Best time to fly out of Jacksonville (JAX)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Jacksonville: departures in the Before 6am band left on time 94.6% of the time, against 64.1% 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 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 94 | 96 | 96 | 94 |
| 6–8am | 92 | 92 | 93 | 92 | 93 | 92 | 91 |
| 8–10am | 89 | 91 | 92 | 90 | 90 | 87 | 90 |
| 10am–12pm | 83 | 87 | 85 | 85 | 83 | 85 | 83 |
| 12–2pm | 79 | 80 | 86 | 78 | 77 | 81 | 79 |
| 2–4pm | 72 | 80 | 77 | 72 | 72 | 75 | 70 |
| 4–6pm | 67 | 76 | 74 | 70 | 69 | 71 | 63 |
| 6–8pm | 69 | 75 | 76 | 67 | 69 | 68 | 61 |
| 8–10pm | 67 | 69 | 69 | 63 | 65 | 64 | 56 |
| 10pm–12am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
The steadiest stretch at JAX was Before 6am — 94.6% of departures left on time across 2,744 flights. The weakest was 8–10pm at 64.1%. 6–8am departures from JAX left on time 92.2% of the time across 17,151 flights; 6–8pm departures, 69.1% across 11,972. That is a gap of 23.1 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
The year at JAX
July was the hard month at JAX: 69.4% of departures left on time, across 7,575 flights. October was the easy one at 86.2%. 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 | 81.8% | 6,705 |
| February | 84.3% | 6,301 |
| March | 79.8% | 7,640 |
| April | 83.2% | 7,435 |
| May | 78.3% | 7,968 |
| June | 75.5% | 7,642 |
| July | 69.4% | 7,575 |
| August | 77.2% | 7,142 |
| September | 84.7% | 6,680 |
| October | 86.2% | 7,446 |
| November | 85.4% | 7,391 |
| December | 80% | 7,663 |
Airlines at JAX
Every airline with at least 100 departures from JAX, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Airlines | 79% | 98 min | 1.8% | 21,697 |
| Delta Air Lines | 82.8% | 79 min | 1.4% | 16,435 |
| Southwest Airlines | 79.2% | 52 min | 1% | 14,040 |
| United Airlines | 85.1% | 99 min | 1.2% | 11,395 |
| Republic Airways | 83.9% | 87 min | 2.8% | 5,774 |
| JetBlue Airways | 71.6% | 88 min | 2.6% | 5,567 |
| Envoy Air | 83.3% | 66 min | 1.2% | 3,460 |
| Allegiant Air | 71.8% | 101 min | 0.9% | 2,528 |
| PSA Airlines | 81.5% | 124 min | 2.9% | 2,452 |
| Frontier Airlines | 73.8% | 96 min | 3% | 2,167 |
| Endeavor Air | 85.7% | 95 min | 3.3% | 1,153 |
| SkyWest Airlines | 81.3% | 102 min | 1.8% | 920 |
What delays out of JAX were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 16,918 flights that departed JAX and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 45.1% put down to late-arriving aircraft and 32.3% to airline operations.
- Late-arriving aircraft 45.1%
- Airline operations 32.3%
- Air traffic & airport volume 17.8%
- Severe weather 4.8%
- 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 JAX
Of 87,588 scheduled arrivals into JAX, 74.6% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 20,761 arrivals that ran late, 53.5% 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 JAX
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.
- ATL 84.9% on time · 12,750 flights
- CLT 79.2% on time · 6,614 flights
- DFW 76.1% on time · 5,634 flights
- MIA 78.4% on time · 5,300 flights
- ORD 81.7% on time · 5,275 flights
- PHL 79.3% on time · 4,693 flights
- JFK 77.2% on time · 4,653 flights
- DCA 75.1% on time · 4,510 flights
- BOS 74.6% on time · 4,233 flights
- BWI 82.3% on time · 4,180 flights
JAX in one number
Jacksonville (JAX)
Rank 53 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: Before 6am. Hardest month: July.
Questions about JAX
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Jacksonville?
- Before 6am. Departures in that band left on time 94.6% of the time across 2,744 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 8–10pm band was the weakest at 64.1%.
- Is the early flight out of JAX really more reliable?
- 6–8am departures from JAX left on time 92.2% of the time across 17,151 flights; 6–8pm departures, 69.1% across 11,972. That is a gap of 23.1 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
- What is the worst month to fly out of JAX?
- July: 69.4% of the departures that flew left on time, with 7,575 scheduled. October was the other end of the year at 86.2%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- Which airline is most on time at JAX?
- Endeavor Air — 85.7% of its 1,153 departures from JAX left on time. JetBlue Airways sat at the other end at 71.6% over 5,567 flights. Only airlines with at least 100 departures here are ranked.
- How often are flights cancelled at JAX?
- 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.