Best time to fly out of Austin Bergstrom (AUS)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Austin Bergstrom: departures in the Before 6am band left on time 94.5% of the time, against 61.8% 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 | 93 | 95 | 96 | 96 | 93 | 94 | 95 |
| 6–8am | 91 | 92 | 92 | 93 | 90 | 91 | 91 |
| 8–10am | 86 | 90 | 89 | 88 | 87 | 88 | 88 |
| 10am–12pm | 82 | 86 | 86 | 84 | 81 | 82 | 82 |
| 12–2pm | 76 | 81 | 81 | 77 | 75 | 80 | 75 |
| 2–4pm | 70 | 78 | 75 | 68 | 67 | 75 | 67 |
| 4–6pm | 64 | 75 | 70 | 61 | 63 | 70 | 58 |
| 6–8pm | 62 | 74 | 72 | 60 | 64 | 68 | 60 |
| 8–10pm | 63 | 71 | 65 | 61 | 63 | 64 | 53 |
| 10pm–12am | 65 | 72 | 78 | 64 | 66 | – | 52 |
The steadiest stretch at AUS was Before 6am — 94.5% of departures left on time across 11,296 flights. The weakest was 8–10pm at 61.8%. 6–8am departures from AUS left on time 91.6% of the time across 38,480 flights; 6–8pm departures, 65.4% across 31,877. That is a gap of 26.2 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
The year at AUS
May was the hard month at AUS: 68.7% of departures left on time, across 23,317 flights. September was the easy one at 83.7%. 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 | 79.8% | 19,541 |
| February | 82.6% | 18,184 |
| March | 76.6% | 22,494 |
| April | 78% | 22,262 |
| May | 68.7% | 23,317 |
| June | 69.3% | 23,149 |
| July | 70% | 23,709 |
| August | 79.3% | 22,508 |
| September | 83.7% | 21,536 |
| October | 80.3% | 23,600 |
| November | 80.6% | 21,921 |
| December | 78.5% | 22,124 |
Airlines at AUS
Every airline with at least 100 departures from AUS, 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 | 73.6% | 50 min | 0.6% | 113,797 |
| American Airlines | 79% | 116 min | 1.7% | 39,224 |
| Delta Air Lines | 81.7% | 85 min | 1.1% | 35,893 |
| United Airlines | 83.6% | 82 min | 1.2% | 30,154 |
| SkyWest Airlines | 78.2% | 92 min | 0.8% | 16,351 |
| Envoy Air | 77.9% | 63 min | 1.3% | 7,739 |
| Alaska Airlines | 80% | 55 min | 1.4% | 7,429 |
| Spirit Airlines | 68.5% | 80 min | 2.8% | 3,655 |
| Frontier Airlines | 72.2% | 89 min | 1.8% | 3,499 |
| Allegiant Air | 75.1% | 86 min | 0.9% | 2,706 |
| JetBlue Airways | 60.2% | 86 min | 1.3% | 2,357 |
| Endeavor Air | 81.4% | 102 min | 0.4% | 787 |
| Republic Airways | 81.2% | 120 min | 2.4% | 337 |
| Hawaiian Airlines | 76.7% | 129 min | 0.4% | 280 |
| PSA Airlines | 71.9% | 84 min | 6.6% | 137 |
Spirit Airlines (through May 2026), Endeavor Air (through December 2024) and Hawaiian Airlines (through December 2025) stopped filing before June 2026. Their rows cover a shorter run of months than the rest of the table, so their figures are not set against the others anywhere on this page.
What delays out of AUS were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 56,870 flights that departed AUS and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 44.5% put down to late-arriving aircraft and 32.6% to airline operations.
- Late-arriving aircraft 44.5%
- Airline operations 32.6%
- Air traffic & airport volume 17.6%
- Severe weather 5.1%
- Security 0.2%
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 AUS
Of 264,353 scheduled arrivals into AUS, 76.6% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 58,868 arrivals that ran late, 57.1% 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 AUS
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.
- DEN 80.1% on time · 14,633 flights
- DFW 75.4% on time · 14,520 flights
- ATL 82.8% on time · 13,329 flights
- LAX 80.2% on time · 12,451 flights
- PHX 80.3% on time · 10,313 flights
- LAS 76.3% on time · 9,468 flights
- ORD 78% on time · 9,352 flights
- BNA 78.5% on time · 9,011 flights
- MCO 75.7% on time · 8,274 flights
- DAL 80.9% on time · 7,514 flights
AUS in one number
Austin Bergstrom (AUS)
Rank 27 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: Before 6am. Hardest month: May.
Questions about AUS
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Austin Bergstrom?
- Before 6am. Departures in that band left on time 94.5% of the time across 11,296 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 8–10pm band was the weakest at 61.8%.
- Is the early flight out of AUS really more reliable?
- 6–8am departures from AUS left on time 91.6% of the time across 38,480 flights; 6–8pm departures, 65.4% across 31,877. That is a gap of 26.2 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
- What is the worst month to fly out of AUS?
- May: 68.7% of the departures that flew left on time, with 23,317 scheduled. September was the other end of the year at 83.7%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- Which airline is most on time at AUS?
- United Airlines — 83.6% of its 30,154 departures from AUS left on time. JetBlue Airways sat at the other end at 60.2% over 2,357 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 AUS?
- 1% 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.