Best time to fly out of Lafayette (LFT)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Lafayette: departures in the Before 6am band left on time 91% of the time, against 69.2% in the 4–6pm 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 | 92 | 88 | 88 | 89 | 93 | 91 | 96 |
| 6–8am | 91 | 91 | 90 | 88 | 88 | 91 | 86 |
| 8–10am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 10am–12pm | 81 | 82 | 82 | 79 | 83 | 79 | 81 |
| 12–2pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2–4pm | 78 | 78 | 81 | 69 | 69 | 81 | 73 |
| 4–6pm | 72 | 68 | 73 | 68 | 70 | 68 | 66 |
| 6–8pm | 70 | 88 | 75 | 75 | 73 | – | 72 |
| 8–10pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 10pm–12am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
The steadiest stretch at LFT was Before 6am — 91% of departures left on time across 1,173 flights. The weakest was 4–6pm at 69.2%. 6–8am departures from LFT left on time 89.4% of the time across 1,661 flights; 6–8pm departures, 75.1% across 667. That is a gap of 14.3 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
The year at LFT
May was the hard month at LFT: 74.8% of departures left on time, across 770 flights. October was the easy one at 87.2%. 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 | 79.1% | 653 |
| February | 81.8% | 532 |
| March | 79.8% | 748 |
| April | 81.2% | 632 |
| May | 74.8% | 770 |
| June | 75.3% | 682 |
| July | 76.8% | 835 |
| August | 82.9% | 805 |
| September | 85% | 748 |
| October | 87.2% | 804 |
| November | 82.9% | 755 |
| December | 80.9% | 737 |
Airlines at LFT
Every airline with at least 100 departures from LFT, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA Airlines | 76.2% | 115 min | 3.9% | 3,160 |
| SkyWest Airlines | 81.7% | 108 min | 2.3% | 2,873 |
| Envoy Air | 81.9% | 77 min | 2% | 1,515 |
| Endeavor Air | 88.6% | 109 min | 1% | 1,152 |
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 LFT were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 1,701 flights that departed LFT and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 36.1% put down to airline operations and 35.4% to late-arriving aircraft.
- Late-arriving aircraft 35.4%
- Airline operations 36.1%
- Air traffic & airport volume 10.5%
- Severe weather 17.8%
- Security 0.2%
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 LFT
Of 8,700 scheduled arrivals into LFT, 75.6% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 1,890 arrivals that ran late, 48.1% 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 LFT
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.
LFT in one number
Lafayette (LFT)
Rank 172 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: Before 6am. Hardest month: May.
Questions about LFT
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Lafayette?
- Before 6am. Departures in that band left on time 91% of the time across 1,173 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 4–6pm band was the weakest at 69.2%.
- Is the early flight out of LFT really more reliable?
- 6–8am departures from LFT left on time 89.4% of the time across 1,661 flights; 6–8pm departures, 75.1% across 667. That is a gap of 14.3 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
- What is the worst month to fly out of LFT?
- May: 74.8% of the departures that flew left on time, with 770 scheduled. October was the other end of the year at 87.2%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- Which airline is most on time at LFT?
- Envoy Air — 81.9% of its 1,515 departures from LFT left on time. PSA Airlines sat at the other end at 76.2% over 3,160 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 LFT?
- 2.7% 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.