Best time to fly out of Palm Springs (PSP)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Palm Springs: departures in the Before 6am band left on time 91% of the time, against 74.7% 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 | 90 | 93 | 92 | 90 | 91 | 88 | 93 |
| 6–8am | 90 | 93 | 92 | 93 | 91 | 88 | 90 |
| 8–10am | 83 | 86 | 86 | 86 | 86 | 86 | 82 |
| 10am–12pm | 83 | 87 | 87 | 86 | 86 | 82 | 87 |
| 12–2pm | 78 | 80 | 82 | 81 | 80 | 78 | 78 |
| 2–4pm | 76 | 83 | 77 | 77 | 72 | 74 | 71 |
| 4–6pm | 77 | 86 | 81 | 78 | 76 | 83 | 78 |
| 6–8pm | 73 | 85 | 80 | 74 | 69 | 81 | 70 |
| 8–10pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 10pm–12am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
The steadiest stretch at PSP was Before 6am — 91% of departures left on time across 1,733 flights. The weakest was 6–8pm at 74.7%. 6–8am departures from PSP left on time 90.9% of the time across 7,926 flights; 6–8pm departures, 74.7% across 3,372. That is a gap of 16.2 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
The year at PSP
March was the hard month at PSP: 79% of departures left on time, across 5,377 flights. October was the easy one at 86.5%. 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 | 84.4% | 4,437 |
| February | 80% | 4,363 |
| March | 79% | 5,377 |
| April | 82.5% | 5,090 |
| May | 80.3% | 3,624 |
| June | 80.4% | 2,210 |
| July | 81.4% | 2,002 |
| August | 83.1% | 2,053 |
| September | 85.9% | 2,276 |
| October | 86.5% | 3,476 |
| November | 85.3% | 3,971 |
| December | 83.1% | 4,248 |
Airlines at PSP
Every airline with at least 100 departures from PSP, 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 | 84.2% | 81 min | 0.7% | 16,708 |
| Southwest Airlines | 80% | 53 min | 0.5% | 7,899 |
| American Airlines | 81.2% | 111 min | 1.6% | 5,765 |
| Alaska Airlines | 84.4% | 56 min | 1.9% | 4,772 |
| United Airlines | 80.7% | 80 min | 0.8% | 4,697 |
| Delta Air Lines | 82.9% | 73 min | 1% | 2,208 |
| Envoy Air | 89.1% | 50 min | 1% | 388 |
| Allegiant Air | 82.5% | 105 min | 0% | 326 |
| Frontier Airlines | 73.5% | 71 min | 1.4% | 222 |
| JetBlue Airways | 66.7% | 86 min | 0.7% | 142 |
What delays out of PSP were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 7,838 flights that departed PSP and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 37.3% put down to airline operations and 32.1% to late-arriving aircraft.
- Late-arriving aircraft 32.1%
- Airline operations 37.3%
- Air traffic & airport volume 26.6%
- Severe weather 3.8%
- 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 PSP
Of 43,133 scheduled arrivals into PSP, 80% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 8,137 arrivals that ran late, 58.8% 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 PSP
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.
- SFO 68.9% on time · 7,312 flights
- DEN 82.9% on time · 5,696 flights
- SEA 85.3% on time · 4,919 flights
- PHX 84.1% on time · 4,587 flights
- DFW 82.1% on time · 3,053 flights
- SLC 93% on time · 3,039 flights
- LAS 79.7% on time · 2,247 flights
- ORD 80.2% on time · 1,945 flights
- PDX 91% on time · 1,813 flights
- OAK 84.3% on time · 1,648 flights
PSP in one number
Palm Springs (PSP)
Rank 86 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: Before 6am. Hardest month: March.
Questions about PSP
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Palm Springs?
- Before 6am. Departures in that band left on time 91% of the time across 1,733 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 6–8pm band was the weakest at 74.7%.
- Is the early flight out of PSP really more reliable?
- 6–8am departures from PSP left on time 90.9% of the time across 7,926 flights; 6–8pm departures, 74.7% across 3,372. That is a gap of 16.2 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
- What is the worst month to fly out of PSP?
- March: 79% of the departures that flew left on time, with 5,377 scheduled. October was the other end of the year at 86.5%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- Which airline is most on time at PSP?
- Envoy Air — 89.1% of its 388 departures from PSP left on time. JetBlue Airways sat at the other end at 66.7% over 142 flights. Only airlines with at least 100 departures here are ranked.
- How often are flights cancelled at PSP?
- 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.