Best time to fly out of Frederick W. Smith (MEM)

The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Frederick W. Smith: departures in the 6–8am band left on time 91% of the time, against 65.2% 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 90 91 92 91 89 90 90
6–8am 90 93 92 92 89 91 91
8–10am 86 88 90 88 86 85 87
10am–12pm 79 85 84 82 78 82 80
12–2pm 78 83 83 80 78 80 80
2–4pm 74 81 80 75 70 75 71
4–6pm 71 76 74 68 68 73 66
6–8pm 72 75 78 69 71 66 64
8–10pm 68 – – 63 70 74 59
10pm–12am – – – – – – –
fewer left on time more left on time

The steadiest stretch at MEM was 6–8am — 91% of departures left on time across 18,445 flights. The weakest was 8–10pm at 65.2%. 6–8am departures from MEM left on time 91% of the time across 18,445 flights; 6–8pm departures, 70.5% across 6,692. That is a gap of 20.5 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.

The year at MEM

July was the hard month at MEM: 74.3% of departures left on time, across 6,454 flights. September was the easy one at 87.6%. 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, 81.7%.
Departure on-time share at MEM by calendar month
Month Share departures that left on time Flights
January 81% 4,928
February 86% 4,638
March 81% 5,806
April 83.5% 5,892
May 76.8% 6,420
June 75.9% 6,557
July 74.3% 6,454
August 82.9% 6,253
September 87.6% 5,909
October 86.8% 6,409
November 84.9% 5,705
December 81.7% 5,564

Airlines at MEM

Every airline with at least 100 departures from MEM, 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
Delta Air Lines 87.8% 88 min 1.3% 13,390
American Airlines 79.3% 105 min 1.9% 12,133
Southwest Airlines 77.8% 56 min 0.9% 11,529
Republic Airways 85.9% 83 min 2.4% 8,708
SkyWest Airlines 80.3% 85 min 1.3% 5,683
Envoy Air 80.8% 67 min 1.8% 4,805
United Airlines 85% 81 min 1.7% 4,583
PSA Airlines 77% 94 min 3.6% 3,791
Spirit Airlines 80.4% 79 min 1.7% 2,391
Allegiant Air 64.7% 95 min 1% 1,598
Endeavor Air 87.4% 77 min 2.5% 1,346
Frontier Airlines 73.8% 78 min 1% 578

Spirit Airlines (through May 2026) and Endeavor Air (through December 2024) stopped filing before June 2026. Their rows cover a shorter run of months than the rest of the table, so their figures are not set against the others anywhere on this page.

What delays out of MEM were put down to

Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 12,847 flights that departed MEM and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 36.9% put down to late-arriving aircraft and 36.4% to airline operations.

Late-arriving aircraft 36.9% Airline operations 36.4% Air traffic & airport volume 19.4% Severe weather 7.2% Security 0.1%
  • Late-arriving aircraft 36.9%
  • Airline operations 36.4%
  • Air traffic & airport volume 19.4%
  • Severe weather 7.2%
  • 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 MEM

Of 70,524 scheduled arrivals into MEM, 75.3% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 16,120 arrivals that ran late, 53.4% 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 MEM

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.

MEM in one number

Frederick W. Smith (MEM)

Rank 61 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: 6–8am. Hardest month: July.

July 2023–June 2026 · 69,346 departures flown

81.7% of departures left on time

Questions about MEM

What is the best time of day to fly out of Frederick W. Smith?
6–8am. Departures in that band left on time 91% of the time across 18,445 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 8–10pm band was the weakest at 65.2%.
Is the early flight out of MEM really more reliable?
6–8am departures from MEM left on time 91% of the time across 18,445 flights; 6–8pm departures, 70.5% across 6,692. That is a gap of 20.5 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
What is the worst month to fly out of MEM?
July: 74.3% of the departures that flew left on time, with 6,454 scheduled. September was the other end of the year at 87.6%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
Which airline is most on time at MEM?
Delta Air Lines — 87.8% of its 13,390 departures from MEM left on time. Allegiant Air sat at the other end at 64.7% over 1,598 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 MEM?
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.