Cincinnati to Minneapolis

What the Data Says About CVG to MSP

The Cincinnati to Minneapolis corridor (CVG → MSP) covers roughly 596 miles and is served by 13 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 7,861 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 88.7% on-time rate with an average delay of 79.5 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 2,346 flights were recorded on this pairing — 22 cancelled (0.9%) and 2 diverted (0.1%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 13 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 7,861 total flights analyzed, the 88.7% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 79.5-minute average delay applies only to flights that actually ran late, so it is not the average wait across all departures — the majority of flights on this route depart on time under the BTS definition of a delay (15+ minutes past schedule).

Looking at recent months, Dec 2023 posted the best performance on this corridor at 94% on-time, while Dec 2025 came in at 58% on-time — a 35-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the CVG to MSP route, the combination of a 88.7% on-time rate, 79.5-minute average delay, 0.9% recent cancellation rate, and 13 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.