Best time to fly out of Bradley (BDL)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Bradley: departures in the Before 6am band left on time 92.8% of the time, against 58.3% 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 | 92 | 93 | 93 | 96 | 93 | 91 | 92 |
| 6–8am | 90 | 93 | 93 | 93 | 91 | 89 | 90 |
| 8–10am | 87 | 90 | 89 | 89 | 88 | 88 | 89 |
| 10am–12pm | 83 | 87 | 86 | 85 | 82 | 83 | 78 |
| 12–2pm | 82 | 82 | 83 | 80 | 80 | 81 | 78 |
| 2–4pm | 74 | 79 | 78 | 76 | 74 | 76 | 72 |
| 4–6pm | 70 | 77 | 76 | 68 | 70 | 71 | 66 |
| 6–8pm | 69 | 72 | 73 | 67 | 68 | 65 | 63 |
| 8–10pm | 61 | 61 | 52 | 63 | 56 | 54 | 59 |
| 10pm–12am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
The steadiest stretch at BDL was Before 6am — 92.8% of departures left on time across 4,367 flights. The weakest was 8–10pm at 58.3%. 6–8am departures from BDL left on time 91.4% of the time across 16,410 flights; 6–8pm departures, 67.7% across 6,764. That is a gap of 23.7 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
The year at BDL
July was the hard month at BDL: 72.6% of departures left on time, across 5,727 flights. October was the easy one at 86.4%. 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 | 81.2% | 5,085 |
| February | 81.8% | 4,977 |
| March | 81% | 5,599 |
| April | 82.9% | 5,956 |
| May | 81.6% | 6,034 |
| June | 78.6% | 5,748 |
| July | 72.6% | 5,727 |
| August | 78.3% | 5,922 |
| September | 86.1% | 5,385 |
| October | 86.4% | 5,786 |
| November | 85.5% | 5,343 |
| December | 77.9% | 5,411 |
Airlines at BDL
Every airline with at least 100 departures from BDL, 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 | 80.4% | 53 min | 1% | 12,357 |
| Delta Air Lines | 85% | 73 min | 1.2% | 12,326 |
| American Airlines | 80.6% | 97 min | 2% | 11,708 |
| JetBlue Airways | 77.6% | 77 min | 1.6% | 11,061 |
| United Airlines | 87.2% | 82 min | 1.2% | 6,832 |
| PSA Airlines | 78.6% | 104 min | 4.2% | 3,764 |
| Republic Airways | 84.5% | 73 min | 2.8% | 2,640 |
| Frontier Airlines | 66.1% | 104 min | 2.6% | 2,394 |
| Spirit Airlines | 79.2% | 76 min | 1.4% | 1,505 |
| Envoy Air | 83.9% | 65 min | 2.3% | 1,274 |
| Endeavor Air | 85.1% | 93 min | 2.7% | 601 |
| SkyWest Airlines | 81.9% | 120 min | 1.8% | 511 |
What delays out of BDL were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 13,358 flights that departed BDL and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 41.2% put down to late-arriving aircraft and 31.1% to airline operations.
- Late-arriving aircraft 41.2%
- Airline operations 31.1%
- Air traffic & airport volume 24%
- Severe weather 3.7%
- 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 BDL
Of 66,981 scheduled arrivals into BDL, 75.1% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 15,543 arrivals that ran late, 54.6% 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 BDL
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.
- ATL 84.1% on time · 6,550 flights
- ORD 77.1% on time · 6,408 flights
- MCO 74.7% on time · 5,821 flights
- DCA 74.5% on time · 5,680 flights
- CLT 79.9% on time · 5,336 flights
- BWI 84.5% on time · 5,155 flights
- DTW 87.2% on time · 3,788 flights
- SJU 62.3% on time · 2,981 flights
- DEN 82.4% on time · 2,605 flights
- MSP 84.2% on time · 2,575 flights
BDL in one number
Bradley (BDL)
Rank 64 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: Before 6am. Hardest month: July.
Questions about BDL
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Bradley?
- Before 6am. Departures in that band left on time 92.8% of the time across 4,367 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 8–10pm band was the weakest at 58.3%.
- Is the early flight out of BDL really more reliable?
- 6–8am departures from BDL left on time 91.4% of the time across 16,410 flights; 6–8pm departures, 67.7% across 6,764. That is a gap of 23.7 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
- What is the worst month to fly out of BDL?
- July: 72.6% of the departures that flew left on time, with 5,727 scheduled. October was the other end of the year at 86.4%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- Which airline is most on time at BDL?
- United Airlines — 87.2% of its 6,832 departures from BDL left on time. Frontier Airlines sat at the other end at 66.1% over 2,394 flights. Only airlines with at least 100 departures here are ranked.
- How often are flights cancelled at BDL?
- 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.