According to PlainFlights' airport traffic ranking (BTS On-Time Performance total flights), St. Petersburg, FL (PIE) ranks #105 of 382 tracked US airports by total flights (most flights = #1). St. Petersburg, FL posts bottom-quartile on-time performance among the 382 tracked U.S. airports, as a mid-size U.S. airport.
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PIE on-time rate vs. the national average
Behind the U.S. average across all 382 tracked airports.
Volume vs. on-time rate
Where St. Petersburg, FL sits on volume vs. on-time rate
Among the 382 U.S. airports in the BTS corpus, St. Petersburg, FL handles more flight
volume than 73% of them, and has a higher on-time rate than
6% of them, placing it in the quadrant for busy 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.
St. Petersburg, FL vs. a 29-airport national peer sample, volume percentile vs. on-time-rate percentile.
Total flights (2020-2025): 96,149 ·
On-time rate: 76.7%
Delay Cause Breakdown
Top delay cause: Late Aircraft.
Total delay minutes731,505 min
Late Aircraft294,584 min · 40%
Carrier195,912 min · 27%
NAS (National Aviation System)140,533 min · 19%
Weather97,009 min · 13%
Security3,467 min · 0%
Source: U.S. DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, On-Time Performance
PIE - seasonal on-time pattern
Best: January (92.5%) · worst: July (86.1%)
PIE - on-time rate by year
2020–2025, year-over-year trend.
PIE - taxi-out and taxi-in (monthly)
Average taxi-out 14.1 min · taxi-in 6.9 min over the last 24 reported months (U.S. airport mean taxi-out ≈ 16.4 min).
PIE's average taxi-out (14.1 min) sits near the recent U.S. airport mean (~16.4 min). Month-to-month, it swings from 13.1 min (April 2024) to 15.9 min (July 2024).
Cancellation & Diversion Analysis
Flight disruption statistics for St. Petersburg, FL.
Two PlainFlights-derived comparison paths for St. Petersburg, 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 St. Petersburg, FL is on-time standing: 76.7% (2.3 pts below the 79% national flight-weighted average; roughly the bottom-quartile on-time performance) across 96,149 BTS flights (2020–2025). When a departure runs late, the average delay is 80.5 minutes; cancellations run 1.68%.
Delay minutes concentrate in Late Aircraft (40.3% late-aircraft, 26.8% carrier, 19.2% NAS, 13.3% weather, 0.5% security). As a busy airport, that mix matters more for connection planning than for a thin schedule.
On the multi-year calendar, PIE is strongest in January (92.5% on-time) and weakest in July (86.1%), a 6.4-point swing. Volume peaks in July (~1,732 flights/month). The busiest connecting route is to AVL (Asheville) at 73.7% on-time. Field definitions: on-time performance explained.
St. Petersburg, FL vs. the national on-time distribution
On-time rate among all 382 tracked U.S. airports
76.7%Top 94%higher than 6% of 382 airports
St. Petersburg, 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.
PIE'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 PIE before you book a connection. See top routes →
Travel in January rather than July if your dates are flexible. Seasonal patterns →
Gate-to-wheels taxi-out averages 14.1 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 St. Petersburg, FL's on-time rate?
St. Petersburg, FL (PIE) has a 76.7% on-time rate across 96,149 BTS-tracked flights (2020-2025), 2.3 pts below the 79% national flight-weighted average; that places it in roughly the bottom-quartile on-time performance.
How does PIE rank among U.S. airports by traffic volume?
St. Petersburg, FL ranks #105 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 St. Petersburg, FL?
Late Aircraft is the leading delay cause at PIE, accounting for 40.3% of delay minutes. The full breakdown: 40.3% late-aircraft, 26.8% carrier, 19.2% NAS/air-traffic-control, 13.3% weather, and 0.5% security.
When is the best time to fly through St. Petersburg, FL?
January is historically PIE's strongest month at 92.5% on-time, while July is the weakest at 86.1%, a 6.4-point swing across the BTS historical record.