TUS Airport: 84.3% on time, worst at 3 PM

TUS right now

Live conditions where a permitted source publishes them, and the historical record where none does.

No disruption reported

Aviation weather is not currently a factor.

Aviation weatherVFR

64°F · wind 8 kt

Minimal operational impact. Conditions are not a notable factor for operations right now.

Updated 07:53 UTC

Forecast issued 08:05Z.

Updated 08:05 UTC

Aircraft seen now

On the field0

Airborne within 15 NM0

Departed in the last hour0

Arrived in the last hour0

Below 10,000 ft, so aircraft overflying at cruise are not counted. These are observations, not an operational status: a count is a floor, since receiver coverage varies and a movement between two samples can be missed.

Updated 08:22 UTC

Aircraft observations from ADSB.lol (opens in a new tab) (Katia Esposito and contributing feeders), under the ODbL 1.0 (opens in a new tab). Derived data.

Parking

Daily121 free / 867

Economy979 free / 2,000

Economy Covered75 free / 295

Garage143 free / 590

Hourly139 free / 455

Updated 08:42 UTC

FlyerIntel shows live values only where a permitted source provides them. Sections without data are left empty rather than estimated.

Airport reliability

Departures from TUS, July 2023 – July 2026.

Airport Reliability Score

76/ 100Strong

Better than 87% of major US airports covered by FlyerIntel (64 compared)

Calculated from 59,292 flights. How this is calculated

Departures arriving on time

84.3%

49,488 of 58,730 completed

Cancellation rate

0.76%

449 cancelled

Median arrival delay

-8 min

Average 3.6 min

Severe delays

5.7%

Arrived 60+ minutes late

Delay when late

76 min

Average, when 15+ min late

Departures analyzed

59,292

59,301 arrivals

Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026

What stands out

How this airport compares to others like it, not just to itself.

This airport holds up about the same all year, a steadier seasonal pattern than 96% of 306 comparable airports.

87.4% on time in its best month (September) against 79.6% in its worst (June).

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · Ranked against every other airport with the same kind of figure and at least 306 in the comparison.

Why flights run late at TUS

Where US DOT attributed the delay minutes on departures from TUS.

The airline38.0%

crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control

Late-arriving aircraft35.1%

the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late

Air traffic control19.5%

airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control

Weather7.2%

weather severe enough to stop this flight specifically

Security0.2%

screening or terminal security incidents

Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for departures from TUS. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.

Of the 8,570 departures from TUS that left 15 or more minutes late and have a known inbound aircraft, 66% followed a flight that landed 15 or more minutes late. The other 34% left late even though the aircraft had come in on time or early. Across the 64 covered airports that share runs from 47% to 73%, with a median of 62%; TUS’s is the 12th highest.

The late flight is the one the same aircraft flew into TUS just before, found from the tail number in the DOT file. Airlines and hours differ from one airport to the next, so this describes the departures from TUS and does not rate the airport.

An airport is only partly the author of its own delays. Late-arriving aircraft describes the national schedule arriving here more than anything about this airfield. Air traffic control covers airspace and airport capacity, which is where a congested airport shows up; only the airline category sits squarely inside the carriers’ own operation. How differently they run it is further down this page.

Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026

What weather costs at TUS

Departures from TUS by the weather at the airport in the hour they were scheduled to leave, July 2023 – July 2026.

1.9% of scheduled departures from TUS left in an hour of bad weather. 0.5% of them were cancelled, against 0.8% in normal conditions, and 67.9% of the ones that flew arrived on time, against 84.6%.

