Best time to fly out of Appleton (ATW)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Appleton: departures in the Before 6am band left on time 90.8% of the time, against 70.6% 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 | 88 | 90 | 93 | 91 | 91 | 92 | 91 |
| 6–8am | 87 | 90 | 90 | 89 | 88 | 87 | 88 |
| 8–10am | 83 | 81 | 84 | 85 | 86 | 84 | 83 |
| 10am–12pm | 80 | 79 | 81 | 82 | 77 | 84 | 79 |
| 12–2pm | 74 | 77 | 79 | 82 | 75 | 80 | 74 |
| 2–4pm | 75 | 74 | 77 | 74 | 73 | 75 | 73 |
| 4–6pm | 72 | 78 | 72 | 73 | 73 | 78 | 71 |
| 6–8pm | 68 | – | 71 | 64 | 72 | 74 | 75 |
| 8–10pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 10pm–12am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
The steadiest stretch at ATW was Before 6am — 90.8% of departures left on time across 1,711 flights. The weakest was 6–8pm at 70.6%. 6–8am departures from ATW left on time 88.3% of the time across 5,489 flights; 6–8pm departures, 70.6% across 690. That is a gap of 17.7 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
The year at ATW
January was the hard month at ATW: 75.3% of departures left on time, across 1,632 flights. October 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 | 75.3% | 1,632 |
| February | 81.6% | 1,596 |
| March | 77.5% | 1,972 |
| April | 83.4% | 1,959 |
| May | 84.1% | 1,914 |
| June | 80.1% | 1,806 |
| July | 79.7% | 1,708 |
| August | 83.8% | 1,528 |
| September | 84.8% | 1,427 |
| October | 86.8% | 1,624 |
| November | 83.6% | 1,601 |
| December | 76.1% | 1,698 |
Airlines at ATW
Every airline with at least 100 departures from ATW, 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 | 79.1% | 108 min | 2% | 11,205 |
| Allegiant Air | 83.2% | 101 min | 1.2% | 4,415 |
| Envoy Air | 83.6% | 79 min | 2% | 3,356 |
| Delta Air Lines | 89.9% | 153 min | 1.2% | 1,058 |
| Endeavor Air | 85.8% | 123 min | 0% | 239 |
| PSA Airlines | 75% | 85 min | 5.3% | 152 |
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 ATW were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 4,335 flights that departed ATW and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 49.2% put down to airline operations and 19.1% to air traffic & airport volume.
- Late-arriving aircraft 18%
- Airline operations 49.2%
- Air traffic & airport volume 19.1%
- Severe weather 13.7%
- 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 ATW
Of 20,469 scheduled arrivals into ATW, 75% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 4,683 arrivals that ran late, 48.8% 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 ATW
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.
- ORD 72.2% on time · 6,478 flights
- MSP 77.7% on time · 2,765 flights
- DTW 80.8% on time · 2,762 flights
- DEN 79.4% on time · 1,299 flights
- ATL 85.5% on time · 1,109 flights
- CLT 83.5% on time · 1,001 flights
- DFW 86% on time · 796 flights
- AZA 82.6% on time · 699 flights
- SFB 80% on time · 661 flights
- PGD 80.7% on time · 626 flights
ATW in one number
Appleton (ATW)
Rank 122 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: Before 6am. Hardest month: January.
Questions about ATW
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Appleton?
- Before 6am. Departures in that band left on time 90.8% of the time across 1,711 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 6–8pm band was the weakest at 70.6%.
- Is the early flight out of ATW really more reliable?
- 6–8am departures from ATW left on time 88.3% of the time across 5,489 flights; 6–8pm departures, 70.6% across 690. That is a gap of 17.7 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
- What is the worst month to fly out of ATW?
- January: 75.3% of the departures that flew left on time, with 1,632 scheduled. October 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 ATW?
- Delta Air Lines — 89.9% of its 1,058 departures from ATW left on time. PSA Airlines sat at the other end at 75% over 152 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 ATW?
- 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.