Salt Lake City to Missoula

What the Data Says About SLC to MSO

The Salt Lake City to Missoula corridor (SLC → MSO) covers roughly 436 miles and is served by 3 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 6,617 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 91% on-time rate with an average delay of 85.2 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 2,121 flights were recorded on this pairing — 16 cancelled (0.8%) and 9 diverted (0.4%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 3 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 6,617 total flights analyzed, the 91% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 85.2-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, Jun 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 98% on-time, while Jun 2025 came in at 79% on-time — a 19-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the SLC to MSO route, the combination of a 91% on-time rate, 85.2-minute average delay, 0.8% recent cancellation rate, and 3 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.