Best time to fly out of Boise (BOI)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Boise Air Terminal/Gowen: departures in the Before 6am band left on time 94.7% of the time, against 67.1% in the 10pm–12am 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 | 95 | 95 | 96 | 95 | 94 | 94 | 94 |
| 6–8am | 95 | 95 | 95 | 95 | 95 | 93 | 94 |
| 8–10am | 90 | 93 | 91 | 91 | 91 | 94 | 92 |
| 10am–12pm | 85 | 86 | 89 | 87 | 85 | 88 | 87 |
| 12–2pm | 81 | 86 | 84 | 84 | 79 | 85 | 81 |
| 2–4pm | 81 | 86 | 83 | 80 | 79 | 81 | 79 |
| 4–6pm | 75 | 82 | 80 | 75 | 74 | 81 | 75 |
| 6–8pm | 74 | 84 | 83 | 75 | 76 | 83 | 76 |
| 8–10pm | 77 | 92 | 84 | 73 | 69 | 75 | 68 |
| 10pm–12am | – | – | – | – | 70 | – | 64 |
The steadiest stretch at BOI was Before 6am — 94.7% of departures left on time across 4,170 flights. The weakest was 10pm–12am at 67.1%. 6–8am departures from BOI left on time 94.5% of the time across 12,985 flights; 6–8pm departures, 77.9% across 6,435. That is a gap of 16.6 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
The year at BOI
June was the hard month at BOI: 81.2% of departures left on time, across 6,139 flights. October was the easy one at 88.5%. 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 | 85.5% | 5,346 |
| February | 86.9% | 4,944 |
| March | 86.5% | 5,697 |
| April | 86.6% | 5,660 |
| May | 84% | 6,049 |
| June | 81.2% | 6,139 |
| July | 83.4% | 6,098 |
| August | 84.4% | 5,899 |
| September | 87.4% | 5,770 |
| October | 88.5% | 5,917 |
| November | 88.1% | 5,689 |
| December | 84.1% | 5,672 |
Airlines at BOI
Every airline with at least 100 departures from BOI, 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 | 88.4% | 72 min | 0.3% | 31,877 |
| Southwest Airlines | 81.4% | 51 min | 0.3% | 14,907 |
| Delta Air Lines | 86.1% | 76 min | 0.8% | 8,228 |
| United Airlines | 83.5% | 88 min | 1% | 4,499 |
| Alaska Airlines | 88% | 57 min | 0.6% | 3,554 |
| American Airlines | 80.5% | 99 min | 1.6% | 3,019 |
| Spirit Airlines | 80.6% | 66 min | 1.8% | 964 |
| Allegiant Air | 75.6% | 102 min | 0.8% | 916 |
| Envoy Air | 78.4% | 77 min | 0.1% | 774 |
| Frontier Airlines | 75.2% | 117 min | 0.7% | 142 |
What delays out of BOI were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 10,813 flights that departed BOI and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 35.9% put down to airline operations and 35.3% to late-arriving aircraft.
- Late-arriving aircraft 35.3%
- Airline operations 35.9%
- Air traffic & airport volume 22.9%
- Severe weather 5.9%
- 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 BOI
Of 68,893 scheduled arrivals into BOI, 80.7% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 12,872 arrivals that ran late, 60.5% 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 BOI
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.
- SEA 84.4% on time · 11,537 flights
- DEN 82.8% on time · 8,568 flights
- PHX 84.3% on time · 5,453 flights
- SLC 89.4% on time · 5,070 flights
- SFO 76% on time · 4,755 flights
- LAS 81.1% on time · 4,714 flights
- LAX 92.3% on time · 4,258 flights
- PDX 89.7% on time · 3,126 flights
- SMF 84.1% on time · 2,538 flights
- DFW 80% on time · 2,464 flights
BOI in one number
Boise Air Terminal/Gowen (BOI)
Rank 63 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: Before 6am. Hardest month: June.
Questions about BOI
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Boise Air Terminal/Gowen?
- Before 6am. Departures in that band left on time 94.7% of the time across 4,170 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 10pm–12am band was the weakest at 67.1%.
- Is the early flight out of BOI really more reliable?
- 6–8am departures from BOI left on time 94.5% of the time across 12,985 flights; 6–8pm departures, 77.9% across 6,435. That is a gap of 16.6 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
- What is the worst month to fly out of BOI?
- June: 81.2% of the departures that flew left on time, with 6,139 scheduled. October was the other end of the year at 88.5%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- Which airline is most on time at BOI?
- SkyWest Airlines — 88.4% of its 31,877 departures from BOI left on time. Frontier Airlines sat at the other end at 75.2% over 142 flights. Only airlines with at least 100 departures here are ranked.
- How often are flights cancelled at BOI?
- 0.5% 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.