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.

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

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.

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 LIT by calendar month
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

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 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 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.

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.

July 2023–June 2026 · 37,560 departures flown

80.4% of departures left on time

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. 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 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.