Best time to fly out of Lea (HOB)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Lea: departures in the 6–8am band left on time 80.6% of the time, against 76.2% in the 8–10am 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 | 74 | 79 | 87 | 84 | 80 | 80 | 81 |
| 8–10am | 70 | 82 | 80 | 81 | 75 | 71 | 75 |
| 10am–12pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 12–2pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2–4pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 4–6pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 6–8pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 8–10pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 10pm–12am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
The steadiest stretch at HOB was 6–8am — 80.6% of departures left on time across 754 flights. The weakest was 8–10am at 76.2%.
The year at HOB
May was the hard month at HOB: 60.9% of departures left on time, across 130 flights. October was the easy one at 92.7%. 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 | 80.9% | 124 |
| February | 80.2% | 112 |
| March | 79% | 124 |
| April | 71.7% | 120 |
| May | 60.9% | 130 |
| June | 69.6% | 150 |
| July | 85.1% | 124 |
| August | 74.2% | 124 |
| September | 91.7% | 120 |
| October | 92.7% | 124 |
| November | 79.8% | 120 |
| December | 79% | 124 |
Airlines at HOB
Every airline with at least 100 departures from HOB, 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 | 78.5% | 150 min | 1.9% | 1,496 |
What delays out of HOB were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 310 flights that departed HOB and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 73.2% put down to airline operations and 12.4% to late-arriving aircraft.
- Late-arriving aircraft 12.4%
- Airline operations 73.2%
- Air traffic & airport volume 4.6%
- Severe weather 8.4%
- Security 1.4%
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 HOB
Of 1,497 scheduled arrivals into HOB, 66.7% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 454 arrivals that ran late, 41.2% 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 HOB
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.
HOB in one number
Lea (HOB)
Rank 310 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: 6–8am. Hardest month: May.
Questions about HOB
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Lea?
- 6–8am. Departures in that band left on time 80.6% of the time across 754 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 8–10am band was the weakest at 76.2%.
- What is the worst month to fly out of HOB?
- May: 60.9% of the departures that flew left on time, with 130 scheduled. October was the other end of the year at 92.7%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- How often are flights cancelled at HOB?
- 1.9% 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.