76% of flights leaving Milwaukee (MKE) arrived on time over the past 12 months, right at the national average of 76%. That ranks 42 of 76 large U.S. airports. About 86 flights leave MKE on a typical day; 2.4% were cancelled. 78% pushed back from the gate on time, so most of the lateness is already there when the flight leaves the gate.
At a glance
- Best hour to fly: 5 a.m. (88% on time). Worst: 7 p.m. (60%).
- Best month: October (85%). Worst: January (73%).
- Most reliable airline here: Delta Air Lines (81%), vs American Airlines at 71%.
- Biggest delay cause: the airlines themselves (43% of delay minutes).
- Year on year: getting worse (80% → 76%).
How late?
The on-time rate treats a flight 20 minutes late the same as one 5 hours late. Here's the split for flights leaving MKE: when a flight was late, it was under 45 minutes late 53% of the time. About 1 in 13 flights landed an hour or more late, and 1 in 52 three hours or more; 2.4% were cancelled outright.
- On time or early76%
- 15–30 min late7.3%
- 30–60 min late5.9%
- 1–2 hours late4.3%
- 2–3 hours late1.6%
- 3+ hours late1.9%
- Diverted0.2%
- Cancelled2.4%
Share of all 31,523 scheduled flights, past 12 months, by arrival time against schedule.
Best time of day to fly out of MKE
Time of day matters more at MKE than almost anything else you control. Flights scheduled to leave at 5 a.m. arrived on time 88% of the time; at 7 p.m. it was 60%, a 27-point gap. Taken together, early departures (5–9 a.m.) ran 84% on time against 64% for the evening bank (5–10 p.m.). Early planes usually start the day at the airport, so they haven't had a chance to pick up delays elsewhere. By evening a late inbound aircraft, a crew running out of duty hours or an afternoon thunderstorm can push one late flight into the next. Cancellations cluster too: 7 p.m. departures were cancelled 5.2% of the time, against 2.4% overall.
Hour × month
Combine the two and the spread is wider still. The most reliable combination at MKE was a 5 a.m. departure in September (95% on time); the least, 6 p.m. in July (52%). If you can only move one thing, move the hour. Departure hour usually shifts the odds more than the month does.
Each cell: on-time rate for that departure hour in that calendar month, 2023–2026. Find your travel month, then look along the row for the greenest hour.
Best and worst months
January is the hardest month at MKE, with 73% of flights on time across 2023–2026; October is the best at 85%. Summer (June–August) runs 8 points worse than autumn: heavy schedules, peak loads and afternoon thunderstorms. Winter costs 6 points against autumn. Cancellations peak in January (4.3% of flights).
Airlines at MKE
Southwest Airlines runs 32% of departures from MKE. Among airlines with at least 1,000 departures here, Delta Air Lines was the most reliable (81% on time) and American Airlines the least (71%), a 10-point difference. On a route where both fly, that difference is worth more than a small fare gap.
| Airline | Departures | On time | Left on time | Cancelled | Typical arrival |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 10,080 | 79% | 78% | 0.9% | −5 min |
| Delta Air Lines | 8,201 | 81% | 81% | 2.5% | −13 min |
| American Airlines | 6,303 | 71% | 73% | 4.1% | −6 min |
| United Airlines | 5,857 | 72% | 77% | 3.2% | −5 min |
| Alaska Airlines | 509 | 80% | 85% | 0.4% | −5 min |
| Frontier Airlines | 319 | 73% | 71% | 2.2% | −11 min |
| JetBlue | 172 | 71% | 76% | 1.2% | −10 min |
Why flights are late at MKE
Airlines report a cause for every flight that arrives 15 or more minutes late. At MKE, 43% of delay minutes came from the airlines themselves: crew, maintenance, cleaning, fueling and baggage. Next is late-arriving aircraft at 29%. Of the 760 cancellations, 63% were blamed on weather.
The average taxi from gate to takeoff is 17 minutes, about typical for a large U.S. airport.
Month by month
Over the latest 12 months 76% of MKE departures were on time, against 80% in the 12 months before, a decline of 4 points. The best recent month was September 2025 (83%); the worst, December 2025 (69%).
