How Did U.S. Flights Do Under Every DHS Secretary?
We pulled 121M+ BTS flight records across 50 airports and 6 DHS Secretaries to find out. Here's what the data says.
78.3%
avg on-time rate
137,360
flights cancelled
70.7m
avg delay when late
2014-01 – 2026-02 · 50 airports · Bureau of Transportation Statistics
By the numbers
- —Tenure on-time rate: 76.8% (lowest of 6 DHS secretaries excl. COVID)
- —137,360 flights cancelled across 50 airports
- —Cancellation rate: 1.99% (highest non-COVID tenure)
- —Average delay when late: 70.7 minutes
- —Tenure: Jan 2025 – Mar 2026 (13 months)
- —Data source: BTS Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance
The big picture: 12 years of U.S. flight performance
Monthly on-time rate across 50 major airports, colored by DHS Secretary. Dashed line = pre-Noem average (excl. COVID).
The red bars on the far right are Noem's tenure.
Secretary-by-secretary comparison
Average on-time rate by DHS Secretary tenure. Chad Wolf's COVID-era numbers are inflated by reduced flight volume.
Chad Wolf
14 mo · 9.2M flights
Kirstjen Nielsen
16 mo · 14.9M flights
Jeh Johnson
36 mo · 28.0M flights
John Kelly
6 mo · 4.6M flights
Alejandro Mayorkas
47 mo · 41.1M flights
Kristi Noem
14 mo · 11.8M flights
| Secretary | Months | On-time | Cancel | Flights |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Chad Wolf | 14 | 91.1% | 5.27% | 9.2M |
Kirstjen Nielsen | 16 | 81.8% | 1.65% | 14.9M |
Jeh Johnson | 36 | 81.6% | 1.50% | 28.0M |
John Kelly | 6 | 80.8% | 1.36% | 4.6M |
Alejandro Mayorkas | 47 | 80.7% | 1.85% | 41.1M |
Kristi Noem | 14 | 78.3% | 1.50% | 11.8M |
Noem's tenure month by month
Tenure average: 78.3%. Dashed line = prior secretaries' average.
Timeline
Key events during Noem's tenure alongside on-time rate data.
Sources: BTS, NPR, Federal News Network, ProPublica, TSA.gov
137,360 flights cancelled
Red bars = months above the prior-secretary average of ~14K/month.
When flights were late, how late were they?
Average delay for late arrivals. Prior-secretary avg: 63.4 min.
Why were flights delayed?
Top delay cause by airport-month. Noem era vs. pre-Noem average (excl. COVID).
Full source data
Every number in this report comes from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Monthly data across 50 major U.S. airports.
| Month | Flights | On-Time | Cancel % | Cancelled | Avg Delay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan '25 | 848,581 | 82.8% | 3% | 25,466 | 68.7 min |
| Feb '25 | 792,739 | 80.9% | 1.27% | 10,036 | 69.4 min |
| Mar '25 | 941,594 | 81.7% | 0.98% | 9,196 | 71.5 min |
| Apr '25 | 917,796 | 81.8% | 0.71% | 6,548 | 67.8 min |
| May '25 | 949,725 | 77.5% | 0.97% | 9,249 | 70.8 min |
| Jun '25 | 950,260 | 73.2% | 1.53% | 14,503 | 75.5 min |
| Jul '25 | 978,768 | 72.2% | 2.52% | 24,636 | 80.6 min |
| Aug '25 | 935,317 | 78.9% | 0.94% | 8,822 | 71.4 min |
| Sep '25 | 881,216 | 84.3% | 0.47% | 4,117 | 66.3 min |
| Oct '25 | 949,309 | 80.4% | 0.54% | 5,099 | 64.1 min |
| Nov '25 | 894,807 | 80.3% | 2.2% | 19,688 | 71.8 min |
| Total / Avg | 10,040,112 | 79.5% | 1.38% | 137,360 | 70.7 min |
Methodology
All flight performance data comes from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) — 121M+ flights across 50 major U.S. airports, 2014-01 – 2026-02. “On-time” = arrived within 15 minutes of schedule (FAA standard).
Secretary comparisons use equal-weight monthly averages to avoid seasonal bias. COVID months (March 2020 – June 2021) are excluded from baseline calculations.
Correlation ≠ causation. Flight delays are driven by weather, airline ops, ATC staffing, and seasonal demand. The DHS Secretary does not directly control airline on-time performance. This report presents data by tenure for comparison, not causation.
Sources: BTS · BTS Air Travel Consumer Reports (2014–2025) · ProPublica · Federal News Network · Fortune · TSA.gov · NPR