Pensacola, FL

What the Data Says About PNS

Pensacola, FL in Pensacola, Florida handled 143,115 flights in the Bureau of Transportation Statistics dataset between 2020 and 2025, posting a 81.4% on-time departure rate. Of those flights, 26,670 experienced delays, 1,679 were cancelled, and 194 were diverted. The cancellation rate works out to 1.17%, the diversion rate to 0.14%, and the average delay when departures run late is 80.7 minutes. These figures are the baseline for comparing PNS against other airports in the same state and nationally.

Breaking down what drives delays at PNS, Late Aircraft leads the pack. Late Aircraft accounts for 47.1% of total delay minutes, followed by Carrier at 30.4% and NAS (National Aviation System) at 16.0%. Weather contributes 6.4% of delay minutes at this airport, while security holds the smallest share at 0.1%. Travelers often overestimate the weather share; the BTS categorization shows late-arriving aircraft and carrier operations as the larger contributors.

Seasonally, September runs the cleanest at PNS with a 94.3% on-time rate, while June is the roughest at 88.9% — a 5-point swing between best and worst month. Volume peaks in July, when average flights hit 2,515. The busiest route from PNS is to PNS (Pensacola), with 14,894 flights at a 85.6% on-time rate. Combine these numbers — 81.4% on-time, 80.7-minute average delay, 1.17% cancellation rate — and you have a concrete picture of departure reliability at Pensacola, FL.