By weather

Scheduled departures, July 2023 – July 2026

Cancellation and on-time rates at TUS by the weather at the airport in the scheduled departure hour
Weather at the airport	Departures	Cancelled	Left on time	Arrived on time	Avg. departure delay
Normal conditionsVFR with no thunderstorm, snow or ice, fog, heavy rain or high wind	57,73997.5% of all	0.8%	84.5%	84.6%	8.3 min
Any bad weatherIFR or LIFR, or a thunderstorm, snow or ice, fog, heavy rain or high wind	1,1511.9% of all	0.5%	70.1%	67.9%16.7 points below normal	19.6 min
MVFRceiling 1,000 to 3,000 feet or visibility 3 to 5 miles	3420.6% of all	0.6%	76.2%	74.0%10.6 points below normal	14.3 min
IFRceiling 500 to 999 feet or visibility 1 to under 3 miles	1790.3% of all	0.0%	63.7%	61.5%23.1 points below normal	25.2 min
Thunderstorma thunderstorm reported at the airport	3790.6% of all	0.5%	55.6%	51.7%32.9 points below normal	32.7 min
Heavy rainheavy rain reported at the airport	1710.3% of all	1.2%1.5 times normal	48.2%	46.2%38.4 points below normal	36.7 min
High windwind of 25 knots or more, or gusts of 30 knots or more	7311.2% of all	0.4%	73.2%	70.8%13.8 points below normal	18.4 min
Low visibilityvisibility under 3 miles	2190.4% of all	0.5%	58.9%	57.8%26.8 points below normal	28.5 min

A departure is counted in every row its hour fits, so the rows overlap and do not add up. Left on time is a departure under 15 minutes late, and arrived on time an arrival under 15 minutes late; cancelled is the share of scheduled departures. Rows with fewer than 120 departures are not scored. Too few departures to score: LIFR (64), low ceiling (42).

This is the weather reported at TUS in the hour a flight was scheduled to leave. It leaves out the weather at the destination and on the way, weather that arrived after the scheduled time, and anything else that goes wrong in a bad hour. An hour takes the worst conditions any report in it gave. Weather was matched to 99.9% of the airport’s scheduled departures; the rest left in hours with no report, or at a scheduled time the flight records cannot place exactly. Bad-weather hours are compared with normal hours at the same airport, not with what the same flights would have done in a clear sky: they also fall more often in some seasons and at some times of day.

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS flight records and Iowa Environmental Mesonet weather reports · July 2023 – July 2026 · Where the weather comes from, and its limits. All covered airports side by side: What Weather Costs Each Airport.

Turning aircraft around at TUS

Time on the ground between one flight and the next of the same aircraft at TUS, and what a late arrival does to the next departure, July 2023 – July 2026.

The median turn at TUS is scheduled for 45 minutes on the ground and takes 48 minutes, against 56 minutes and 63 minutes across all airports. Aircraft are given less time on the ground here than at the typical airport. The typical turn runs 3 minutes over its schedule, closer to it than the 7 minutes across all airports.

When the aircraft landed 15 or more minutes late (6,564 turns here, 54 minutes late on average), 69% of the turns were finished in no more than the scheduled ground time, against 68% across all airports. 80% of those flights left 15 or more minutes late, against 72%. After an aircraft that landed on time, 7% did (all airports 11%).

Given the turn lengths scheduled here, the network’s rates would give 57% finished in the schedule and 83% leaving late. TUS does better on both counts: more late turns are finished in the schedule and fewer late aircraft become late departures, so the turn recovers lateness here beyond what the schedule explains. 45% of its late-inbound turns had a scheduled turn of 30 to 44 minutes, against 20% across all airports.

Turns at TUS against all airports

38,714 turns, July 2023 – July 2026

Aircraft turns at TUS against all airports: scheduled and actual time on the ground and what a late inbound aircraft does
Measure	TUS	All airports	All airports, same turn lengths
Median scheduled turn	45 min	56 min	—
Median actual turn	48 min	63 min	—
Turns that began with an aircraft 15+ minutes late	17%	19%	—
Late turns finished within the schedule	69%	68%	57%
Late inbound that left 15+ minutes late	80%	72%	83%
On-time inbound that left 15+ minutes late	7%	11%	—

The last column is the network’s rate at the turn lengths scheduled at TUS, band by band from under 30 minutes to 3 to 6 hours. A turn finishes within the schedule when the aircraft spent no more time on the ground than the schedule gave it.

