Best time to fly out of Atlantic City (ACY)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Atlantic City: departures in the 6–8am band left on time 92.4% of the time, against 61% 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 | 92 | – | – | 90 | 94 | 90 | 91 |
| 6–8am | 92 | 94 | 95 | 91 | 94 | 91 | 91 |
| 8–10am | – | – | – | – | 89 | 88 | – |
| 10am–12pm | 82 | 84 | 86 | 85 | 85 | 89 | 80 |
| 12–2pm | 76 | 80 | 83 | 81 | 78 | 81 | 73 |
| 2–4pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | 74 |
| 4–6pm | 73 | 85 | 85 | 76 | 72 | 78 | 68 |
| 6–8pm | 62 | – | – | 62 | 60 | – | 60 |
| 8–10pm | 72 | – | – | – | 70 | – | – |
| 10pm–12am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
The steadiest stretch at ACY was 6–8am — 92.4% of departures left on time across 1,765 flights. The weakest was 6–8pm at 61%. 6–8am departures from ACY left on time 92.4% of the time across 1,765 flights; 6–8pm departures, 61% across 512. That is a gap of 31.4 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
The year at ACY
June was the hard month at ACY: 70.9% of departures left on time, across 462 flights. September was the easy one at 88.1%. 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 | 83.9% | 677 |
| February | 80.1% | 720 |
| March | 73.4% | 774 |
| April | 85.6% | 765 |
| May | 79.9% | 525 |
| June | 70.9% | 462 |
| July | 81.8% | 686 |
| August | 79% | 874 |
| September | 88.1% | 728 |
| October | 86.9% | 705 |
| November | 86.5% | 756 |
| December | 77% | 673 |
Airlines at ACY
Every airline with at least 100 departures from ACY, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spirit Airlines | 82.3% | 76 min | 2.4% | 8,070 |
| Allegiant Air | 54.5% | 110 min | 2.5% | 275 |
Spirit Airlines (through May 2026) 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 ACY were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 1,535 flights that departed ACY and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 36.8% put down to air traffic & airport volume and 32.4% to late-arriving aircraft.
- Late-arriving aircraft 32.4%
- Airline operations 28.3%
- Air traffic & airport volume 36.8%
- Severe weather 2.4%
- 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 ACY
Of 8,345 scheduled arrivals into ACY, 75.3% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 1,847 arrivals that ran late, 49.2% 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 ACY
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.
- MCO 82.3% on time · 2,432 flights
- FLL 74.2% on time · 1,739 flights
- RSW 83.9% on time · 1,162 flights
- TPA 82.7% on time · 1,105 flights
- PBI 84.5% on time · 1,057 flights
- MYR 83% on time · 698 flights
- SFB Not enough flights to say · 56 flights
- PIE Not enough flights to say · 41 flights
- PGD Not enough flights to say · 28 flights
- MIA Not enough flights to say · 27 flights
ACY in one number
Atlantic City (ACY)
Rank 176 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: 6–8am. Hardest month: June.
Questions about ACY
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Atlantic City?
- 6–8am. Departures in that band left on time 92.4% of the time across 1,765 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 6–8pm band was the weakest at 61%.
- Is the early flight out of ACY really more reliable?
- 6–8am departures from ACY left on time 92.4% of the time across 1,765 flights; 6–8pm departures, 61% across 512. That is a gap of 31.4 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
- What is the worst month to fly out of ACY?
- June: 70.9% of the departures that flew left on time, with 462 scheduled. September was the other end of the year at 88.1%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- How often are flights cancelled at ACY?
- 2.4% 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.