Best time to fly out of Rafael Hernández (BQN)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Rafael Hernández: departures in the Before 6am band left on time 77.2% of the time, against 60.4% 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 | 71 | 77 | 81 | 81 | 76 | 76 | 77 |
| 6–8am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 8–10am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 10am–12pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 12–2pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2–4pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 4–6pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 6–8pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 8–10pm | 66 | – | 63 | 51 | 67 | 58 | 57 |
| 10pm–12am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
The steadiest stretch at BQN was Before 6am — 77.2% of departures left on time across 3,350 flights. The weakest was 8–10pm at 60.4%.
The year at BQN
July was the hard month at BQN: 63.8% of departures left on time, across 728 flights. February was the easy one at 83.2%. 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 | 78.1% | 607 |
| February | 83.2% | 523 |
| March | 75.7% | 600 |
| April | 79.8% | 582 |
| May | 81.1% | 640 |
| June | 72% | 634 |
| July | 63.8% | 728 |
| August | 66.4% | 719 |
| September | 75.2% | 481 |
| October | 77.3% | 518 |
| November | 75.7% | 614 |
| December | 73.4% | 697 |
Airlines at BQN
Every airline with at least 100 departures from BQN, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JetBlue Airways | 77% | 82 min | 1.6% | 4,583 |
| Frontier Airlines | 71.4% | 80 min | 1.6% | 1,393 |
| United Airlines | 74.4% | 83 min | 2.6% | 1,096 |
| Spirit Airlines | 54.9% | 67 min | 1.1% | 271 |
Spirit Airlines (through May 2026) 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 BQN were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 1,640 flights that departed BQN and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 65.8% put down to late-arriving aircraft and 22.2% to airline operations.
- Late-arriving aircraft 65.8%
- Airline operations 22.2%
- Air traffic & airport volume 9.2%
- Severe weather 2.1%
- Security 0.8%
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 BQN
Of 7,344 scheduled arrivals into BQN, 67.8% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 2,231 arrivals that ran late, 53% 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 BQN
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.
BQN in one number
Rafael Hernández (BQN)
Rank 183 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: Before 6am. Hardest month: July.
Questions about BQN
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Rafael Hernández?
- Before 6am. Departures in that band left on time 77.2% of the time across 3,350 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 8–10pm band was the weakest at 60.4%.
- What is the worst month to fly out of BQN?
- July: 63.8% of the departures that flew left on time, with 728 scheduled. February was the other end of the year at 83.2%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- Which airline is most on time at BQN?
- JetBlue Airways — 77% of its 4,583 departures from BQN left on time. Frontier Airlines sat at the other end at 71.4% over 1,393 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 BQN?
- 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.