Worst cancellation days
The worst single day in the past year was Monday, Mar 16, 2026, when 61% of 95 scheduled departures were cancelled. Days like that are usually a major storm, a system outage or a holiday peak hitting bad weather. No average predicts them, so on a stormy forecast, check your airline's travel waivers.
| Date | Departures | Cancelled | On time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 16, 2026 | 95 | 61% | 1% |
| Jan 25, 2026 | 77 | 35% | 14% |
| Nov 29, 2025 | 88 | 31% | 15% |
| Mar 15, 2026 | 93 | 27% | 45% |
| Jan 26, 2026 | 74 | 24% | 45% |
| Nov 10, 2025 | 88 | 22% | 52% |
| Mar 17, 2026 | 87 | 17% | 30% |
| Nov 9, 2025 | 89 | 17% | 34% |
| Mar 5, 2026 | 87 | 16% | 60% |
| Jan 27, 2026 | 70 | 16% | 60% |
Last flights of the day
The last flight of the day is a different bet. Across routes from MKE, each airline's final departure was cancelled 3.1% of the time, against 2.3% for its earlier flights (1.4× as often). Late in the day crews run short on duty hours, aircraft arrive late from elsewhere, and with no later flight to fold passengers into, cancelling is easier for the airline. 2.1% of last flights landed 3+ hours late. The riskiest last flight out was American Airlines to Chicago (8.2% cancelled).
| Last flight to | Airline | Leaves | Cancelled | 3h+ late | On time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD Chicago | American Airlines | 6:50 p.m. | 8.2% | 5.5% | 50% |
| LGA New York | Delta Air Lines | 5:54 p.m. | 10.3% | 1.7% | 66% |
| ORD Chicago | United Airlines | 7:23 p.m. | 7.4% | 4.4% | 46% |
| EWR Newark | United Airlines | 7:08 p.m. | 9.2% | 1.4% | 69% |
| DCA Washington | American Airlines | 12:49 p.m. | 4.7% | 5.7% | 58% |
| PHL Philadelphia | American Airlines | 6:00 p.m. | 8.0% | 2.3% | 67% |
| DFW Dallas | American Airlines | 6:21 p.m. | 4.4% | 3.6% | 68% |
| PHX Phoenix | American Airlines | 7:26 a.m. | 2.4% | 4.8% | 68% |
| BOS Boston | Delta Air Lines | 6:59 p.m. | 4.5% | 0.5% | 72% |
| DTW Detroit | Delta Air Lines | 6:48 p.m. | 1.9% | 3.0% | 73% |
| BWI Baltimore | Southwest Airlines | 5:25 p.m. | 1.9% | 2.5% | 70% |
| ATL Atlanta | Delta Air Lines | 6:40 p.m. | 2.7% | 1.4% | 82% |
Each airline's last scheduled departure of the day on a route, on days it flies the route at least twice; past 12 months. Riskiest first.
Tips for flying out of MKE
- Book the earliest departure you can live with. At MKE the 5 a.m. flights do best.
- Traveling in January? Leave extra slack for anything that can't move: cruises, weddings, the last connection of the day.
- Choosing between airlines? Delta Air Lines has the better record here.
- Need to arrive tonight? Don't book the last flight out of MKE; the one before it leaves you a backup.
- Delayed already? Most delays at MKE come from the airlines themselves. If your inbound plane is late, your flight will be too, whatever the board says.
Routes from MKE
Where you're going matters too. From MKE, the most reliable busy route was to Atlanta (ATL, 86% on time) and the least reliable to Chicago (ORD, 65%). Flights into congested airports inherit their delays: an air traffic program at the destination holds planes on the ground here.
