According to PlainFlights' airport traffic ranking (BTS On-Time Performance total flights), Louisville, KY (SDF) ranks #61 of 382 tracked US airports by total flights (most flights = #1). Louisville, KY posts below-median on-time performance among the 382 tracked U.S. airports, as a high-volume U.S. airport.
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SDF on-time rate vs. the national average
Ahead of the U.S. average across all 382 tracked airports.
Volume vs. on-time rate
Where Louisville, KY sits on volume vs. on-time rate
Among the 382 U.S. airports in the BTS corpus, Louisville, KY handles more flight
volume than 84% of them, and has a higher on-time rate than
43% 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.
Louisville, KY vs. a 29-airport national peer sample, volume percentile vs. on-time-rate percentile.
Total flights (2020-2025): 252,784 ·
On-time rate: 82.8%
Delay Cause Breakdown
Top delay cause: Carrier.
Total delay minutes1,631,141 min
Carrier621,589 min · 38%
Late Aircraft551,823 min · 34%
NAS (National Aviation System)352,016 min · 22%
Weather103,050 min · 6%
Security2,663 min · 0%
Source: U.S. DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, On-Time Performance
SDF - seasonal on-time pattern
Best: September (94%) · worst: July (89.7%)
SDF - on-time rate by year
2020–2025, year-over-year trend.
SDF - taxi-out and taxi-in (monthly)
Average taxi-out 16.4 min · taxi-in 7.3 min over the last 24 reported months (U.S. airport mean taxi-out ≈ 16.4 min).
SDF's average taxi-out (16.4 min) sits near the recent U.S. airport mean (~16.4 min). Month-to-month, it swings from 14.6 min (March 2024) to 21.9 min (February 2025).
Two PlainFlights-derived comparison paths for Louisville, KY, both outside Kentucky 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 Louisville, KY is the delay mix: Carrier owns 38.1% of 1,631,141 delay minutes across 252,784 BTS flights. The on-time headline is 82.8% (3.8 pts above the 79% national average), with 43,419 delayed and 3,127 cancelled (1.24%).
Delay minutes concentrate in Carrier (33.8% late-aircraft, 38.1% carrier, 21.6% NAS, 6.3% weather, 0.2% security). As a busy airport, that mix matters more for connection planning than for a thin schedule.
On the multi-year calendar, SDF is strongest in September (94% on-time) and weakest in July (89.7%), a 4.3-point swing. Volume peaks in July (~3,850 flights/month). The busiest connecting route is to ATL (Atlanta) at 89.5% on-time. Field definitions: on-time performance explained.
Louisville, KY vs. the national on-time distribution
On-time rate among all 382 tracked U.S. airports
82.8%Top 57%higher than 43% of 382 airports
Louisville, KY
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.
SDF's on-time book is mid-pack; month and delay-cause mix move more than the headline rate.
Check the busiest route from SDF before you book a connection. See top routes →
Travel in September rather than July if your dates are flexible. Seasonal patterns →
Gate-to-wheels taxi-out averages 16.4 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 Louisville, KY's on-time rate?
Louisville, KY (SDF) has a 82.8% on-time rate across 252,784 BTS-tracked flights (2020-2025), 3.8 pts above the 79% national flight-weighted average; that places it in roughly the below-median on-time performance.
How does SDF rank among U.S. airports by traffic volume?
Louisville, KY ranks #61 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 Louisville, KY?
Carrier is the leading delay cause at SDF, accounting for 38.1% of delay minutes. The full breakdown: 33.8% late-aircraft, 38.1% carrier, 21.6% NAS/air-traffic-control, 6.3% weather, and 0.2% security.
When is the best time to fly through Louisville, KY?
September is historically SDF's strongest month at 94% on-time, while July is the weakest at 89.7%, a 4.3-point swing across the BTS historical record.