Best time to fly out of Monterey (MRY)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Monterey: departures in the 6–8am band left on time 93.9% of the time, against 77.3% in the 12–2pm 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 | 92 | 94 | 90 | 89 | 91 | 90 |
| 6–8am | 94 | 94 | 94 | 94 | 94 | 95 | 93 |
| 8–10am | 79 | 74 | 82 | 83 | 84 | 90 | 80 |
| 10am–12pm | 84 | 97 | 90 | 91 | 92 | 86 | 89 |
| 12–2pm | 71 | 81 | 78 | 78 | 79 | 80 | 76 |
| 2–4pm | 75 | 82 | 82 | 78 | 77 | 81 | 75 |
| 4–6pm | 74 | 93 | 85 | 80 | 71 | 80 | 75 |
| 6–8pm | 81 | – | 86 | 82 | 89 | 86 | 83 |
| 8–10pm | 90 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 10pm–12am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
The steadiest stretch at MRY was 6–8am — 93.9% of departures left on time across 2,772 flights. The weakest was 12–2pm at 77.3%. 6–8am departures from MRY left on time 93.9% of the time across 2,772 flights; 6–8pm departures, 84.3% across 891. That is a gap of 9.6 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
The year at MRY
June was the hard month at MRY: 78.8% of departures left on time, across 1,237 flights. January was the easy one at 88%. 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 | 88% | 1,034 |
| February | 83.8% | 973 |
| March | 86.4% | 1,117 |
| April | 85.4% | 1,233 |
| May | 82% | 1,209 |
| June | 78.8% | 1,237 |
| July | 81.4% | 1,223 |
| August | 84.3% | 1,220 |
| September | 87.4% | 1,146 |
| October | 85.9% | 1,247 |
| November | 85.2% | 1,208 |
| December | 83.8% | 1,102 |
Airlines at MRY
Every airline with at least 100 departures from MRY, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SkyWest Airlines | 86.6% | 86 min | 0.8% | 10,691 |
| American Airlines | 74% | 127 min | 1.6% | 1,719 |
| Envoy Air | 84.9% | 55 min | 0.6% | 1,115 |
| Allegiant Air | 57.8% | 99 min | 0.3% | 316 |
| United Airlines | 92.5% | — | 0.9% | 108 |
A dash under typical delay means fewer than 30 of that airline’s departures ran 15 minutes late or more — too few to average.
What delays out of MRY were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 2,404 flights that departed MRY and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 42% put down to airline operations and 33.6% to late-arriving aircraft.
- Late-arriving aircraft 33.6%
- Airline operations 42%
- Air traffic & airport volume 14.8%
- Severe weather 9.6%
- Security 0%
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 MRY
Of 13,952 scheduled arrivals into MRY, 80.2% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 2,577 arrivals that ran late, 54.9% 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 MRY
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.
- PHX 84.5% on time · 4,031 flights
- LAX 88.1% on time · 2,407 flights
- SFO 76.5% on time · 2,003 flights
- DEN 90.2% on time · 1,911 flights
- SAN 80.3% on time · 1,682 flights
- DFW 72.8% on time · 1,233 flights
- SEA 82.7% on time · 360 flights
- LAS 58% on time · 316 flights
- ORD Not enough flights to say · 6 flights
MRY in one number
Monterey (MRY)
Rank 145 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: 6–8am. Hardest month: June.
Questions about MRY
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Monterey?
- 6–8am. Departures in that band left on time 93.9% of the time across 2,772 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 12–2pm band was the weakest at 77.3%.
- Is the early flight out of MRY really more reliable?
- 6–8am departures from MRY left on time 93.9% of the time across 2,772 flights; 6–8pm departures, 84.3% across 891. That is a gap of 9.6 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
- What is the worst month to fly out of MRY?
- June: 78.8% of the departures that flew left on time, with 1,237 scheduled. January was the other end of the year at 88%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- Which airline is most on time at MRY?
- United Airlines — 92.5% of its 108 departures from MRY left on time. Allegiant Air sat at the other end at 57.8% over 316 flights. Only airlines with at least 100 departures here are ranked.
- How often are flights cancelled at MRY?
- 0.9% 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.