Columbia
CAE · KCAEColumbia Metropolitan Airport
Passengers a year
1.4M
#122 busiest in the U.S.
13
nonstop destinations
28
airlines
32
departures a day
77.4%
arrivals on time
3.1%
flights cancelled
78.1%
load factor


Airlines
American Airlines is the largest carrier at Columbia, with 43% of all passengers. 28 airlines fly from here.
Share of passengers · each carrier as a slice of the whole airport
American Airlines holds 43% of the airport — the 25th most concentrated of 79 small hubs. The nearest comparison is EYW at 44%.
| Airline | Share | Passengers | Seats YoY | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
AA | 43.5% | 604.4K | 7 | — | -0.4% |
DL | 39.3% | 546.9K | 2 | 83.5% | +3.2% |
UA | 12.4% | 172.7K | 3 | — | -26.6% |
G4 Allegiant48% full | 2.0% | 28.3K | 2 | — | — |
NK Spirit51% full | 2.0% | 27.6K | 3 | — | — |
+Other airlines | 0.7% | 10.1K | — | — | — |
Share, passengers and destinations count each airline’s own flights plus the regional flying sold under its brand. On-time covers the airline's own aircraft only — regional affiliates report to the government separately. Seats year on year compares the latest twelve months against the twelve before them.
Destinations
13 nonstop destinations from Columbia, all domestic.
100% domestic · 0% international · by departing passengers
Top domestic destinations
Delta Air Lines
American Airlines
63.7K63,657 departing · 88% full
American Airlines
Delta Air Lines · American Airlines
53K53,024 departing · 75% full
American Airlines
United Airlines · American Airlines
United Airlines
24.6K24,568 departing · 80% full
American Airlines
12.5K12,458 departing · 51% full
Allegiant Air · Spirit Airlines
Spirit Airlines · United Airlines
All nonstop destinations
13 nonstop · 5 airlines · 13 domestic / 0 intl
American Eagle · operated by Envoy Air, PSA Airlines, Piedmont Airlines, Republic Airways
Aircraft
By share of departures at Columbia.
Body class · share of departures
- Regional
3,882 departures · 83% full
33.4%
- Regional
1,967 departures · 82% full
16.9%
- Narrowbody
1,818 departures · 89% full
15.7%
- Regional
1,491 departures · 79% full
12.8%
Bombardier CRJ-550
930 departures · 81% full
8.0%
- Regional
805 departures · 80% full
6.9%
- Narrowbody
175 departures · 51% full
1.5%
- Narrowbody
129 departures · 58% full
1.1%
- Regional
105 departures · 80% full
0.9%
- Narrowbody
79 departures · 53% full
0.7%
When Columbia is busiest
Departures by month over the trailing year. Bars scale to the busiest month.
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Departures a month · peak May 2026
Annual passengers since 1990
Total passengers, arriving and departing, in every year on record.
Passengers a year
Every year
- 1990
- 1,151,493
- 1991
- 998,409
- 1992
- 977,279
- 1993
- 891,926
- 1994
- 1,024,890
- 1995
- 1,171,456
- 1996
- 1,153,383
- 1997
- 1,130,315
- 1998
- 940,522
- 1999
- 807,315
- 2000
- 881,000
- 2001
- 712,411
- 2002
- 706,867
- 2003
- 1,030,523
- 2004
- 1,256,210
- 2005
- 1,471,660
- 2006
- 1,285,815
- 2007
- 1,257,579
- 2008
- 1,157,758
- 2009
- 1,066,148
- 2010
- 994,552
- 2011
- 997,215
- 2012
- 996,749
- 2013
- 1,002,791
- 2014
- 1,031,833
- 2015
- 1,105,670
- 2016
- 1,136,549
- 2017
- 1,057,282
- 2018
- 1,179,264
- 2019
- 1,319,229
- 2020
- 564,682
- 2021
- 860,246
- 2022
- 1,043,015
- 2023
- 1,215,611
- 2024
- 1,338,834
- 2025
- 1,363,670
- 2026
- 555,228 so far
Arriving on time
Of every 100 flights landing at Columbia, 77 touch down within 15 minutes of schedule, 20 arrive late, and 3 are cancelled.
Every 100 arrivals
16 min
average delay
171
flights cancelled
5.3K
arrivals measured
What holds flights up
Share of delay minutes
Most reliable here
Delta Air Lines 83.5%
Least reliable here
SkyWest Airlines 66.7%
Among US airports
#122
On time, month by month
J
A
S
O
N
D
J
F
M
A
M
J
Darker is better · 64.7%–84.1%
The weak spot is December 2025, when 64.7% of arrivals landed on time — 12.7 points below the year. The strongest was September 2025 at 84.1%.
Frequently asked
How busy is Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE)?
Columbia Metropolitan Airport handled about 1.4M passengers over the trailing 12 months, ranking #122 among U.S. airports by passengers, with roughly 32 departures a day.
Which airline is the largest at Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE)?
American Airlines is the largest carrier at Columbia (CAE), flying about 43% of its passengers. 28 airlines serve Columbia in total.
How many places can you fly nonstop from Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE)?
Columbia (CAE) has 13 nonstop destinations, all domestic.
How often do flights arrive on time at Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE)?
About 77.4% of flights arriving at Columbia (CAE) touch down within 15 minutes of schedule, per US DOT figures. About 3.1% are cancelled.
What aircraft flies most from Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE)?
The Embraer ERJ-145 flew the largest share of departures from Columbia (CAE), about 33% of the total.
Departing counts passengers leaving Columbia. Data: traffic June 2025 – May 2026, on-time July 2025 – June 2026. Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics (T-100 Segment, On-Time Performance).