Pullman, WA

What the Data Says About PUW

Pullman, WA in Pullman, Washington handled 4,696 flights in the Bureau of Transportation Statistics dataset between 2021 and 2022, posting a 86.6% on-time departure rate. Of those flights, 629 experienced delays, 53 were cancelled, and 3 were diverted. The cancellation rate works out to 1.13%, the diversion rate to 0.06%, and the average delay when departures run late is 61.8 minutes. These figures are the baseline for comparing PUW against other airports in the same state and nationally.

Breaking down what drives delays at PUW, Late Aircraft leads the pack. Late Aircraft accounts for 42.6% of total delay minutes, followed by Carrier at 28.4% and Weather at 16.0%. Weather contributes 16.0% 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, May runs the cleanest at PUW with a 97.3% on-time rate, while December is the roughest at 77.9% — a 19-point swing between best and worst month. Volume peaks in September, when average flights hit 272. The busiest route from PUW is to SEA (Seattle), with 1,990 flights at a 84.9% on-time rate. Combine these numbers — 86.6% on-time, 61.8-minute average delay, 1.13% cancellation rate — and you have a concrete picture of departure reliability at Pullman, WA.