Palm Springs, CA

What the Data Says About PSP

Palm Springs, CA in Palm Springs, California handled 159,999 flights in the Bureau of Transportation Statistics dataset between 2020 and 2025, posting a 83.7% on-time departure rate. Of those flights, 26,083 experienced delays, 1,395 were cancelled, and 192 were diverted. The cancellation rate works out to 0.87%, the diversion rate to 0.12%, and the average delay when departures run late is 70.8 minutes. These figures are the baseline for comparing PSP against other airports in the same state and nationally.

Breaking down what drives delays at PSP, Carrier leads the pack. Carrier accounts for 40.0% of total delay minutes, followed by Late Aircraft at 34.7% and NAS (National Aviation System) at 20.6%. Weather contributes 4.4% 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, September runs the cleanest at PSP with a 93.9% on-time rate, while December is the roughest at 90.8% — a 3-point swing between best and worst month. Volume peaks in March, when average flights hit 3,290. The busiest route from PSP is to SFO (San Francisco), with 14,385 flights at a 79.5% on-time rate. Combine these numbers — 83.7% on-time, 70.8-minute average delay, 0.87% cancellation rate — and you have a concrete picture of departure reliability at Palm Springs, CA.