Best time to fly out of Little Rock (LIT)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Bill & Hillary Clinton /Adams: departures in the Before 6am band left on time 89% of the time, against 63.2% 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 | 89 | 89 | 90 | 91 | 89 | 87 | 89 |
| 6–8am | 86 | 92 | 87 | 88 | 87 | 86 | 88 |
| 8–10am | 86 | 89 | 87 | 86 | 86 | 84 | 85 |
| 10am–12pm | 81 | 80 | 82 | 83 | 79 | 83 | 82 |
| 12–2pm | 80 | 85 | 83 | 82 | 81 | 78 | 80 |
| 2–4pm | 74 | 77 | 78 | 71 | 74 | 76 | 67 |
| 4–6pm | 72 | 77 | 78 | 72 | 73 | 72 | 66 |
| 6–8pm | 70 | 77 | 75 | 66 | 71 | 70 | 61 |
| 8–10pm | 61 | – | – | 62 | 69 | – | 62 |
| 10pm–12am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
The steadiest stretch at LIT was Before 6am — 89% of departures left on time across 2,697 flights. The weakest was 8–10pm at 63.2%. 6–8am departures from LIT left on time 87.8% of the time across 8,718 flights; 6–8pm departures, 69.3% across 3,673. That is a gap of 18.5 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
The year at LIT
July was the hard month at LIT: 72.6% of departures left on time, across 3,441 flights. November was the easy one at 86%. 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 | 82% | 2,854 |
| February | 85.4% | 2,627 |
| March | 80.9% | 3,056 |
| April | 80.7% | 3,326 |
| May | 74.3% | 3,442 |
| June | 73.3% | 3,498 |
| July | 72.6% | 3,441 |
| August | 81.4% | 3,250 |
| September | 84.7% | 3,119 |
| October | 85.7% | 3,371 |
| November | 86% | 3,091 |
| December | 80.5% | 3,057 |
Airlines at LIT
Every airline with at least 100 departures from LIT, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Envoy Air | 79.8% | 72 min | 1.4% | 10,806 |
| Southwest Airlines | 82.5% | 56 min | 0.6% | 7,629 |
| SkyWest Airlines | 77.9% | 90 min | 1.6% | 6,629 |
| Delta Air Lines | 86.8% | 90 min | 1.2% | 6,359 |
| PSA Airlines | 74.1% | 100 min | 4.5% | 2,444 |
| American Airlines | 72.1% | 105 min | 2.3% | 1,751 |
| Republic Airways | 87.9% | 88 min | 2.3% | 1,266 |
| Endeavor Air | 83.5% | 80 min | 1.1% | 460 |
| Allegiant Air | 47.4% | 80 min | 0.3% | 387 |
| Frontier Airlines | 74.6% | 78 min | 1.7% | 357 |
What delays out of LIT were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 7,637 flights that departed LIT and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 37.7% put down to late-arriving aircraft and 33.8% to airline operations.
- Late-arriving aircraft 37.7%
- Airline operations 33.8%
- Air traffic & airport volume 16.6%
- Severe weather 11.8%
- Security 0.1%
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 LIT
Of 38,133 scheduled arrivals into LIT, 76.3% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 8,390 arrivals that ran late, 54.8% 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 LIT
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.
- DFW 72.9% on time · 8,461 flights
- ATL 88% on time · 6,766 flights
- DEN 78.2% on time · 4,269 flights
- ORD 71.3% on time · 3,723 flights
- CLT 79.4% on time · 3,629 flights
- DAL 84.9% on time · 3,074 flights
- STL 88.6% on time · 1,818 flights
- IAH 74.6% on time · 1,473 flights
- LGA 83.5% on time · 1,383 flights
- DCA 89.6% on time · 1,086 flights
LIT in one number
Bill & Hillary Clinton /Adams (LIT)
Rank 90 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: Before 6am. Hardest month: July.
Questions about LIT
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Bill & Hillary Clinton /Adams?
- Before 6am. Departures in that band left on time 89% of the time across 2,697 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 8–10pm band was the weakest at 63.2%.
- Is the early flight out of LIT really more reliable?
- 6–8am departures from LIT left on time 87.8% of the time across 8,718 flights; 6–8pm departures, 69.3% across 3,673. That is a gap of 18.5 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
- What is the worst month to fly out of LIT?
- July: 72.6% of the departures that flew left on time, with 3,441 scheduled. November was the other end of the year at 86%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- Which airline is most on time at LIT?
- Republic Airways — 87.9% of its 1,266 departures from LIT left on time. Allegiant Air sat at the other end at 47.4% over 387 flights. Only airlines with at least 100 departures here are ranked.
- How often are flights cancelled at LIT?
- 1.5% 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.