FlyerIntel Research
The Best Time of Day to Fly From America's Largest Airports
Departure time is one of the few things a traveller controls, and it is worth more than most people think.
Published August 29, 2026 · Source period July 2023 – June 2026
Summary
Across 58 major US airports, flights scheduled to depart 5–9 AM arrived on time 88.4% of the time, against 69.2% for 6–9 PM departures — a gap of 19.2 percentage points that holds at almost every airport measured. The effect is not uniform: at DAL the spread between the best and worst departure window reaches 31.1 points, while at SLC it is only 9.6.
Key findings
- Morning departures outperformed evening departures at 58 of 58 airports measured.
- Network-wide, 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 88.4% of the time.
- 6–9 PM departures were the weakest, at 69.2%.
- DAL (Dallas) shows the widest swing: 91.2% for 5–9 AM departures against 60.1% for 9 PM–5 AM.
- SLC (Salt Lake City) is the most consistent through the day, with only 9.6 points between its best and worst windows.
Why departure time matters this much
Delay is cumulative. An aircraft that starts the day late tends to stay late, and the disruption compounds through every subsequent leg it flies. A 6 AM departure is usually operated by an aircraft that overnighted at the airport; a 7 PM departure is operated by one that has already flown several legs and inherited whatever went wrong on each of them. That is why the late-aircraft category is consistently among the largest single causes of delay in the DOT data, and why the pattern below repeats at airport after airport regardless of geography or weather.
On-time arrival rate by departure window, all covered airports
Where timing matters most
| Airport | City | Best window | On time | Worst window | On time | Spread |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DAL | Dallas | 5–9 AM | 91.2% | 9 PM–5 AM | 60.1% | 31.1 pts |
| MDW | Chicago | 5–9 AM | 89.0% | 9 PM–5 AM | 58.6% | 30.4 pts |
| BWI | Baltimore | 5–9 AM | 88.5% | 9 PM–5 AM | 59.0% | 29.5 pts |
| FLL | Fort Lauderdale | 5–9 AM | 88.7% | 9 PM–5 AM | 59.3% | 29.5 pts |
| MCO | Orlando | 5–9 AM | 90.3% | 9 PM–5 AM | 61.8% | 28.5 pts |
| ABQ | Albuquerque | 5–9 AM | 91.9% | 9 PM–5 AM | 65.3% | 26.6 pts |
| OAK | Oakland | 5–9 AM | 92.5% | 9 PM–5 AM | 66.2% | 26.3 pts |
| TPA | Tampa | 5–9 AM | 90.7% | 9 PM–5 AM | 64.6% | 26.2 pts |
| BUR | Burbank | 5–9 AM | 90.9% | 9 PM–5 AM | 65.3% | 25.7 pts |
| BUF | Buffalo | 5–9 AM | 87.6% | 9 PM–5 AM | 62.4% | 25.2 pts |
| RDU | Raleigh–Durham | 5–9 AM | 88.9% | 9 PM–5 AM | 63.9% | 25.1 pts |
| JAX | Jacksonville | 5–9 AM | 90.3% | 9 PM–5 AM | 65.5% | 24.8 pts |
| STL | St. Louis | 5–9 AM | 89.5% | 9 PM–5 AM | 64.6% | 24.8 pts |
| MIA | Miami | 5–9 AM | 88.7% | 6–9 PM | 64.7% | 24 pts |
| HOU | Houston | 5–9 AM | 92.0% | 9 PM–5 AM | 68.4% | 23.7 pts |
| PIT | Pittsburgh | 5–9 AM | 90.3% | 9 PM–5 AM | 66.6% | 23.7 pts |
| RSW | Fort Myers | 5–9 AM | 92.9% | 6–9 PM | 69.4% | 23.5 pts |
| MCI | Kansas City | 5–9 AM | 90.2% | 9 PM–5 AM | 67.4% | 22.8 pts |
| AUS | Austin | 5–9 AM | 89.9% | 9 PM–5 AM | 67.2% | 22.7 pts |
| IND | Indianapolis | 5–9 AM | 89.7% | 9 PM–5 AM | 67.2% | 22.5 pts |
Ranked by the gap between an airport’s best and worst departure window.
