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State · DE · 2020–2025 BTS data

Delaware

According to the U.S. DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, flights at Delaware's 1 airports run behind the national average on reliability, across 330 flight operations. Its busiest airport is Wilmington, DE (ILG).

Data updated 2026-06-13

69.1%
On-time
-9.9 pts
vs US avg
70 min
Delay when late
2.12%
Cancelled
Delaware - all airports - flight delay tier distribution Stacked horizontal bar showing what percent of Delaware - all airports flights fell into each Bureau of Transportation Statistics delay tier: on-time (under 15 minutes late), delayed (15-60 minutes), heavily delayed (60-120 minutes), severe (120+ minutes), and cancelled. Delaware - all airports Flight delay tiers · BTS On-Time Performance methodology 69.1% 30.9% 0% 100% On time <15m · 69.1% Delayed 15–60m · 30.9% Cancelled cnx · 2.1%
Tiers follow Bureau of Transportation Statistics On-Time Performance definitions, a flight is on-time if it arrives less than 15 minutes after schedule.

Key Performance Metrics

Airports

1

Total Flights

330

Best Airport

ILG 69.1%

Busiest Airport

ILG 330

Cancelled

7

Airports in Delaware

Code Airport City Flights On-Time Avg Delay (when late)
ILG Wilmington, DE Wilmington 330 69.1% 70.4 min

Monthly Trends

Recent 24 months of statewide flight data.

Period Departures Arrivals Dep Delayed Arr Delayed Cancelled
Jun 2022 1 1 1 1 0
May 2022 8 8 0 0 2
Apr 2022 13 13 9 7 1
Mar 2022 8 8 5 5 1
Feb 2022 8 8 3 2 0
Jan 2022 9 9 3 2 1
Dec 2021 9 9 5 5 1
Nov 2021 8 8 4 4 0
Oct 2021 11 11 3 2 0
Sep 2021 8 8 3 2 0
Aug 2021 12 12 3 0 1
Jul 2021 12 12 6 6 0
Jun 2021 12 12 5 3 0
May 2021 12 12 2 2 0
Apr 2021 14 14 3 1 0
Mar 2021 12 12 1 1 0
Feb 2021 8 8 2 1 0

What the Data Says About Flying in Delaware

Delaware (DE) has 1 airport tracked in the Bureau of Transportation Statistics on-time performance dataset, which together handled 330 flights. Across those flights, the statewide on-time rate comes in at 69.1%, with 7 cancellations producing a 2.12% cancellation rate. The average delay when a flight runs late is 70.4 minutes. Together these numbers are the most useful summary of what air travel through Delaware airports looks like in aggregate, and they provide the baseline for comparing individual airports against each other and against national averages.

The busiest airport in Delaware is Wilmington, DE (ILG) in Wilmington, which handled 330 flights at a 69.1% on-time rate and an average delay of 70.4 minutes. That airport is also the most reliable in the state with a 69.1% on-time rate. Performance can differ sharply between a state's biggest hub and its smaller airports, so airport-level pages are the right place to dig into specifics.

Why the spread? Delays in Delaware - as everywhere in the BTS dataset, break down into five categories: late-arriving aircraft, carrier issues like maintenance and crew, National Aviation System constraints such as air traffic control and airspace congestion, weather, and security. The relative mix changes by airport and season: a small regional airport may see weather dominate, while a major hub tends to lean on late-aircraft and NAS delays. For travelers choosing flights through Delaware, the combination of a 69.1% statewide on-time rate, 70.4-minute average delay when late, and 2.12% cancellation rate is the concrete benchmark to weigh against specific airports and carriers.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many airports are in Delaware?
Delaware has 1 airports tracked by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. The busiest is Wilmington, DE (ILG) with 330 flights.
What is the on-time flight performance in Delaware?
Flights in Delaware have an overall on-time rate of 69.1% across 330 total flights. When a flight is delayed, the average delay is 70.4 minutes.
Which airport in Delaware has the best on-time record?
Wilmington, DE (ILG) has the highest on-time rate in Delaware at 69.1% across 330 flights.
What is the cancellation rate in Delaware?
Delaware has a cancellation rate of 2.12%, based on 7 cancelled flights out of 330 total flights.
What causes flight delays in Delaware?
Flight delays in Delaware are caused by late-arriving aircraft, carrier issues (maintenance, crew), National Aviation System constraints (air traffic control, airspace), weather, and security. The specific mix varies by airport and season.

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Data Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), On-Time Performance Data. Statistics reflect cumulative performance across all available reporting periods. On-time rates exclude cancelled and diverted flights.

Using Delaware's data

A state-level average blends every airport in it; check the specific airport you're flying.

  • Wilmington, DE (ILG) is the most reliable airport in Delaware among those with meaningful traffic. ILG profile
  • Wilmington, DE handles the most traffic in the state; its performance weighs heavily on the state average. ILG profile
  • See how Delaware compares with every other state that has BTS-tracked airports. All states

State averages are flight-weighted across all reporting airports in the state; a single busy airport can dominate the figure.

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 Editorial

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. This page aggregates every in-state airport's on-time performance and a 24-month delay trend, live from the dataset. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.