Best time to fly out of Albany (ALB)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Albany: departures in the 6–8am band left on time 92% of the time, against 58.4% in the 8–10pm 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 | 88 | 90 | 92 | 93 | 92 | 88 | 89 |
| 6–8am | 91 | 93 | 93 | 94 | 92 | 90 | 91 |
| 8–10am | 91 | 91 | 94 | 92 | 90 | 91 | 85 |
| 10am–12pm | 85 | 85 | 87 | 83 | 83 | 84 | 80 |
| 12–2pm | 76 | 79 | 82 | 82 | 79 | 77 | 76 |
| 2–4pm | 73 | 78 | 79 | 75 | 74 | 69 | 73 |
| 4–6pm | 71 | 78 | 78 | 71 | 70 | 71 | 68 |
| 6–8pm | 71 | 75 | 75 | 72 | 71 | 67 | 58 |
| 8–10pm | 63 | – | – | – | 62 | – | 49 |
| 10pm–12am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
The steadiest stretch at ALB was 6–8am — 92% of departures left on time across 8,650 flights. The weakest was 8–10pm at 58.4%. 6–8am departures from ALB left on time 92% of the time across 8,650 flights; 6–8pm departures, 69.5% across 3,667. That is a gap of 22.5 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
The year at ALB
July was the hard month at ALB: 71.3% of departures left on time, across 3,220 flights. September was the easy one at 86.8%. 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 | 80.3% | 2,655 |
| February | 80.7% | 2,753 |
| March | 80.4% | 3,132 |
| April | 85% | 3,215 |
| May | 82.1% | 3,221 |
| June | 77.5% | 3,230 |
| July | 71.3% | 3,220 |
| August | 78.8% | 3,282 |
| September | 86.8% | 2,963 |
| October | 85.8% | 3,285 |
| November | 86.4% | 3,000 |
| December | 77.7% | 3,014 |
Airlines at ALB
Every airline with at least 100 departures from ALB, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 80.5% | 57 min | 1% | 11,450 |
| American Airlines | 80.1% | 114 min | 1.4% | 3,975 |
| Delta Air Lines | 82.4% | 93 min | 1.4% | 3,969 |
| PSA Airlines | 76.8% | 116 min | 4.8% | 3,558 |
| SkyWest Airlines | 83.1% | 100 min | 0.9% | 2,860 |
| JetBlue Airways | 77.2% | 80 min | 1.3% | 2,621 |
| United Airlines | 88.2% | 104 min | 1.5% | 2,201 |
| Allegiant Air | 73.6% | 100 min | 1.1% | 1,949 |
| Republic Airways | 88.2% | 92 min | 3.9% | 1,735 |
| Endeavor Air | 87.7% | 84 min | 2.2% | 1,503 |
| Envoy Air | 82.8% | 71 min | 1.6% | 1,149 |
What delays out of ALB were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 7,250 flights that departed ALB and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 36.2% put down to late-arriving aircraft and 34.3% to airline operations.
- Late-arriving aircraft 36.2%
- Airline operations 34.3%
- Air traffic & airport volume 22.2%
- Severe weather 7.1%
- 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 ALB
Of 36,973 scheduled arrivals into ALB, 74.3% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 8,846 arrivals that ran late, 54.7% 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 ALB
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.
- BWI 87% on time · 5,004 flights
- ORD 78.9% on time · 4,781 flights
- DCA 71.7% on time · 3,678 flights
- DTW 85% on time · 3,613 flights
- CLT 78.8% on time · 3,428 flights
- MCO 75.9% on time · 3,221 flights
- ATL 82.6% on time · 3,080 flights
- MDW 82.2% on time · 2,025 flights
- FLL 75.7% on time · 1,468 flights
- LGA 89.1% on time · 1,004 flights
ALB in one number
Albany (ALB)
Rank 93 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: 6–8am. Hardest month: July.
Questions about ALB
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Albany?
- 6–8am. Departures in that band left on time 92% of the time across 8,650 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 8–10pm band was the weakest at 58.4%.
- Is the early flight out of ALB really more reliable?
- 6–8am departures from ALB left on time 92% of the time across 8,650 flights; 6–8pm departures, 69.5% across 3,667. That is a gap of 22.5 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
- What is the worst month to fly out of ALB?
- July: 71.3% of the departures that flew left on time, with 3,220 scheduled. September was the other end of the year at 86.8%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- Which airline is most on time at ALB?
- United Airlines — 88.2% of its 2,201 departures from ALB left on time. Allegiant Air sat at the other end at 73.6% over 1,949 flights. Only airlines with at least 100 departures here are ranked.
- How often are flights cancelled at ALB?
- 1.7% 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.