Which Flights Get Diverted Most Often in the US?

Rarely, overall — just 0.28% of flights on routes with meaningful traffic are diverted to a different airport than scheduled. But that risk is 15 to 20 times higher on flights into Aspen, Colorado (ASE): routes from Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, and Los Angeles into Aspen are diverted 4.5% to 5.6% of the time, the highest diversion rates of any route with regular service, based on 24 months of US DOT data.

Key takeaways

• National average diversion rate: 0.28% of flights, on routes with at least 500 flights a year
• Routes into Aspen (ASE) are diverted 4.5%–5.6% of the time — the riskiest routes in the country
• A diversion means the flight departed and landed, just not at the scheduled destination — it is a different outcome than a cancellation
• At the airline level, JetBlue has the highest diversion rate (0.4%) and Hawaiian the lowest (0.1%)

What counts as a flight diversion?

A diversion is a flight that took off as scheduled but landed at an airport other than its planned destination — typically because of weather, a mechanical issue, a medical emergency, or fuel considerations, with the aircraft usually continuing to the original destination once the issue clears. That makes it a different outcome from a cancellation, where the flight never departs at all, and from an ordinary delay, where the flight still lands where it was supposed to. FlightRecord's on-time rate is calculated on completed flights; cancellations and diversions are tracked separately rather than folded into the average delay figures.

Which routes get diverted most often?

• Chicago O'Hare → Aspen (ORD–ASE): 5.6% diverted, 57.4% on-time
• Dallas/Fort Worth → Aspen (DFW–ASE): 5.5% diverted, 68.2% on-time
• Houston Bush → Aspen (IAH–ASE): 4.9% diverted, 68.5% on-time
• Los Angeles → Aspen (LAX–ASE): 4.5% diverted, 70.6% on-time
• Las Vegas → Kahului, Maui (LAS–OGG): 3.9% diverted
• Las Vegas → Honolulu (LAS–HNL): 3.2% diverted

Every route in the top four is a flight into Aspen — a single-runway, high-elevation airport in mountainous terrain where marginal weather more often means diverting to a nearby airport such as Eagle County or Grand Junction rather than waiting it out. The Hawaii-bound routes from Las Vegas share a different constraint: long overwater legs with limited alternate airports if conditions at the destination turn marginal.

Does your airline affect diversion risk?

A little, though the spread is much smaller than between routes. Among major carriers, JetBlue has the highest overall diversion rate at 0.4% of flights, followed by United, Allegiant, Alaska, SkyWest, and American at 0.3% each. Hawaiian has the lowest at 0.1%, with Envoy, Southwest, and Delta at 0.2%. The route you're flying — especially whether it touches a mountain or island airport — matters far more than which airline operates it.

For diversions by specific route rather than by flight number, see which flight routes get diverted most often.

Frequently asked questions

What's the difference between a diverted and a cancelled flight?

A cancelled flight never departs. A diverted flight departs and lands, just at an airport other than the one scheduled — usually because of weather, a mechanical issue, or an emergency, with the aircraft typically continuing to the original destination afterward.

Do diverted flights count against a route's on-time rate?

No. FlightRecord follows the DOT standard: on-time percentages are calculated on completed flights that landed at their scheduled destination. Cancellations and diversions are excluded from delay averages and reported as separate figures — see our methodology for details.

Why do mountain airports have higher diversion rates?

Airports like Aspen sit at high elevation in mountainous terrain with a single runway and limited approach options. When weather turns marginal, crews are more likely to divert to a nearby airport with better conditions rather than hold or attempt a difficult approach.

All figures are computed from US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics on-time data — see our methodology for how diversions and cancellations are defined and reported. Compare airlines: JetBlue and Hawaiian Airlines, or see which routes cancel most often on our most-cancelled routes ranking.