Best time to fly out of Bozeman Yellowstone (BZN)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Bozeman Yellowstone: departures in the 6–8am band left on time 93.6% of the time, against 72% in the 4–6pm 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 | 90 | 95 | 96 | 96 | 93 | 94 | 91 |
| 6–8am | 94 | 93 | 95 | 94 | 93 | 93 | 93 |
| 8–10am | 90 | 96 | 90 | 95 | 93 | 89 | 92 |
| 10am–12pm | 84 | 86 | 86 | 80 | 82 | 82 | 80 |
| 12–2pm | 80 | 82 | 83 | 80 | 77 | 75 | 76 |
| 2–4pm | 78 | 81 | 82 | 77 | 77 | 72 | 75 |
| 4–6pm | 73 | 75 | 77 | 72 | 68 | 72 | 67 |
| 6–8pm | 79 | 80 | 83 | 77 | 75 | 75 | 75 |
| 8–10pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 10pm–12am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
The steadiest stretch at BZN was 6–8am — 93.6% of departures left on time across 4,924 flights. The weakest was 4–6pm at 72%. 6–8am departures from BZN left on time 93.6% of the time across 4,924 flights; 6–8pm departures, 77.7% across 1,963. That is a gap of 15.9 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
The year at BZN
July was the hard month at BZN: 74.4% of departures left on time, across 3,464 flights. November was the easy one at 87.7%. 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 | 79.9% | 2,512 |
| February | 80.3% | 2,401 |
| March | 81.1% | 2,826 |
| April | 85.6% | 1,928 |
| May | 82.3% | 2,288 |
| June | 77.2% | 3,423 |
| July | 74.4% | 3,464 |
| August | 79.4% | 3,392 |
| September | 86.8% | 2,792 |
| October | 87.1% | 2,280 |
| November | 87.7% | 1,838 |
| December | 81.7% | 2,545 |
Airlines at BZN
Every airline with at least 100 departures from BZN, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Airlines | 81.1% | 84 min | 1% | 7,436 |
| SkyWest Airlines | 87% | 76 min | 0.6% | 6,061 |
| Southwest Airlines | 77.3% | 56 min | 0.4% | 5,729 |
| Delta Air Lines | 87.3% | 103 min | 0.7% | 5,712 |
| American Airlines | 72.7% | 124 min | 0.9% | 3,068 |
| Alaska Airlines | 80.7% | 54 min | 1.1% | 1,874 |
| Allegiant Air | 78.6% | 98 min | 1.2% | 1,123 |
| JetBlue Airways | 60.1% | 100 min | 1.8% | 569 |
| Envoy Air | 76.1% | — | 0% | 117 |
A dash under typical delay means fewer than 30 of that airline’s departures ran 15 minutes late or more — too few to average.
What delays out of BZN were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 6,207 flights that departed BZN and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 34.6% put down to late-arriving aircraft and 32.2% to airline operations.
- Late-arriving aircraft 34.6%
- Airline operations 32.2%
- Air traffic & airport volume 26.1%
- Severe weather 7.1%
- Security 0%
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 BZN
Of 31,690 scheduled arrivals into BZN, 79% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 6,378 arrivals that ran late, 59.5% 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 BZN
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 78.3% on time · 8,014 flights
- SLC 88.9% on time · 3,456 flights
- ORD 77.7% on time · 2,942 flights
- SEA 81.8% on time · 2,916 flights
- MSP 87.1% on time · 2,416 flights
- DFW 73.5% on time · 2,035 flights
- LAS 77.9% on time · 1,994 flights
- LAX 87.3% on time · 1,726 flights
- SFO 77.4% on time · 1,225 flights
- ATL 83.5% on time · 1,167 flights
BZN in one number
Bozeman Yellowstone (BZN)
Rank 100 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: 6–8am. Hardest month: July.
Questions about BZN
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Bozeman Yellowstone?
- 6–8am. Departures in that band left on time 93.6% of the time across 4,924 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 4–6pm band was the weakest at 72%.
- Is the early flight out of BZN really more reliable?
- 6–8am departures from BZN left on time 93.6% of the time across 4,924 flights; 6–8pm departures, 77.7% across 1,963. That is a gap of 15.9 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
- What is the worst month to fly out of BZN?
- July: 74.4% of the departures that flew left on time, with 3,464 scheduled. November was the other end of the year at 87.7%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- Which airline is most on time at BZN?
- Delta Air Lines — 87.3% of its 5,712 departures from BZN left on time. JetBlue Airways sat at the other end at 60.1% over 569 flights. Only airlines with at least 100 departures here are ranked.
- How often are flights cancelled at BZN?
- 0.8% 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.