Minneapolis to Grand Forks

What the Data Says About MSP to GFK

The Minneapolis to Grand Forks corridor (MSP → GFK) covers roughly 284 miles and is served by 6 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 6,151 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 86.8% on-time rate with an average delay of 91.0 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 2,051 flights were recorded on this pairing — 17 cancelled (0.8%) and 3 diverted (0.1%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 6 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 6,151 total flights analyzed, the 86.8% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 91.0-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, Oct 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 97% on-time, while Jun 2024 came in at 57% on-time — a 40-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the MSP to GFK route, the combination of a 86.8% on-time rate, 91.0-minute average delay, 0.8% recent cancellation rate, and 6 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.