A turn pairs an aircraft’s landing at TUS with its next departure from it by tail number; the aircraft is never named. These 38,714 turns are 65% of the flights that left TUS in the period; the rest are an aircraft’s first flight after a long stay, flights without a usable inbound, and cancelled flights. Ground time runs from the gate. Turns under 30 minutes are kept, but most leave late even after an on-time landing. Airlines set their own turn schedules, so this describes the airlines that fly at TUS and does not rate the airport.

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS flight records · July 2023 – July 2026 · Airports side by side: Where a Late Aircraft Gets Its Time Back.

What sets TUS apart

Where TUS’s hours, months, airlines and taxi time differ most from the other airports, July 2023 – July 2026.

Flights scheduled to leave TUS at 9 PM arrive on time 87.8% of the time, 16.6 points better than the 71.2% for that hour at the other airports.

July treats TUS better than it treats the rest of the country: 81.1% on time against 70.1% elsewhere, 11 points ahead.

Delta Air Lines does better out of TUS than anywhere else it flies: 90.0% on time here, 82.1% on its other departures, 7.9 points apart.

Taxi-out at TUS averages 15.4 minutes, 3.3 minutes less than the 18.7 minutes elsewhere.

TUS against the other airports

July 2023 – July 2026

Where TUS differs most from the other covered airports, with the flights behind each figure
Measure	TUS	Elsewhere	Gap	Flights behind it
Hour: 9 PM departures	87.8%	71.2%	+16.6 pts	229 here, 684,082 elsewhere
Month: July	81.1%	70.1%	+11.0 pts	5,433 here, 1,981,050 elsewhere
Airline: Delta Air Lines	90.0%	82.1%	+7.9 pts	3,528 here, 3,098,597 elsewhere
Taxi-out: Departures	15.4 min	18.7 min	−3.3 min	58,855 here, 17,571,254 elsewhere

"Elsewhere" is every other covered airport together, taken from the same aggregates as this page with TUS’s own flights removed (for airlines, that airline’s flights from all its other airports). Hours, months and airlines appear only where both sides have at least 120 completed flights (airlines 500) and the gap is at least 2 points and 2 standard errors; only the largest gap in each direction is shown. The taxi figure is weighted by departures and has no error estimate, so it appears from 2 minutes.

Best time to fly from TUS

On-time arrival rate by scheduled local departure time: each weekday and hour, and averaged over the week.

Flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 90.9% of the time, against 74.9% for 6–9 PM departures — a gap of 16.0 percentage points.

By day and hour

On-time arrival rate for each weekday and scheduled departure hour, in local time.

Tuesday 6–7 AM was the most reliable slot at TUS (94.2% on time, 998 flights) and Sunday 4–5 PM the least (71.1%, 504 flights).

Hour of departure matters more than day of the week: hourly averages sit a typical 6.3 points from the airport-wide rate, weekday averages 1.6 points.

On-time arrival rate at TUS by weekday and scheduled departure hour, local time. Each button reads out one slot.
Hour	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
5 AM–6 AM
6 AM–7 AM
7 AM–8 AM
8 AM–9 AM
9 AM–10 AM
10 AM–11 AM
11 AM–12 PM
12 PM–1 PM
1 PM–2 PM
2 PM–3 PM
3 PM–4 PM
4 PM–5 PM
5 PM–6 PM
6 PM–7 PM
7 PM–8 PM
8 PM–9 PM

On-time rate, % · stronger color, fewer on time

65–69
70–74
75–79
80–84
85–89
90–94
95–99

Fewer than 120 flights, not scored
Most reliable slot
Least reliable slot

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · On time is arrival within 15 minutes of schedule. Cells round to whole percentages; the table shows one decimal.

