Best time to fly out of Decatur (DEC)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Decatur: departures in the 8–10am band left on time 83.7% of the time, against 79.2% in the 6–8pm 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 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 6–8am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 8–10am | 88 | – | 84 | 87 | 82 | – | 78 |
| 10am–12pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 12–2pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2–4pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 4–6pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 6–8pm | 83 | – | 77 | 80 | 81 | – | 76 |
| 8–10pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 10pm–12am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
The steadiest stretch at DEC was 8–10am — 83.7% of departures left on time across 571 flights. The weakest was 6–8pm at 79.2%.
The year at DEC
December was the hard month at DEC: 75.8% of departures left on time, across 190 flights. October was the easy one at 86.9%. 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 | 79.1% | 190 |
| February | 81% | 175 |
| March | 83% | 190 |
| April | 84.9% | 184 |
| May | 78.8% | 191 |
| June | 80.1% | 155 |
| July | 77.5% | 190 |
| August | 78.5% | 190 |
| September | 81.5% | 184 |
| October | 86.9% | 191 |
| November | 85.6% | 183 |
| December | 75.8% | 190 |
Airlines at DEC
Every airline with at least 100 departures from DEC, 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 | 81.1% | 178 min | 2.8% | 2,213 |
What delays out of DEC were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 514 flights that departed DEC and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 46.2% put down to late-arriving aircraft and 41% to airline operations.
- Late-arriving aircraft 46.2%
- Airline operations 41%
- Air traffic & airport volume 7.5%
- Severe weather 5.3%
- 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 DEC
Of 2,213 scheduled arrivals into DEC, 74% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 518 arrivals that ran late, 43.4% 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 DEC
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.
DEC in one number
Decatur (DEC)
Rank 255 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: 8–10am. Hardest month: December.
Questions about DEC
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Decatur?
- 8–10am. Departures in that band left on time 83.7% of the time across 571 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 6–8pm band was the weakest at 79.2%.
- What is the worst month to fly out of DEC?
- December: 75.8% of the departures that flew left on time, with 190 scheduled. October was the other end of the year at 86.9%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- How often are flights cancelled at DEC?
- 2.8% 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.