Best time to fly out of Arcata (ACV)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at California Redwood Coast-Humboldt: departures in the 6–8am band left on time 91.2% of the time, against 79.3% in the 2–4pm 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 | 93 | 93 | 94 | 91 | 88 | 89 |
| 8–10am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 10am–12pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 12–2pm | 79 | 79 | 85 | 80 | 79 | 80 | 80 |
| 2–4pm | 78 | 80 | 82 | 77 | 79 | 82 | 79 |
| 4–6pm | 80 | 83 | 84 | 81 | 80 | 83 | 87 |
| 6–8pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 8–10pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 10pm–12am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
The steadiest stretch at ACV was 6–8am — 91.2% of departures left on time across 974 flights. The weakest was 2–4pm at 79.3%.
The year at ACV
June was the hard month at ACV: 77% of departures left on time, across 513 flights. January was the easy one at 85.8%. 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 | 85.8% | 451 |
| February | 78.6% | 404 |
| March | 79.8% | 441 |
| April | 77.2% | 464 |
| May | 79.1% | 511 |
| June | 77% | 513 |
| July | 83.3% | 470 |
| August | 83.1% | 419 |
| September | 85.3% | 450 |
| October | 85% | 518 |
| November | 82.7% | 504 |
| December | 83.5% | 490 |
Airlines at ACV
Every airline with at least 100 departures from ACV, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SkyWest Airlines | 81.7% | 118 min | 1.8% | 5,635 |
What delays out of ACV were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 1,324 flights that departed ACV and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 34.1% put down to airline operations and 25.5% to late-arriving aircraft.
- Late-arriving aircraft 25.5%
- Airline operations 34.1%
- Air traffic & airport volume 19.7%
- Severe weather 20.6%
- Security 0%
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 ACV
Of 5,637 scheduled arrivals into ACV, 77.2% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 1,111 arrivals that ran late, 52% 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 ACV
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.
ACV in one number
California Redwood Coast-Humboldt (ACV)
Rank 199 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: 6–8am. Hardest month: June.
Questions about ACV
- What is the best time of day to fly out of California Redwood Coast-Humboldt?
- 6–8am. Departures in that band left on time 91.2% of the time across 974 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 2–4pm band was the weakest at 79.3%.
- What is the worst month to fly out of ACV?
- June: 77% of the departures that flew left on time, with 513 scheduled. January was the other end of the year at 85.8%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- How often are flights cancelled at ACV?
- 1.8% 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.