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.

Share of departures that left on time, by hour band and day of week.
Departure time MonTueWedThuFriSatSun
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 – – – – – – –
fewer left on time more left on time

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.

Share of departures that left on time, by calendar month. Best month in green, worst in amber. The hairline sits at the overall rate, 80.4%.
Departure on-time share at JAX by calendar month
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

Endeavor Air (through December 2024) 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 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 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.

JAX in one number

Jacksonville (JAX)

Rank 53 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: Before 6am. Hardest month: July.

July 2023–June 2026 · 86,114 departures flown

80.4% of departures left on time

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?
United Airlines — 85.1% of its 11,395 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. 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 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.