Best time to fly out of Pittsburgh (PIT)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Pittsburgh: departures in the Before 6am band left on time 94% of the time, against 63.4% 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 | 93 | 94 | 96 | 95 | 94 | 91 | 94 |
| 6–8am | 93 | 94 | 94 | 94 | 93 | 93 | 92 |
| 8–10am | 91 | 91 | 94 | 92 | 90 | 91 | 91 |
| 10am–12pm | 86 | 90 | 91 | 89 | 86 | 86 | 87 |
| 12–2pm | 83 | 88 | 86 | 83 | 82 | 82 | 82 |
| 2–4pm | 75 | 83 | 83 | 77 | 75 | 77 | 73 |
| 4–6pm | 74 | 79 | 77 | 72 | 73 | 75 | 72 |
| 6–8pm | 69 | 78 | 74 | 69 | 69 | 68 | 66 |
| 8–10pm | 66 | 71 | 65 | 60 | 63 | 65 | 59 |
| 10pm–12am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
The steadiest stretch at PIT was Before 6am — 94% of departures left on time across 5,329 flights. The weakest was 8–10pm at 63.4%. 6–8am departures from PIT left on time 93.3% of the time across 30,139 flights; 6–8pm departures, 70.3% across 15,604. That is a gap of 23 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
The year at PIT
July was the hard month at PIT: 76.5% of departures left on time, across 11,684 flights. November 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 | 84.2% | 9,420 |
| February | 85.9% | 9,007 |
| March | 82.5% | 10,615 |
| April | 85.7% | 10,740 |
| May | 82.2% | 11,360 |
| June | 78.7% | 11,577 |
| July | 76.5% | 11,684 |
| August | 81.8% | 11,568 |
| September | 87.3% | 10,868 |
| October | 87.7% | 11,526 |
| November | 88% | 10,398 |
| December | 82.1% | 10,238 |
Airlines at PIT
Every airline with at least 100 departures from PIT, 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 | 89.9% | 69 min | 2.2% | 31,556 |
| Southwest Airlines | 80% | 55 min | 0.7% | 30,794 |
| American Airlines | 81.9% | 102 min | 1.4% | 18,173 |
| United Airlines | 85.9% | 81 min | 0.9% | 10,149 |
| Delta Air Lines | 87.5% | 74 min | 1.3% | 9,733 |
| Spirit Airlines | 74.6% | 76 min | 2.5% | 7,357 |
| Allegiant Air | 81.4% | 88 min | 1.1% | 4,516 |
| JetBlue Airways | 80.5% | 84 min | 2.5% | 4,015 |
| SkyWest Airlines | 80.8% | 103 min | 1.2% | 3,596 |
| Endeavor Air | 85.6% | 122 min | 3% | 2,411 |
| PSA Airlines | 76.7% | 95 min | 4.4% | 2,333 |
| Envoy Air | 81.7% | 60 min | 1.5% | 1,870 |
| Alaska Airlines | 79% | 52 min | 1.6% | 1,414 |
| Frontier Airlines | 72.5% | 88 min | 3% | 1,084 |
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 PIT were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 22,554 flights that departed PIT and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 37.6% put down to late-arriving aircraft and 29.1% to air traffic & airport volume.
- Late-arriving aircraft 37.6%
- Airline operations 28.4%
- Air traffic & airport volume 29.1%
- Severe weather 4.7%
- 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 PIT
Of 128,995 scheduled arrivals into PIT, 77.1% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 27,242 arrivals that ran late, 53.2% 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 PIT
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.
- ORD 82.3% on time · 9,887 flights
- LGA 83.8% on time · 9,123 flights
- ATL 88.4% on time · 8,512 flights
- MCO 78.5% on time · 6,826 flights
- EWR 86.7% on time · 6,578 flights
- BOS 80.5% on time · 6,354 flights
- CLT 82.8% on time · 5,797 flights
- JFK 87.6% on time · 5,255 flights
- DEN 82.1% on time · 5,189 flights
- DCA 78.3% on time · 4,762 flights
PIT in one number
Pittsburgh (PIT)
Rank 44 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: Before 6am. Hardest month: July.
Questions about PIT
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Pittsburgh?
- Before 6am. Departures in that band left on time 94% of the time across 5,329 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 8–10pm band was the weakest at 63.4%.
- Is the early flight out of PIT really more reliable?
- 6–8am departures from PIT left on time 93.3% of the time across 30,139 flights; 6–8pm departures, 70.3% across 15,604. That is a gap of 23 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
- What is the worst month to fly out of PIT?
- July: 76.5% of the departures that flew left on time, with 11,684 scheduled. November 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 PIT?
- Republic Airways — 89.9% of its 31,556 departures from PIT left on time. Frontier Airlines sat at the other end at 72.5% over 1,084 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 PIT?
- 1.6% 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.