79% of flights leaving Omaha (OMA) arrived on time over the past 12 months, 3 points better than the national average of 76%. That ranks 22 of 76 large U.S. airports. About 73 flights leave OMA on a typical day; 1.5% were cancelled. 79% 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: 8 a.m. (89% on time). Worst: 7 p.m. (60%).
- Best month: September (86%). Worst: June (74%).
- Most reliable airline here: Delta Air Lines (82%), vs United Airlines at 78%.
- Biggest delay cause: late-arriving aircraft (37% of delay minutes).
- Year on year: getting worse (82% → 79%).
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 OMA: when a flight was late, it was under 45 minutes late 52% of the time. About 1 in 14 flights landed an hour or more late, and 1 in 60 three hours or more; 1.5% were cancelled outright.
- On time or early79%
- 15–30 min late6.6%
- 30–60 min late5.3%
- 1–2 hours late4.1%
- 2–3 hours late1.4%
- 3+ hours late1.7%
- Diverted0.3%
- Cancelled1.5%
Share of all 26,647 scheduled flights, past 12 months, by arrival time against schedule.
Best time of day to fly out of OMA
Time of day matters more at OMA than almost anything else you control. Flights scheduled to leave at 8 a.m. arrived on time 89% of the time; at 7 p.m. it was 60%, a 30-point gap. Taken together, early departures (5–9 a.m.) ran 89% on time against 68% 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 3.1% of the time, against 1.5% overall.
Hour × month
Combine the two and the spread is wider still. The most reliable combination at OMA was a 8 a.m. departure in October (96% on time); the least, 8 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
June is the hardest month at OMA, with 74% of flights on time across 2023–2026; September is the best at 86%. Summer (June–August) runs 11 points worse than autumn: heavy schedules, peak loads and afternoon thunderstorms. Winter costs 5 points against autumn. Cancellations peak in January (3.4% of flights).
Airlines at OMA
Southwest Airlines runs 30% of departures from OMA. Among airlines with at least 1,000 departures here, Delta Air Lines was the most reliable (82% on time) and United Airlines the least (78%), a 4-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 | 8,001 | 78% | 75% | 0.7% | −5 min |
| Delta Air Lines | 6,483 | 82% | 83% | 2.0% | −13 min |
| American Airlines | 5,790 | 79% | 79% | 2.3% | −9 min |
| United Airlines | 4,919 | 78% | 82% | 1.3% | −7 min |
| Allegiant Air | 641 | 75% | 77% | 0.6% | −5 min |
| Alaska Airlines | 505 | 87% | 89% | 0.6% | −9 min |
| Frontier Airlines | 308 | 69% | 68% | 0.7% | −8 min |
Why flights are late at OMA
Airlines report a cause for every flight that arrives 15 or more minutes late. At OMA, 37% of delay minutes came from late-arriving aircraft: the plane showed up late from its previous flight, so the delay started somewhere else. Next is the airlines themselves at 34%. That's why the first flight of the morning is the safest bet: it has no earlier flight to inherit a delay from. Of the 394 cancellations, 62% were blamed on weather.
The average taxi from gate to takeoff is 16 minutes, about typical for a large U.S. airport.
OMA vs nearby airports
| Airport | Distance | Departures | On time | Cancelled |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OMA Eppley Airfield | — | 26,647 | 79% | 1.5% |
| LNK Lincoln | 55 mi | 3,391 | 76% | 2.0% |
Month by month
Over the latest 12 months 79% of OMA departures were on time, against 82% in the 12 months before, a decline of 2 points. The best recent month was February 2026 (86%); the worst, June 2026 (74%).
Worst cancellation days
The worst single day in the past year was Sunday, Mar 15, 2026, when 51% of 76 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 15, 2026 | 76 | 51% | 34% |
| Nov 29, 2025 | 80 | 20% | 13% |
| Jan 25, 2026 | 69 | 19% | 54% |
| Mar 16, 2026 | 76 | 17% | 32% |
| Jan 26, 2026 | 69 | 16% | 57% |
| Jul 4, 2026 | 52 | 15% | 67% |
| Jan 24, 2026 | 54 | 13% | 35% |
| Jul 27, 2026 | 85 | 11% | 66% |
| Jul 28, 2026 | 78 | 10% | 58% |
| Mar 7, 2026 | 64 | 9% | 48% |
Last flights of the day
The last flight of the day is a different bet. Across routes from OMA, each airline's final departure was cancelled 2.1% of the time, against 1.4% for its earlier flights (1.5× 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. 1.9% of last flights landed 3+ hours late. The riskiest last flight out was Delta Air Lines to New York (12.8% cancelled).
