On-time rate among all 382 tracked U.S. airports
76.9%Top 93%higher than 7% of 382 airports
West Palm Beach/Palm Beach, FL
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.
PBI'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 PBI before you book a connection. See top routes →
Travel in October rather than July if your dates are flexible. Seasonal patterns →
Gate-to-wheels taxi-out averages 15.6 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 West Palm Beach/Palm Beach, FL's on-time rate?
West Palm Beach/Palm Beach, FL (PBI) has a 76.9% on-time rate across 302,058 BTS-tracked flights (2020-2025), 2.1 pts below the 79% national flight-weighted average; that places it in roughly the bottom-quartile on-time performance.
How does PBI rank among U.S. airports by traffic volume?
West Palm Beach/Palm Beach, FL ranks #54 of 382 tracked US airports by total BTS flights (most flights = #1), making it a high-volume U.S. airport.
What's the most common cause of delays at West Palm Beach/Palm Beach, FL?
Late Aircraft is the leading delay cause at PBI, accounting for 47.4% of delay minutes. The full breakdown: 47.4% late-aircraft, 28.4% carrier, 20.9% NAS/air-traffic-control, 3.2% weather, and 0.1% security.
When is the best time to fly through West Palm Beach/Palm Beach, FL?
October is historically PBI's strongest month at 92.1% on-time, while July is the weakest at 87.2%, a 4.9-point swing across the BTS historical record.
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