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Airport · VEL · Vernal, Utah

Vernal, UT

According to PlainFlights' airport traffic ranking (BTS On-Time Performance total flights), Vernal, UT (VEL) ranks #329 of 382 tracked US airports by total flights (most flights = #1). Vernal, UT posts top-quartile on-time performance among the 382 tracked U.S. airports, as a smaller regional airport.

Data updated 2026-06-13

86.8%
On-time
Top 17%
on-time, US airports
102 min
Delay when late
2.36%
Cancelled
#329 of 382
Corpus placement
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VEL on-time rate vs. the national average

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

0%100%U.S. average79%86.8%

Delay Cause Breakdown

Top delay cause: Carrier. Total delay minutes: 39,311.

Late Aircraft 30.3% (11,914 min)
Carrier 45.4% (17,860 min)
NAS (National Aviation System) 10.3% (4,037 min)
Weather 13.9% (5,483 min)
Security 0.0% (17 min)

VEL - seasonal on-time pattern

Best: May (96.7%) · worst: July (90.5%)

90%92%94%96%98% JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec 91.5%

VEL - on-time rate by year

2020–2024, year-over-year trend.

92%93%94%95%96% 20202021202220232024 94.5% 95.2% ▲ +0.7%

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

Average taxi-out 17.2 min · taxi-in 3.7 min over the last 24 reported months (U.S. airport mean taxi-out ≈ 16.4 min).

0 min10 min20 min30 min40 min Feb 22Jan 24 13.7 min 17.2 min ▲ +25.5%

VEL's average taxi-out (17.2 min) sits near the recent U.S. airport mean (~16.4 min). Month-to-month, it swings from 7.0 min (September 2022) to 31.8 min (November 2022).

Cancellation & Diversion Analysis

Flight disruption statistics for Vernal, UT.

Cancellation Rate

2.36%

113 of 4,784 flights

Diversion Rate

0.08%

4 of 4,784 flights

Delay Rate

13.2%

632 of 4,784 flights

Top Routes from VEL

Busiest routes to and from Vernal, UT.

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Route Flights On-Time Distance
DEN (Denver) → VEL (Vernal) 2,273 85.6% 259 mi
VEL (Vernal) → DEN (Denver) 2,273 85% 259 mi

Nationwide peers by on-time rate & flight volume

Two PlainFlights-derived comparison paths for Vernal, UT, both outside Utah 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: 86.8%).

Medford, OR

Medford, OR

86.8% on-time 67,186 flights

Yuma, AZ

Yuma, AZ

86.8% on-time 20,032 flights

Lihue, HI

Lihue, HI

86.7% on-time 162,570 flights

College Station/Bryan, TX

College Station/Bryan, TX

86.7% on-time 15,211 flights

Similar flight volume

Nearest out-of-state total flights (this airport: 4,784).

Newport News/Williamsburg, VA

Newport News/Williamsburg, VA

4,730 flights 88.1% on-time

Binghamton, NY

Binghamton, NY

4,852 flights 87.9% on-time

Pullman, WA

Pullman, WA

4,696 flights 86.6% on-time

Dickinson, ND

Dickinson, ND

4,996 flights 84% on-time

Other Airports in Utah

Compare performance with other Utah airports.

SLC 85.8%

Salt Lake City, UT

Salt Lake City · 1,319,985 flights
SGU 88%

St. George, UT

St. George · 39,026 flights
PVU 76.5%

Provo, UT

Provo · 20,217 flights
CDC 92%

Cedar City, UT

Cedar City · 7,071 flights
CNY 87.3%

Moab, UT

Moab · 5,341 flights
OGD 76.8%

Ogden, UT

Ogden · 457 flights

VEL delay-share reading

The standout signal at Vernal, UT is the delay mix: Carrier owns 45.4% of 39,311 delay minutes across 4,784 BTS flights. The on-time headline is 86.8% (7.8 pts above the 79% national average), with 632 delayed and 113 cancelled (2.36%).

Delay minutes concentrate in Carrier (30.3% late-aircraft, 45.4% carrier, 10.3% NAS, 13.9% weather, 0.0% security). As a quieter airport, a single late inbound can swing the month more than at a mega-hub.

On the multi-year calendar, VEL is strongest in May (96.7% on-time) and weakest in July (90.5%), a 6.2-point swing. Volume peaks in March (~107 flights/month). The busiest connecting route is to DEN (Denver) at 85.6% on-time. Field definitions: on-time performance explained.

Statewide aggregates for Utah: Utah flight data.

Data Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), On-Time Performance Data (2020–2024). 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 VEL's data

VEL's on-time book is stronger than most peers; the remaining risk sits in the delay mix, not a weak headline rate.

  • Check the busiest route from VEL before you book a connection. See top routes
  • Travel in May rather than July if your dates are flexible. Seasonal patterns
  • Gate-to-wheels taxi-out averages 17.2 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.

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.