Best time to fly out of Lehigh Valley (ABE)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Lehigh Valley: departures in the 8–10am band left on time 93.1% of the time, against 68.5% in the 6–8pm band. These are historical odds, not forecasts. The records say what happened on this schedule over three years; they know nothing about tomorrow’s thunderstorm.
Data through June 2026 · Bureau of Transportation Statistics
On-time rate by hour and day
On this page, “on time” means a departure that pushed back less than 15 minutes behind its scheduled time — the Bureau of Transportation Statistics definition, and the one airlines are held to.
| Departure time | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before 6am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 6–8am | 91 | 91 | 93 | 93 | 93 | 90 | 90 |
| 8–10am | 94 | – | 94 | 93 | 94 | 91 | 92 |
| 10am–12pm | 86 | 84 | 90 | 83 | 83 | 86 | 82 |
| 12–2pm | 83 | 87 | 85 | 83 | 83 | 86 | 81 |
| 2–4pm | 78 | – | – | 75 | 82 | 75 | 71 |
| 4–6pm | 81 | 78 | 79 | 77 | 78 | 63 | 71 |
| 6–8pm | – | – | – | 75 | – | – | 62 |
| 8–10pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 10pm–12am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
The steadiest stretch at ABE was 8–10am — 93.1% of departures left on time across 1,286 flights. The weakest was 6–8pm at 68.5%. 6–8am departures from ABE left on time 91.7% of the time across 3,026 flights; 6–8pm departures, 68.5% across 222. That is a gap of 23.2 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
The year at ABE
July was the hard month at ABE: 79.2% of departures left on time, across 1,047 flights. September was the easy one at 89.1%. Each month pools three years of that month, so a single bad week does not decide it.
| Month | Share departures that left on time | Flights |
|---|---|---|
| January | 81.9% | 842 |
| February | 84.6% | 812 |
| March | 84.2% | 929 |
| April | 84.5% | 811 |
| May | 81.9% | 908 |
| June | 80.3% | 1,034 |
| July | 79.2% | 1,047 |
| August | 81.6% | 1,038 |
| September | 89.1% | 940 |
| October | 88.7% | 1,052 |
| November | 87.8% | 948 |
| December | 81.4% | 1,011 |
Airlines at ABE
Every airline with at least 100 departures from ABE, busiest first. These are that airline’s departures from this airport only — its record across the country sits on its own page.
| Airline | Left on time | Typical delay | Cancelled | Departures |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Allegiant Air | 84% | 93 min | 1% | 5,773 |
| PSA Airlines | 84.3% | 115 min | 2.1% | 3,029 |
| Endeavor Air | 87.1% | 94 min | 1.1% | 1,506 |
| SkyWest Airlines | 76.3% | 160 min | 2.7% | 986 |
Endeavor Air (through December 2024) stopped filing before June 2026. Its row covers a shorter run of months than the rest of the table, so its figure is not set against the others anywhere on this page.
What delays out of ABE were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 1,878 flights that departed ABE and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 39.8% put down to airline operations and 34.7% to late-arriving aircraft.
- Late-arriving aircraft 34.7%
- Airline operations 39.8%
- Air traffic & airport volume 15.9%
- Severe weather 9.5%
- Security 0.1%
Late-arriving aircraft is the knock-on category: the plane came in late, so it went out late again. It is why a 7am problem in Newark is still a problem in Denver at dinnertime, and why it is usually the biggest slice on the bar.
If you are connecting through ABE
Of 11,371 scheduled arrivals into ABE, 77.2% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 2,390 arrivals that ran late, 50.3% were no more than 45 minutes behind — which is the difference between a tight connection and a new boarding pass.
Work out a specific layover — pick the airport and the minutes you have, and the tool reads the same arrival records back as a share.
Busiest routes out of ABE
Ranked by flights, with the share that arrived on time at the far end. Where a route carries enough flights for a page of its own the chip goes there; otherwise it goes to the destination airport.
- CLT 85.2% on time · 3,030 flights
- SFB 82% on time · 1,953 flights
- ATL 86.4% on time · 1,530 flights
- ORD 74.7% on time · 1,039 flights
- PIE 84.1% on time · 829 flights
- PGD 82.6% on time · 704 flights
- MYR 88.8% on time · 622 flights
- SRQ 82.8% on time · 320 flights
- FLL 71.9% on time · 309 flights
- MLB 91.9% on time · 274 flights
ABE in one number
Lehigh Valley (ABE)
Rank 163 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: 8–10am. Hardest month: July.
Questions about ABE
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Lehigh Valley?
- 8–10am. Departures in that band left on time 93.1% of the time across 1,286 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 6–8pm band was the weakest at 68.5%.
- Is the early flight out of ABE really more reliable?
- 6–8am departures from ABE left on time 91.7% of the time across 3,026 flights; 6–8pm departures, 68.5% across 222. That is a gap of 23.2 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
- What is the worst month to fly out of ABE?
- July: 79.2% of the departures that flew left on time, with 1,047 scheduled. September was the other end of the year at 89.1%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- Which airline is most on time at ABE?
- PSA Airlines — 84.3% of its 3,029 departures from ABE left on time. SkyWest Airlines sat at the other end at 76.3% over 986 flights. Only airlines with at least 100 departures here are ranked. Airlines that stopped filing before June 2026 are left out of the ranking — their figures cover a shorter run of months than the rest of the table.
- How often are flights cancelled at ABE?
- 1.5% of scheduled departures were cancelled over July 2023 through June 2026. Cancellations are counted against everything scheduled, not against everything that flew — a rate that looks small still adds up to real people in a rebooking line.