Best time to fly out of Rickenbacker (LCK)
The early-flight folk wisdom bends at Rickenbacker: the steadiest stretch was the 10am–12pm band at 88.3%, while 8–10pm departures managed 53.4%. 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 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 10am–12pm | – | – | – | 87 | – | – | 90 |
| 12–2pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2–4pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 4–6pm | – | – | – | 72 | – | – | 77 |
| 6–8pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 8–10pm | 58 | – | – | – | 49 | – | – |
| 10pm–12am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
The steadiest stretch at LCK was 10am–12pm — 88.3% of departures left on time across 239 flights. The weakest was 8–10pm at 53.4%.
The year at LCK
December was the hard month at LCK: 67.1% of departures left on time, across 218 flights. October was the easy one at 86.7%. 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 | 76.8% | 183 |
| February | 73.1% | 176 |
| March | 69.8% | 291 |
| April | 73.2% | 229 |
| May | 71.2% | 295 |
| June | 68.3% | 448 |
| July | 67.9% | 436 |
| August | 75% | 298 |
| September | 84% | 191 |
| October | 86.7% | 231 |
| November | 81.2% | 186 |
| December | 67.1% | 218 |
Airlines at LCK
Every airline with at least 100 departures from LCK, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Allegiant Air | 73.3% | 94 min | 1.2% | 3,182 |
What delays out of LCK were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 906 flights that departed LCK and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 55% put down to late-arriving aircraft and 25.2% to airline operations.
- Late-arriving aircraft 55%
- Airline operations 25.2%
- Air traffic & airport volume 12.8%
- Severe weather 5.8%
- Security 1.2%
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 LCK
Of 3,180 scheduled arrivals into LCK, 76.3% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 710 arrivals that ran late, 49.4% 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 LCK
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.
- PGD 68.1% on time · 529 flights
- PIE 67.7% on time · 469 flights
- SFB 60.6% on time · 459 flights
- SAV 81% on time · 384 flights
- SRQ 85.6% on time · 356 flights
- MYR 73.2% on time · 351 flights
- VPS 74.5% on time · 316 flights
- FLL 64.1% on time · 249 flights
- CHS Not enough flights to say · 57 flights
- EYW Not enough flights to say · 12 flights
LCK in one number
Rickenbacker (LCK)
Rank 236 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: 10am–12pm. Hardest month: December.
Questions about LCK
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Rickenbacker?
- 10am–12pm. Departures in that band left on time 88.3% of the time across 239 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 8–10pm band was the weakest at 53.4%.
- What is the worst month to fly out of LCK?
- December: 67.1% of the departures that flew left on time, with 218 scheduled. October was the other end of the year at 86.7%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- How often are flights cancelled at LCK?
- 1.2% 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.