Flights are breezy through Des Moines Airport

Haters can say what they want about our airport — but in comparison to the rest of the nation, DSM flights are more likely to be on time.

Driving the news: 87% of domestic flights from the Des Moines International Airport departed on time in November 2022, per the latest Bureau of Transportation Statistics data.

• That's compared to the national rate of 81%.

The big picture: At the national level, airlines performed admirably throughout the fall of 2022, with on-time departure rates at or above 80% between September and November.

• That's up significantly from last summer, when staff shortages and foul weather combined to muck up the complex, interconnected web that is the air travel system.

Zoom in: Across the cities with Axios Local newsrooms, the Washington, D.C. area's Dulles International Airport had the best on-time performance in November 2022, at 88%.

• Denver — where brutal storms tend to snarl wintertime operations — had the lowest, at 76%.

Yes, but: This dataset doesn't include last December's meltdown at Southwest Airlines, which led to thousands of cancellations and delays at that particular carrier nationwide.

Be smart: Because airlines' systems and routes are so interconnected, problems at one airport or in one region tend to cascade across the country.

The bottom line: Sure, there's only a couple coffee options at DSM and the chargers don't always work, but what other airport can you comfortably get through in 30 minutes?

Editor's note: This story has been updated to remove a reference to the number of cities with Axios Local newsrooms.