Minneapolis to Rapid City

What the Data Says About MSP to RAP

The Minneapolis to Rapid City corridor (MSP → RAP) covers roughly 489 miles and is served by 9 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 5,931 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 88.8% on-time rate with an average delay of 81.3 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 2,066 flights were recorded on this pairing — 17 cancelled (0.8%) and 11 diverted (0.5%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 9 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 5,931 total flights analyzed, the 88.8% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 81.3-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, Feb 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 96% on-time, while Jun 2024 came in at 60% on-time — a 37-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the MSP to RAP route, the combination of a 88.8% on-time rate, 81.3-minute average delay, 0.8% recent cancellation rate, and 9 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.