Knoxville, TN

What the Data Says About TYS

Knoxville, TN in Knoxville, Tennessee handled 157,494 flights in the Bureau of Transportation Statistics dataset between 2020 and 2025, posting a 81.9% on-time departure rate. Of those flights, 28,457 experienced delays, 1,788 were cancelled, and 229 were diverted. The cancellation rate works out to 1.14%, the diversion rate to 0.15%, and the average delay when departures run late is 82.6 minutes. These figures are the baseline for comparing TYS against other airports in the same state and nationally.

Breaking down what drives delays at TYS, Late Aircraft leads the pack. Late Aircraft accounts for 39.2% of total delay minutes, followed by Carrier at 35.9% and NAS (National Aviation System) at 17.3%. Weather contributes 7.5% 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, April runs the cleanest at TYS with a 93.9% on-time rate, while July is the roughest at 90.1% — a 4-point swing between best and worst month. Volume peaks in October, when average flights hit 2,422. The busiest route from TYS is to TYS (Knoxville), with 14,336 flights at a 86.7% on-time rate. Combine these numbers — 81.9% on-time, 82.6-minute average delay, 1.14% cancellation rate — and you have a concrete picture of departure reliability at Knoxville, TN.