| Last flight to | Airline | Leaves | Cancelled | 3h+ late | On time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LGA New York | Delta Air Lines | 5:00 p.m. | 12.8% | 1.0% | 62% |
| ORD Chicago | United Airlines | 6:40 p.m. | 3.0% | 5.5% | 61% |
| DFW Dallas | American Airlines | 7:46 p.m. | 4.1% | 4.1% | 67% |
| ORD Chicago | American Airlines | 7:44 p.m. | 6.6% | 0.5% | 62% |
| DTW Detroit | Delta Air Lines | 5:54 p.m. | 0.8% | 3.8% | 74% |
| CLT Charlotte | American Airlines | 5:04 p.m. | 1.7% | 2.2% | 77% |
| DEN Denver | Southwest Airlines | 7:15 p.m. | 0.3% | 3.3% | 59% |
| MSP Minneapolis | Delta Air Lines | 5:40 p.m. | 0.8% | 2.7% | 76% |
| LAS Las Vegas | Southwest Airlines | 7:55 p.m. | 0.8% | 2.5% | 69% |
| PHX Phoenix | American Airlines | 6:29 p.m. | 0.9% | 1.7% | 81% |
| ATL Atlanta | Delta Air Lines | 6:33 p.m. | 1.6% | 0.8% | 83% |
| IAH Houston | United Airlines | 2:58 p.m. | 0.8% | 1.6% | 78% |
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 OMA
- Book the earliest departure you can live with. At OMA the 8 a.m. flights do best.
- Traveling in June? 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 OMA; the one before it leaves you a backup.
- Delayed already? Most delays at OMA come from late-arriving aircraft. If your inbound plane is late, your flight will be too, whatever the board says.
Routes from OMA
Where you're going matters too. From OMA, the most reliable busy route was to Atlanta (ATL, 86% on time) and the least reliable to Chicago (ORD, 72%). 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 | 3,123 | 72% | 3.0% | −3 min |
| LGA New York | 1,092 | 72% | 7.0% | −11 min |
| BNA Nashville | 410 | 75% | 0.5% | 0 min |
| DFW Dallas | 1,557 | 75% | 2.8% | −7 min |
| DEN Denver | 3,325 | 75% | 0.5% | −5 min |
| DCA Washington | 645 | 77% | 1.6% | −8 min |
| DAL Dallas | 433 | 79% | 0.9% | −6 min |
| HOU Houston | 373 | 79% | 0.5% | −6 min |
| DTW Detroit | 1,180 | 80% | 0.7% | −12 min |
| MDW Chicago | 1,317 | 80% | 1.3% | −5 min |
| MCO Orlando | 372 | 81% | 0.8% | −7 min |
| MSP Minneapolis | 1,571 | 81% | 0.8% | −11 min |
| LAS Las Vegas | 1,132 | 81% | 0.5% | −7 min |
| PHX Phoenix | 2,015 | 82% | 0.5% | −6 min |
| CLT Charlotte | 1,003 | 83% | 1.5% | −14 min |
| ATL Atlanta | 1,786 | 86% | 1.6% | −16 min |
| IAH Houston | 1,035 | 86% | 0.7% | −12 min |
| LAX Los Angeles | 615 | 87% | 0.5% | −5 min |
| SEA Seattle | 505 | 87% | 0.6% | −9 min |
| STL St. Louis | 812 | 88% | 0.5% | −11 min |
| SLC Salt Lake City | 781 | 91% | 0.1% | −10 min |
Flights into OMA
Arriving rather than leaving? These are the routes into Eppley Airfield, least reliable first. The weakest is from Dallas (66% on time).
| From | Flights | On time | Cancelled |
|---|---|---|---|
| DFW Dallas | 1,558 | 66% | 2.6% |
| BNA Nashville | 410 | 67% | 0.7% |
| ORD Chicago | 3,120 | 67% | 2.4% |
| LGA New York | 1,090 | 68% | 7.8% |
| DCA Washington | 645 | 68% | 2.2% |
| DAL Dallas | 434 | 69% | 0.9% |
| MCO Orlando | 373 | 73% | 1.3% |
| MDW Chicago | 1,316 | 74% | 1.1% |
| DTW Detroit | 1,180 | 74% | 0.7% |
| MSP Minneapolis | 1,571 | 75% | 0.9% |
| LAS Las Vegas | 1,132 | 75% | 0.4% |
| STL St. Louis | 811 | 76% | 0.1% |
| PHX Phoenix | 2,014 | 76% | 0.4% |
| DEN Denver | 3,326 | 77% | 0.3% |
| CLT Charlotte | 1,003 | 77% | 1.6% |
| ATL Atlanta | 1,785 | 79% | 1.6% |
| IAH Houston | 1,037 | 80% | 0.4% |
| LAX Los Angeles | 618 | 83% | 0.7% |
| SEA Seattle | 505 | 83% | 0.2% |
| HOU Houston | 374 | 89% | 0.3% |
| SLC Salt Lake City | 780 | 89% | 0.1% |
Questions about OMA delays
What is the best time to fly out of OMA?
Flights scheduled at 8 a.m.: over the past year 89% of OMA departures at that hour arrived on time, against 60% at 7 p.m., the worst hour.
What month has the most flight delays at OMA?
June (74% on time). September is the best month (86%).
Which airline is most on time at OMA?
Delta Air Lines: 82% of its OMA departures arrived on time over the past year. United Airlines had the weakest record at 78%.
Why are flights delayed at OMA?
The biggest cause was late-arriving aircraft (37% of delay minutes): the plane showed up late from its previous flight, so the delay started somewhere else. Then the airlines themselves (34%).
How often are flights cancelled at OMA?
1.5% of scheduled departures over the past 12 months, peaking in January at 3.4%.
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.