Best time to fly out of Norfolk (ORF)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Norfolk: departures in the Before 6am band left on time 91.7% of the time, against 63.9% 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 | 91 | 93 | 91 | 92 | 92 | 92 | 91 |
| 6–8am | 88 | 90 | 93 | 90 | 90 | 91 | 90 |
| 8–10am | 83 | 86 | 89 | 87 | 87 | 88 | 86 |
| 10am–12pm | 84 | 86 | 85 | 84 | 81 | 84 | 84 |
| 12–2pm | 75 | 83 | 86 | 81 | 78 | 82 | 77 |
| 2–4pm | 73 | 78 | 79 | 72 | 72 | 75 | 72 |
| 4–6pm | 73 | 77 | 78 | 73 | 73 | 72 | 68 |
| 6–8pm | 67 | 77 | 76 | 67 | 69 | 67 | 61 |
| 8–10pm | 62 | 73 | 72 | 69 | 62 | 64 | 57 |
| 10pm–12am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
The steadiest stretch at ORF was Before 6am — 91.7% of departures left on time across 4,071 flights. The weakest was 8–10pm at 63.9%. 6–8am departures from ORF left on time 90.2% of the time across 14,020 flights; 6–8pm departures, 68.8% across 7,234. That is a gap of 21.4 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
The year at ORF
July was the hard month at ORF: 68.9% of departures left on time, across 5,896 flights. October was the easy one at 87%. 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 | 83.8% | 4,313 |
| February | 85% | 4,044 |
| March | 81.8% | 4,731 |
| April | 83.5% | 4,923 |
| May | 78.8% | 5,244 |
| June | 73.8% | 5,553 |
| July | 68.9% | 5,896 |
| August | 79.6% | 5,808 |
| September | 86.2% | 5,596 |
| October | 87% | 5,682 |
| November | 86.7% | 5,129 |
| December | 80.1% | 5,030 |
Airlines at ORF
Every airline with at least 100 departures from ORF, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republic Airways | 86.3% | 86 min | 4.1% | 10,055 |
| Southwest Airlines | 77.3% | 54 min | 0.7% | 9,501 |
| PSA Airlines | 81% | 101 min | 2.3% | 9,264 |
| American Airlines | 79.1% | 114 min | 1.9% | 8,465 |
| Delta Air Lines | 82.2% | 77 min | 1.3% | 8,287 |
| United Airlines | 86.2% | 93 min | 1.8% | 6,160 |
| Endeavor Air | 83.4% | 94 min | 3% | 3,469 |
| Spirit Airlines | 72.4% | 77 min | 3.6% | 2,296 |
| Envoy Air | 81.9% | 74 min | 1.5% | 1,348 |
| SkyWest Airlines | 75.8% | 96 min | 0.9% | 1,058 |
| Frontier Airlines | 72.7% | 95 min | 2.6% | 1,028 |
| Allegiant Air | 63.5% | 91 min | 3.8% | 533 |
| JetBlue Airways | 69.1% | 82 min | 0.6% | 485 |
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 ORF were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 12,004 flights that departed ORF and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 39.4% put down to late-arriving aircraft and 33.3% to airline operations.
- Late-arriving aircraft 39.4%
- Airline operations 33.3%
- Air traffic & airport volume 21.5%
- Severe weather 5.7%
- 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 ORF
Of 61,948 scheduled arrivals into ORF, 74.9% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 14,117 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 ORF
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.
- ATL 83.6% on time · 7,990 flights
- CLT 81.4% on time · 7,701 flights
- LGA 79.1% on time · 4,677 flights
- BWI 83.4% on time · 4,654 flights
- ORD 80% on time · 4,241 flights
- JFK 83.7% on time · 3,667 flights
- DCA 73.6% on time · 3,596 flights
- DFW 73% on time · 3,057 flights
- EWR 81.3% on time · 2,630 flights
- PHL 78.9% on time · 2,509 flights
ORF in one number
Norfolk (ORF)
Rank 67 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: Before 6am. Hardest month: July.
Questions about ORF
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Norfolk?
- Before 6am. Departures in that band left on time 91.7% of the time across 4,071 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 8–10pm band was the weakest at 63.9%.
- Is the early flight out of ORF really more reliable?
- 6–8am departures from ORF left on time 90.2% of the time across 14,020 flights; 6–8pm departures, 68.8% across 7,234. That is a gap of 21.4 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
- What is the worst month to fly out of ORF?
- July: 68.9% of the departures that flew left on time, with 5,896 scheduled. October was the other end of the year at 87%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- Which airline is most on time at ORF?
- Republic Airways — 86.3% of its 10,055 departures from ORF left on time. Allegiant Air sat at the other end at 63.5% over 533 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 ORF?
- 2.2% 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.