Best and worst slots are named only among slots with 500+ flights, and only when the gap is larger than sampling error. Departures before 5 AM and after 9 PM (304 flights) are not drawn: no slot in those hours has enough flights to score.

View as tableHide table

On-time arrival rate (%) with flights beneath, by scheduled departure hour and weekday at TUS. A dash means fewer than 120 flights, which are not scored.
Hour	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
5 AM–6 AM	91.8% on time467 flights	95.6% on time369 flights	93.4% on time372 flights	94.8% on time464 flights	93.6% on time464 flights	93.6% on time474 flights	95.0% on time428 flights
6 AM–7 AM	92.9% on time1,033 flights	94.2% on time998 flights	93.9% on time1,001 flights	93.4% on time1,036 flights	93.1% on time1,041 flights	92.0% on time1,037 flights	94.0% on time1,071 flights
7 AM–8 AM	90.3% on time930 flights	89.6% on time909 flights	90.4% on time906 flights	90.1% on time940 flights	88.8% on time932 flights	90.5% on time900 flights	89.1% on time948 flights
8 AM–9 AM	84.0% on time467 flights	85.5% on time502 flights	87.7% on time515 flights	83.9% on time474 flights	86.0% on time459 flights	84.5% on time435 flights	83.7% on time445 flights
9 AM–10 AM	85.9% on time408 flights	85.1% on time373 flights	82.8% on time382 flights	87.3% on time407 flights	81.8% on time401 flights	85.7% on time382 flights	86.9% on time398 flights
10 AM–11 AM	86.0% on time411 flights	89.4% on time408 flights	89.8% on time403 flights	84.1% on time417 flights	86.8% on time420 flights	82.3% on time385 flights	87.4% on time418 flights
11 AM–12 PM	86.9% on time692 flights	88.7% on time694 flights	87.5% on time694 flights	87.2% on time691 flights	84.5% on time693 flights	88.7% on time676 flights	83.7% on time695 flights
12 PM–1 PM	79.8% on time836 flights	87.8% on time796 flights	84.5% on time818 flights	82.8% on time842 flights	81.1% on time828 flights	85.7% on time814 flights	82.5% on time874 flights
1 PM–2 PM	79.1% on time755 flights	83.3% on time751 flights	81.4% on time756 flights	77.1% on time738 flights	78.6% on time753 flights	84.8% on time700 flights	81.5% on time735 flights
2 PM–3 PM	80.5% on time457 flights	79.0% on time462 flights	77.9% on time458 flights	78.3% on time447 flights	78.2% on time472 flights	82.2% on time413 flights	81.3% on time457 flights
3 PM–4 PM	65.8% on time453 flights	73.6% on time395 flights	75.2% on time390 flights	70.7% on time447 flights	68.5% on time435 flights	78.6% on time370 flights	71.0% on time414 flights
4 PM–5 PM	76.2% on time443 flights	79.6% on time386 flights	80.1% on time388 flights	74.1% on time452 flights	77.3% on time459 flights	76.8% on time361 flights	71.1% on time504 flights
5 PM–6 PM	76.8% on time610 flights	85.4% on time611 flights	84.4% on time613 flights	78.0% on time581 flights	77.4% on time607 flights	82.8% on time472 flights	77.1% on time587 flights
6 PM–7 PM	72.6% on time353 flights	85.1% on time297 flights	78.7% on time301 flights	70.6% on time353 flights	69.7% on time349 flights	81.1% on time240 flights	73.2% on time383 flights
7 PM–8 PM	70.5% on time255 flights	82.4% on time148 flights	78.7% on time156 flights	72.8% on time254 flights	71.7% on time257 flights	119 flights, too few to score	72.8% on time246 flights
8 PM–9 PM	105 flights, too few to score	51 flights, too few to score	62 flights, too few to score	117 flights, too few to score	114 flights, too few to score	62 flights, too few to score	66.3% on time161 flights

By departure window

All days combined

5–9 AM90.9%

9 AM–12 PM86.3%

12–3 PM81.6%

3–6 PM76.5%

6–9 PM74.9%

9 PM–5 AM88.6%

By departure hour

All days combined

12 AM

3 AM

6 AM

9 AM

12 PM

3 PM

6 PM

9 PM

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · Buckets with fewer than 120 flights are not scored.

