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Airport · RAP · Rapid City, South Dakota

Rapid City, SD

According to PlainFlights' airport traffic ranking (BTS On-Time Performance total flights), Rapid City, SD (RAP) ranks #138 of 382 tracked US airports by total flights (most flights = #1). Rapid City, SD posts below-median on-time performance among the 382 tracked U.S. airports, as a mid-size U.S. airport.

Data updated 2026-06-13

83.1%
On-time
Top 54%
on-time, US airports
85 min
Delay when late
1.22%
Cancelled
#138 of 382
Corpus placement
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RAP on-time rate vs. the national average

Ahead of the U.S. average across all 382 tracked airports.

0%100%U.S. average79%83.1%

Delay Cause Breakdown

Top delay cause: Carrier. Total delay minutes: 450,583.

Late Aircraft 33.4% (150,366 min)
Carrier 36.8% (165,624 min)
NAS (National Aviation System) 16.5% (74,174 min)
Weather 13.3% (60,020 min)
Security 0.1% (399 min)

RAP - seasonal on-time pattern

Best: November (94.1%) · worst: July (89.7%)

89%90%91%92%93%94%95% JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec 92%

RAP - on-time rate by year

2020–2025, year-over-year trend.

88%90%92%94%96% 202020212022202320242025 95.4% 90.3% ▼ -5.3%

RAP - taxi-out and taxi-in (monthly)

Average taxi-out 19.7 min · taxi-in 5.8 min over the last 24 reported months (U.S. airport mean taxi-out ≈ 16.4 min).

10 min15 min20 min25 min30 min Jan 24Dec 25 22 min 24.7 min ▲ +12.3%

RAP's average taxi-out (19.7 min) runs longer than the recent U.S. airport mean (~16.4 min). The heaviest month in this window is February 2025 at 28.0 min; the lightest is August 2024 at 15.1 min.

Cancellation & Diversion Analysis

Flight disruption statistics for Rapid City, SD.

Cancellation Rate

1.22%

713 of 58,593 flights

Diversion Rate

0.16%

95 of 58,593 flights

Delay Rate

16.9%

9,877 of 58,593 flights

Top Routes from RAP

Busiest routes to and from Rapid City, SD.

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Route Flights On-Time Distance
DEN (Denver) → RAP (Rapid City) 10,350 79.2% 300 mi
RAP (Rapid City) → DEN (Denver) 10,345 79.1% 300 mi
MSP (Minneapolis) → RAP (Rapid City) 5,931 88.8% 489 mi
RAP (Rapid City) → MSP (Minneapolis) 5,930 89.5% 489 mi
DFW (Dallas/Fort Worth) → RAP (Rapid City) 5,583 80% 835 mi
RAP (Rapid City) → DFW (Dallas/Fort Worth) 5,580 82.1% 835 mi
RAP (Rapid City) → ORD (Chicago) 2,983 81.1% 780 mi
ORD (Chicago) → RAP (Rapid City) 2,981 82.1% 780 mi
CLT (Charlotte) → RAP (Rapid City) 680 83.4% 1,322 mi
RAP (Rapid City) → CLT (Charlotte) 680 71.8% 1,322 mi
RAP (Rapid City) → SLC (Salt Lake City) 583 92.5% 508 mi
SLC (Salt Lake City) → RAP (Rapid City) 583 89.4% 508 mi

Nationwide peers by on-time rate & flight volume

Two PlainFlights-derived comparison paths for Rapid City, SD, both outside South Dakota so the neighborhoods are not same-state geography. Axes stay disjoint: volume peers exclude the on-time peer set. Same-state compare stays below.

Similar on-time rate

Nearest out-of-state BTS on-time rate (this airport: 83.1%).

Seattle, WA

Seattle, WA

83.1% on-time 1,871,155 flights

Madison, WI

Madison, WI

83.1% on-time 127,239 flights

Shreveport, LA

Shreveport, LA

83.1% on-time 55,112 flights

Fairbanks, AK

Fairbanks, AK

83.1% on-time 44,233 flights

Similar flight volume

Nearest out-of-state total flights (this airport: 58,593).

Amarillo, TX

Amarillo, TX

57,122 flights 82.2% on-time

Harrisburg, PA

Harrisburg, PA

60,271 flights 82.8% on-time

Tallahassee, FL

Tallahassee, FL

60,451 flights 84.7% on-time

San Luis Obispo, CA

San Luis Obispo, CA

56,561 flights 83.2% on-time

Other Airports in South Dakota

Compare performance with other South Dakota airports.

FSD 81.6%

Sioux Falls, SD

Sioux Falls · 83,262 flights
ABR 88.6%

Aberdeen, SD

Aberdeen · 8,753 flights
ATY 87.6%

Watertown, SD

Watertown · 3,061 flights
PIR 87%

Pierre, SD

Pierre · 3,006 flights

RAP delay-share reading

The standout signal at Rapid City, SD is the delay mix: Carrier owns 36.8% of 450,583 delay minutes across 58,593 BTS flights. The on-time headline is 83.1% (4.1 pts above the 79% national average), with 9,877 delayed and 713 cancelled (1.22%).

Delay minutes concentrate in Carrier (33.4% late-aircraft, 36.8% carrier, 16.5% NAS, 13.3% weather, 0.1% security). Mid-volume books still show a clear delay fingerprint rather than a weather-only story.

On the multi-year calendar, RAP is strongest in November (94.1% on-time) and weakest in July (89.7%), a 4.4-point swing. Volume peaks in August (~1,119 flights/month). The busiest connecting route is to DEN (Denver) at 79.2% on-time. Field definitions: on-time performance explained.

Statewide aggregates for South Dakota: South Dakota flight data.

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.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Using RAP's data

RAP's on-time book is mid-pack; month and delay-cause mix move more than the headline rate.

  • Check the busiest route from RAP before you book a connection. See top routes
  • Travel in November rather than July if your dates are flexible. Seasonal patterns
  • Build extra connection buffer when taxi-out spikes. February 2025 averaged 28.0 min. Taxi times

On-time rate reflects the BTS historical average across all reporting carriers at this airport, not any single flight or airline.

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

Source: U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) Airline on-time performance and operational reliability · 2025

Every figure on PlainFlights is rendered directly from BTS On-Time Performance data, no number is typed in by an editor. Airport figures are computed directly from BTS On-Time Performance data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.