Best time to fly out of West Palm Beach (PBI)

The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at West Palm Beach: departures in the 6–8am band left on time 94.3% of the time, against 61.4% in the 6–8pm 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 – – – – – – –
6–8am 93 94 95 95 95 95 94
8–10am 88 90 91 90 90 92 89
10am–12pm 81 84 83 80 80 81 81
12–2pm 73 78 78 70 68 73 70
2–4pm 65 74 72 65 65 71 60
4–6pm 65 75 71 62 66 69 58
6–8pm 61 69 65 56 62 68 53
8–10pm 60 73 70 60 64 67 52
10pm–12am – – – – – – –
fewer left on time more left on time

The steadiest stretch at PBI was 6–8am — 94.3% of departures left on time across 14,210 flights. The weakest was 6–8pm at 61.4%. 6–8am departures from PBI left on time 94.3% of the time across 14,210 flights; 6–8pm departures, 61.4% across 13,805. That is a gap of 32.9 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.

The year at PBI

July was the hard month at PBI: 69.1% of departures left on time, across 5,948 flights. October was the easy one at 83.2%. 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, 75.4%.
Departure on-time share at PBI by calendar month
Month Share departures that left on time Flights
January 73.4% 8,962
February 75.8% 8,643
March 71.5% 9,962
April 77.6% 8,839
May 75.6% 7,367
June 73.8% 6,185
July 69.1% 5,948
August 73.7% 5,722
September 81.1% 5,248
October 83.2% 6,396
November 81.1% 7,698
December 71.9% 8,962

Airlines at PBI

Every airline with at least 100 departures from PBI, 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
JetBlue Airways 73% 78 min 2% 25,784
Delta Air Lines 77.8% 76 min 1.7% 21,433
American Airlines 75.8% 99 min 1.9% 18,273
United Airlines 76.6% 95 min 2.2% 11,238
Southwest Airlines 78.3% 62 min 0.7% 7,880
Frontier Airlines 63.2% 93 min 2.5% 2,276
Spirit Airlines 78.8% 71 min 3.5% 1,353
Allegiant Air 70.4% 75 min 0.9% 1,224
Republic Airways 76.6% 84 min 3.3% 424

Spirit Airlines (through May 2026) 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 PBI were put down to

Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 20,984 flights that departed PBI and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 48.4% put down to late-arriving aircraft and 26.8% to airline operations.

Late-arriving aircraft 48.4% Airline operations 26.8% Air traffic & airport volume 21.5% Severe weather 3.1% Security 0.1%
  • Late-arriving aircraft 48.4%
  • Airline operations 26.8%
  • Air traffic & airport volume 21.5%
  • Severe weather 3.1%
  • 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 PBI

Of 89,936 scheduled arrivals into PBI, 72.5% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 22,834 arrivals that ran late, 50.3% 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 PBI

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.

PBI in one number

West Palm Beach (PBI)

Rank 52 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: 6–8am. Hardest month: July.

July 2023–June 2026 · 88,256 departures flown

75.4% of departures left on time

Questions about PBI

What is the best time of day to fly out of West Palm Beach?
6–8am. Departures in that band left on time 94.3% of the time across 14,210 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 6–8pm band was the weakest at 61.4%.
Is the early flight out of PBI really more reliable?
6–8am departures from PBI left on time 94.3% of the time across 14,210 flights; 6–8pm departures, 61.4% across 13,805. That is a gap of 32.9 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
What is the worst month to fly out of PBI?
July: 69.1% of the departures that flew left on time, with 5,948 scheduled. October was the other end of the year at 83.2%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
Which airline is most on time at PBI?
Southwest Airlines — 78.3% of its 7,880 departures from PBI left on time. Frontier Airlines sat at the other end at 63.2% over 2,276 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 PBI?
1.9% 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.