Every covered airport, morning against evening
| Airport | City | 5–9 AM | 6–9 PM | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MCO | Orlando | 90.3% | 62.0% | 28.3 pts |
| FLL | Fort Lauderdale | 88.7% | 61.6% | 27.1 pts |
| DAL | Dallas | 91.2% | 64.2% | 27.0 pts |
| TPA | Tampa | 90.7% | 65.8% | 24.9 pts |
| MIA | Miami | 88.7% | 64.7% | 24.0 pts |
| RSW | Fort Myers | 92.9% | 69.4% | 23.5 pts |
| BWI | Baltimore | 88.5% | 65.6% | 22.9 pts |
| LAS | Las Vegas | 90.0% | 68.1% | 21.9 pts |
| AUS | Austin | 89.9% | 68.2% | 21.7 pts |
| MDW | Chicago | 89.0% | 67.3% | 21.7 pts |
| BOS | Boston | 86.9% | 65.4% | 21.5 pts |
| CLT | Charlotte | 87.1% | 65.9% | 21.2 pts |
| JAX | Jacksonville | 90.3% | 69.0% | 21.2 pts |
| DEN | Denver | 88.3% | 67.2% | 21.1 pts |
| MSY | New Orleans | 90.1% | 69.1% | 21.0 pts |
| SAT | San Antonio | 91.3% | 70.4% | 21.0 pts |
| RDU | Raleigh–Durham | 88.9% | 68.0% | 20.9 pts |
| DFW | Dallas–Fort Worth | 84.8% | 64.2% | 20.6 pts |
| MCI | Kansas City | 90.2% | 69.6% | 20.6 pts |
| IND | Indianapolis | 89.7% | 69.3% | 20.4 pts |
| PIT | Pittsburgh | 90.3% | 70.0% | 20.3 pts |
| HOU | Houston | 92.0% | 71.9% | 20.1 pts |
| BNA | Nashville | 88.9% | 68.8% | 20.0 pts |
| CLE | Cleveland | 88.7% | 68.8% | 19.9 pts |
| PHL | Philadelphia | 85.7% | 66.0% | 19.7 pts |
| STL | St. Louis | 89.5% | 70.0% | 19.4 pts |
| DCA | Washington | 87.2% | 67.8% | 19.3 pts |
| OAK | Oakland | 92.5% | 73.2% | 19.3 pts |
| LGA | New York | 88.8% | 69.5% | 19.3 pts |
| EWR | Newark | 87.1% | 67.9% | 19.2 pts |
| SJU | San Juan | 88.3% | 69.3% | 19.0 pts |
| BUF | Buffalo | 87.6% | 69.3% | 18.3 pts |
| CMH | Columbus | 89.5% | 71.3% | 18.3 pts |
| ORD | Chicago | 84.4% | 66.2% | 18.2 pts |
| PHX | Phoenix | 90.1% | 72.8% | 17.3 pts |
| ABQ | Albuquerque | 91.9% | 74.6% | 17.3 pts |
| SMF | Sacramento | 92.1% | 74.9% | 17.2 pts |
| OMA | Omaha | 89.6% | 72.5% | 17.1 pts |
| SJC | San Jose | 93.0% | 75.9% | 17.0 pts |
| ATL | Atlanta | 88.1% | 71.1% | 17.0 pts |
| JFK | New York | 85.5% | 68.6% | 17.0 pts |
| IAH | Houston | 88.0% | 71.0% | 16.9 pts |
| SAN | San Diego | 87.0% | 70.2% | 16.8 pts |
| MEM | Memphis | 87.9% | 71.2% | 16.7 pts |
| MKE | Milwaukee | 87.2% | 70.7% | 16.5 pts |
| ONT | Ontario | 91.9% | 75.6% | 16.2 pts |
| IAD | Washington | 88.1% | 72.5% | 15.5 pts |
| DTW | Detroit | 86.3% | 72.2% | 14.2 pts |
| SNA | Santa Ana | 91.1% | 77.2% | 13.9 pts |
| BUR | Burbank | 90.9% | 77.2% | 13.7 pts |
| SFO | San Francisco | 89.2% | 77.0% | 12.2 pts |
| PDX | Portland | 89.2% | 77.1% | 12.1 pts |
| MSP | Minneapolis | 88.2% | 76.4% | 11.8 pts |
| ANC | Anchorage | 89.2% | 78.0% | 11.2 pts |
| LAX | Los Angeles | 88.5% | 77.6% | 10.9 pts |
| SEA | Seattle | 86.6% | 76.5% | 10.1 pts |
| SLC | Salt Lake City | 89.0% | 79.4% | 9.6 pts |
| HNL | Honolulu | 93.1% | 86.4% | 6.7 pts |
What to do with this
If a trip can be flown either in the morning or in the evening for a similar fare, the morning option is historically the more reliable choice at almost every major US airport. The effect is largest where an airport already runs close to capacity, and smallest at airports with slack in the schedule. It is a tendency measured across years of flights, not a guarantee about any individual departure.
Methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 21,076,354 individual flight records in the US Department of Transportation Bureau of Transportation Statistics Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance dataset, covering July 2023 through June 2026. Following BTS methodology, a flight counts as delayed when it arrives 15 or more minutes after its scheduled arrival time. Cancelled and diverted flights have no arrival time and are excluded from on-time rates rather than counted as late; cancellation rates are reported separately. Full definitions are published at /methodology/. Flights are bucketed by scheduled local departure time at the origin airport. A departure window is only included for an airport where it recorded at least 120 flights in the period.
Limitations
The source dataset covers scheduled domestic flights operated by carriers above the DOT reporting threshold; smaller carriers and international flights are not included. Flights sold under a mainline brand but flown by a regional carrier are attributed to the operating carrier, which is how the DOT records them. Past performance describes what has happened and is not a prediction about any individual flight.
Sources
- FlyerIntel analysis — FlyerIntel · source
- Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance — US Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics · source
Full FlyerIntel methodology · Report a problem with this analysis
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