According to PlainFlights' airport traffic ranking (BTS On-Time Performance total flights), San Antonio, TX (SAT) ranks #49 of 382 tracked US airports by total flights (most flights = #1). San Antonio, TX posts below-median on-time performance among the 382 tracked U.S. airports, as a high-volume U.S. airport.
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SAT on-time rate vs. the national average
Ahead of the U.S. average across all 382 tracked airports.
Volume vs. on-time rate
Where San Antonio, TX sits on volume vs. on-time rate
Among the 382 U.S. airports in the BTS corpus, San Antonio, TX handles more flight
volume than 87% of them, and has a higher on-time rate than
30% of them, placing it in the quadrant for busy and delay-prone.
Flight volume and on-time rate are independent figures: a busy airport can still run
reliably, and a quiet one can still run late.
San Antonio, TX vs. a 29-airport national peer sample, volume percentile vs. on-time-rate percentile.
Total flights (2020-2025): 419,736 ·
On-time rate: 81.7%
Delay Cause Breakdown
Top delay cause: Late Aircraft.
Total delay minutes2,397,275 min
Late Aircraft1,056,477 min · 44%
Carrier788,849 min · 33%
NAS (National Aviation System)438,650 min · 18%
Weather110,534 min · 5%
Security2,765 min · 0%
Source: U.S. DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, On-Time Performance
SAT - seasonal on-time pattern
Best: September (93.6%) · worst: June (89.5%)
SAT - on-time rate by year
2020–2025, year-over-year trend.
SAT - taxi-out and taxi-in (monthly)
Average taxi-out 13 min · taxi-in 4.8 min over the last 24 reported months (U.S. airport mean taxi-out ≈ 16.4 min).
SAT's average taxi-out (13 min) stays shorter than the recent U.S. airport mean (~16.4 min). Even the heaviest month (July 2024, 13.9 min) is milder than many hubs' typical book.
Two PlainFlights-derived comparison paths for San Antonio, TX, both outside Texas so the neighborhoods are not same-state geography. Axes stay disjoint: volume peers exclude the on-time peer set. Same-state compare stays below.
The standout signal at San Antonio, TX is the delay mix: Late Aircraft owns 44.1% of 2,397,275 delay minutes across 419,736 BTS flights. The on-time headline is 81.7% (2.7 pts above the 79% national average), with 76,925 delayed and 4,599 cancelled (1.10%).
Delay minutes concentrate in Late Aircraft (44.1% late-aircraft, 32.9% carrier, 18.3% NAS, 4.6% weather, 0.1% security). As a busy airport, that mix matters more for connection planning than for a thin schedule.
On the multi-year calendar, SAT is strongest in September (93.6% on-time) and weakest in June (89.5%), a 4.1-point swing. Volume peaks in October (~6,180 flights/month). The busiest connecting route is to DFW (Dallas/Fort Worth) at 78.9% on-time. Field definitions: on-time performance explained.
San Antonio, TX vs. the national on-time distribution
On-time rate among all 382 tracked U.S. airports
81.7%Top 70%higher than 30% of 382 airports
San Antonio, TX
60%95%
U.S. airports by on-time rate, bucketed by value
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more airports. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
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.
SAT's on-time book sits in the slower half of the BTS set; check the delay mix and the worst month before treating the headline as typical.
Check the busiest route from SAT before you book a connection. See top routes →
Travel in September rather than June if your dates are flexible. Seasonal patterns →
Gate-to-wheels taxi-out averages 13 min here; check the monthly series before a tight connection. Taxi times →
On-time rate reflects the BTS historical average across all reporting carriers at this airport, not any single flight or airline.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is San Antonio, TX's on-time rate?
San Antonio, TX (SAT) has a 81.7% on-time rate across 419,736 BTS-tracked flights (2020-2025), 2.7 pts above the 79% national flight-weighted average; that places it in roughly the below-median on-time performance.
How does SAT rank among U.S. airports by traffic volume?
San Antonio, TX ranks #49 of 382 tracked US airports by total BTS flights (most flights = #1), making it a high-volume U.S. airport.
What's the most common cause of delays at San Antonio, TX?
Late Aircraft is the leading delay cause at SAT, accounting for 44.1% of delay minutes. The full breakdown: 44.1% late-aircraft, 32.9% carrier, 18.3% NAS/air-traffic-control, 4.6% weather, and 0.1% security.
When is the best time to fly through San Antonio, TX?
September is historically SAT's strongest month at 93.6% on-time, while June is the weakest at 89.5%, a 4.1-point swing across the BTS historical record.