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.

Share of departures that left on time, by hour band and day of week.
Departure time MonTueWedThuFriSatSun
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 – – – – – – –
fewer left on time more left on time

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.

Share of departures that left on time, by calendar month. Best month in green, worst in amber. The hairline sits at the overall rate, 81.1%.
Departure on-time share at BDL by calendar month
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

Spirit Airlines (through May 2026) and Endeavor Air (through December 2024) 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 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 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.

BDL in one number

Bradley (BDL)

Rank 64 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: Before 6am. Hardest month: July.

July 2023–June 2026 · 65,844 departures flown

81.1% of departures left on time

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. 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 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.