What to expect at TUS

How busy the airport is through the day, from scheduled departure volume.

Departures a day

53

Average across the analysis period

Busiest hour

6 AM

About 6 departures

Typical taxi-out

15.4 min

Pushback to wheels-up, on departure

Typical taxi-in

4.7 min

Touchdown to gate, on arrival

Scheduled departures by hour

12 AM

3 AM

6 AM

9 AM

12 PM

3 PM

6 PM

9 PM

The busiest hour is 6 AM, with about 6 departures a day, against roughly 0 at 9 PM. That peak is also more punctual than a typical hour here: early banks fly aircraft that spent the night on the ground rather than ones inheriting the day’s delays.

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · Taxi-out runs from gate to wheels-up, averaged over departures and weighted by hour. Taxi-in runs from touchdown to gate.

Weekly and seasonal patterns

By day of week

Mon82.8%

Tue86.6%

Wed85.7%

Thu83.3%

Fri82.5%

Sat86.2%

Sun83.2%

Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Friday the least, a gap of 4.1 percentage points.

By month

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

June is historically the weakest month and September the strongest, a spread of 7.8 percentage points.

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026

Airlines at TUS

Departure performance by operating carrier. Regional flights are reported by the carrier that operated them, not by the mainline brand.

Airlines at TUS
Carrier	Departures	On time	Cancelled	Median delay
SkyWest Airlines OO	24,866	85.4%	0.34%	-9 min
Southwest Airlines WN	13,677	82.3%	0.44%	-7 min
American Airlines AA	9,831	81.1%	2.08%	-7 min
Delta Air Lines DL	3,581	90.0%	1.23%	-12 min
United Airlines UA	3,456	86.8%	0.84%	-9 min
Envoy Air MQ	1,914	87.0%	0.63%	-8 min
Alaska Airlines AS	1,653	82.5%	0.54%	-3 min

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · Carriers with fewer than 500 departures are not listed.

Routes from TUS

Ranked by FlyerIntel Route Reliability Score.

Most reliable

PHXPhoenix77

Least reliable

PHXPhoenix77

Busiest routes

Busiest routes from TUS
Destination	Flights	On time	Score
TUS → PHX Phoenix	10,156	84.9%	77

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · Only routes with at least 10,000 flights are ranked.

See all 2 routes to and from TUS →

Reliability over time

On-time arrival rate for departures, by month.

24

25

26

Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), departures from TUS arrived on time 83.6% of the time, against 85.6% in the 12 months before — declining by 2.0 percentage points.

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026

Data and sources

Historical statistics

Every historical figure on this page is calculated by FlyerIntel from US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics on-time performance records covering July 2023 – July 2026, comprising 59,292 departures from TUS. A flight counts as delayed when it arrives 15 or more minutes after schedule.

Full methodology · All data sources

Analysis last recomputed September 26, 2026

Embed this on your site

Tucson International Airport on-time performance, from FlyerIntel

Updates on its own as new data comes in — paste this once, nothing to maintain.

<a href="https://flyerintel.com/airports/tus/"><img src="https://flyerintel.com/badge/airport/tus/" alt="Tucson International Airport on-time performance, from FlyerIntel"></a>

Live conditions

Aviation weather comes from the NOAA Aviation Weather Center. Operational events come from the FAA where available. FlyerIntel shows the age of every live value and does not display data it cannot currently retrieve.

See something wrong? Report it

Latest observation for TUS: METAR KTUS 180753Z 11008KT 10SM BKN095 18/05 A3012 RMK AO2 SLP162 T01780050 $ (issued 07:53 UTC).