Rochester, NY

What the Data Says About ROC

Rochester, NY in Rochester, New York handled 126,934 flights in the Bureau of Transportation Statistics dataset between 2020 and 2025, posting a 82% on-time departure rate. Of those flights, 22,826 experienced delays, 1,866 were cancelled, and 94 were diverted. The cancellation rate works out to 1.47%, the diversion rate to 0.07%, and the average delay when departures run late is 77.1 minutes. These figures are the baseline for comparing ROC against other airports in the same state and nationally.

Breaking down what drives delays at ROC, Late Aircraft leads the pack. Late Aircraft accounts for 37.2% of total delay minutes, followed by Carrier at 35.0% and NAS (National Aviation System) at 23.0%. Weather contributes 4.8% 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, October runs the cleanest at ROC with a 93.9% on-time rate, while July is the roughest at 89.6% — a 4-point swing between best and worst month. Volume peaks in March, when average flights hit 1,855. The busiest route from ROC is to ORD (Chicago), with 9,546 flights at a 81.5% on-time rate. Combine these numbers — 82% on-time, 77.1-minute average delay, 1.47% cancellation rate — and you have a concrete picture of departure reliability at Rochester, NY.