Least reliable first. Routes with at least 365 flights a year.
| To | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Typical arrival |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD Chicago | 5,344 | 65% | 4.4% | −1 min |
| DCA Washington | 1,345 | 69% | 4.1% | −4 min |
| BOS Boston | 736 | 70% | 3.4% | −9 min |
| DFW Dallas | 1,079 | 73% | 3.2% | −7 min |
| PHL Philadelphia | 776 | 74% | 6.4% | −14 min |
| EWR Newark | 851 | 75% | 5.9% | −12 min |
| LGA New York | 1,326 | 75% | 6.3% | −12 min |
| MCO Orlando | 1,432 | 76% | 1.2% | −4 min |
| CLT Charlotte | 953 | 77% | 1.7% | −10 min |
| PHX Phoenix | 1,445 | 77% | 0.9% | −3 min |
| DEN Denver | 2,310 | 78% | 0.4% | −5 min |
| DTW Detroit | 1,631 | 79% | 1.3% | −9 min |
| RSW Fort Myers | 375 | 80% | 0.8% | −6 min |
| BNA Nashville | 976 | 80% | 1.1% | −4 min |
| LAS Las Vegas | 1,033 | 80% | 1.1% | −6 min |
| SEA Seattle | 509 | 80% | 0.4% | −5 min |
| TPA Tampa | 470 | 80% | 1.5% | −7 min |
| DAL Dallas | 396 | 81% | 0.0% | −8 min |
| MSP Minneapolis | 1,749 | 82% | 1.1% | −11 min |
| BWI Baltimore | 827 | 83% | 1.6% | −7 min |
| IAH Houston | 859 | 83% | 0.5% | −12 min |
| JFK New York | 365 | 86% | 3.8% | −19 min |
| ATL Atlanta | 2,264 | 86% | 2.0% | −16 min |
| STL St. Louis | 681 | 88% | 0.9% | −12 min |
Flights into MKE
Arriving rather than leaving? These are the routes into General Mitchell, least reliable first. The weakest is from Chicago (61% on time).
| From | Flights | On time | Cancelled |
|---|---|---|---|
| ORD Chicago | 5,344 | 61% | 4.7% |
| DFW Dallas | 1,079 | 66% | 3.3% |
| JFK New York | 365 | 69% | 5.2% |
| DAL Dallas | 397 | 69% | 1.3% |
| BNA Nashville | 974 | 70% | 0.9% |
| MCO Orlando | 1,431 | 71% | 1.2% |
| PHL Philadelphia | 776 | 71% | 6.1% |
| PHX Phoenix | 1,440 | 71% | 0.9% |
| TPA Tampa | 471 | 72% | 1.5% |
| DCA Washington | 1,346 | 72% | 5.3% |
| LAS Las Vegas | 1,032 | 72% | 0.9% |
| BWI Baltimore | 831 | 72% | 2.2% |
| CLT Charlotte | 952 | 73% | 1.5% |
| LGA New York | 1,326 | 74% | 6.0% |
| RSW Fort Myers | 375 | 74% | 1.1% |
| DTW Detroit | 1,631 | 76% | 1.2% |
| DEN Denver | 2,307 | 76% | 0.5% |
| EWR Newark | 852 | 78% | 6.5% |
| BOS Boston | 737 | 80% | 3.5% |
| MSP Minneapolis | 1,747 | 80% | 1.0% |
| IAH Houston | 859 | 81% | 0.5% |
| ATL Atlanta | 2,264 | 81% | 1.9% |
| STL St. Louis | 686 | 81% | 0.6% |
| SEA Seattle | 509 | 86% | 0.2% |
Questions about MKE delays
What is the best time to fly out of MKE?
Flights scheduled at 5 a.m.: over the past year 88% of MKE departures at that hour arrived on time, against 60% at 7 p.m., the worst hour.
What month has the most flight delays at MKE?
January (73% on time). October is the best month (85%).
Which airline is most on time at MKE?
Delta Air Lines: 81% of its MKE departures arrived on time over the past year. American Airlines had the weakest record at 71%.
Why are flights delayed at MKE?
The biggest cause was the airlines themselves (43% of delay minutes): crew, maintenance, cleaning, fueling and baggage. Then late-arriving aircraft (29%).
How often are flights cancelled at MKE?
2.4% of scheduled departures over the past 12 months, peaking in January at 4.3%.
Hours are scheduled local departure times. "On time" means arriving less than 15 minutes late at the destination; cancelled and diverted flights count as not on time. Method.