Best time to fly out of Tri Cities (PSC)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Tri Cities: departures in the Before 6am band left on time 93.8% of the time, against 73.3% 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.
| Departure time | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before 6am | 94 | 96 | 94 | 94 | 94 | 91 | 93 |
| 6–8am | 91 | 92 | 92 | 92 | 92 | 92 | 93 |
| 8–10am | 89 | 87 | 88 | 88 | 88 | 84 | 88 |
| 10am–12pm | 86 | 86 | 89 | 90 | 88 | 85 | 89 |
| 12–2pm | 84 | 86 | 86 | 83 | 83 | 82 | 83 |
| 2–4pm | 89 | 89 | 83 | 94 | 85 | 85 | 87 |
| 4–6pm | 86 | 86 | 85 | 88 | 90 | 89 | 87 |
| 6–8pm | – | – | – | 72 | – | – | 75 |
| 8–10pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 10pm–12am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
The steadiest stretch at PSC was Before 6am — 93.8% of departures left on time across 3,267 flights. The weakest was 6–8pm at 73.3%. 6–8am departures from PSC left on time 92% of the time across 3,754 flights; 6–8pm departures, 73.3% across 307. That is a gap of 18.7 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
The year at PSC
January was the hard month at PSC: 82.7% of departures left on time, across 1,404 flights. March was the easy one at 91%. 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 | 82.7% | 1,404 |
| February | 86.3% | 1,277 |
| March | 91% | 1,393 |
| April | 89.7% | 1,359 |
| May | 89.3% | 1,539 |
| June | 87.3% | 1,490 |
| July | 88.7% | 1,555 |
| August | 89.7% | 1,495 |
| September | 90.1% | 1,401 |
| October | 90.5% | 1,570 |
| November | 87.6% | 1,467 |
| December | 85.1% | 1,547 |
Airlines at PSC
Every airline with at least 100 departures from PSC, 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 | 88.8% | 85 min | 0.3% | 13,563 |
| Delta Air Lines | 93.7% | 184 min | 0.3% | 1,363 |
| Alaska Airlines | 83.3% | 74 min | 1.5% | 1,201 |
| Allegiant Air | 76.3% | 94 min | 0.3% | 913 |
| United Airlines | 90.5% | 90 min | 0.7% | 457 |
What delays out of PSC were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 2,269 flights that departed PSC and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 51.6% put down to airline operations and 17.3% to late-arriving aircraft.
- Late-arriving aircraft 17.3%
- Airline operations 51.6%
- Air traffic & airport volume 14.1%
- Severe weather 16.7%
- Security 0.3%
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 PSC
Of 17,497 scheduled arrivals into PSC, 82.6% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 2,933 arrivals that ran late, 58.3% 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 PSC
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.
- SEA 86.4% on time · 5,823 flights
- SLC 92.8% on time · 3,346 flights
- DEN 87.1% on time · 2,189 flights
- SFO 77.6% on time · 1,800 flights
- PHX 89.2% on time · 1,492 flights
- MSP 92.7% on time · 1,096 flights
- LAX 86.4% on time · 666 flights
- AZA 76.8% on time · 437 flights
- LAS 78.5% on time · 388 flights
- BUR 84% on time · 186 flights
PSC in one number
Tri Cities (PSC)
Rank 132 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: Before 6am. Hardest month: January.
Questions about PSC
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Tri Cities?
- Before 6am. Departures in that band left on time 93.8% of the time across 3,267 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 6–8pm band was the weakest at 73.3%.
- Is the early flight out of PSC really more reliable?
- 6–8am departures from PSC left on time 92% of the time across 3,754 flights; 6–8pm departures, 73.3% across 307. That is a gap of 18.7 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
- What is the worst month to fly out of PSC?
- January: 82.7% of the departures that flew left on time, with 1,404 scheduled. March was the other end of the year at 91%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- Which airline is most on time at PSC?
- Delta Air Lines — 93.7% of its 1,363 departures from PSC left on time. Allegiant Air sat at the other end at 76.3% over 913 flights. Only airlines with at least 100 departures here are ranked.
- How often are flights cancelled at PSC?
- 0.4% 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.