Best time to fly out of Reno Tahoe (RNO)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Reno Tahoe: departures in the Before 6am band left on time 94.7% of the time, against 70.5% in the 10pm–12am 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 | 96 | 95 | 96 | 96 | 93 | 95 | 92 |
| 6–8am | 93 | 93 | 95 | 94 | 92 | 92 | 91 |
| 8–10am | 88 | 89 | 91 | 87 | 88 | 90 | 87 |
| 10am–12pm | 82 | 86 | 86 | 82 | 81 | 85 | 84 |
| 12–2pm | 80 | 84 | 84 | 82 | 79 | 81 | 76 |
| 2–4pm | 69 | 79 | 75 | 71 | 69 | 75 | 66 |
| 4–6pm | 75 | 83 | 82 | 71 | 73 | 82 | 71 |
| 6–8pm | 71 | 82 | 78 | 66 | 68 | 80 | 69 |
| 8–10pm | 74 | 83 | 84 | 71 | 74 | 84 | 62 |
| 10pm–12am | 74 | 75 | 69 | 68 | 75 | 65 | 69 |
The steadiest stretch at RNO was Before 6am — 94.7% of departures left on time across 3,955 flights. The weakest was 10pm–12am at 70.5%. 6–8am departures from RNO left on time 93% of the time across 12,297 flights; 6–8pm departures, 72.6% across 5,930. That is a gap of 20.4 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
The year at RNO
July was the hard month at RNO: 77% of departures left on time, across 5,748 flights. November was the easy one at 87.6%. 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 | 84.9% | 4,882 |
| February | 81.6% | 4,629 |
| March | 81.7% | 5,325 |
| April | 83.6% | 4,963 |
| May | 82.6% | 5,200 |
| June | 78.4% | 5,646 |
| July | 77% | 5,748 |
| August | 81.3% | 5,759 |
| September | 84.6% | 5,177 |
| October | 85.1% | 5,201 |
| November | 87.6% | 4,919 |
| December | 82.9% | 5,108 |
Airlines at RNO
Every airline with at least 100 departures from RNO, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 81.2% | 55 min | 0.7% | 25,673 |
| SkyWest Airlines | 86.3% | 80 min | 0.8% | 12,728 |
| American Airlines | 82.5% | 113 min | 1.5% | 7,179 |
| United Airlines | 83% | 80 min | 0.8% | 7,142 |
| Delta Air Lines | 81.8% | 84 min | 0.7% | 3,074 |
| Spirit Airlines | 83.3% | 67 min | 1.7% | 2,441 |
| Alaska Airlines | 82% | 56 min | 1.1% | 2,272 |
| Envoy Air | 82.9% | 66 min | 0.4% | 770 |
| JetBlue Airways | 64.5% | 159 min | 2.8% | 753 |
| Frontier Airlines | 75.3% | 101 min | 1.7% | 469 |
What delays out of RNO were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 11,041 flights that departed RNO and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 41.6% put down to late-arriving aircraft and 31.1% to airline operations.
- Late-arriving aircraft 41.6%
- Airline operations 31.1%
- Air traffic & airport volume 22.3%
- Severe weather 4.8%
- 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 RNO
Of 62,560 scheduled arrivals into RNO, 78.9% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 12,506 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 RNO
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.
- LAS 81.9% on time · 12,473 flights
- LAX 86.3% on time · 8,085 flights
- DEN 84.6% on time · 7,501 flights
- PHX 86.2% on time · 7,141 flights
- SFO 71.6% on time · 4,980 flights
- DFW 80.4% on time · 3,818 flights
- SLC 88.1% on time · 3,379 flights
- SAN 74.9% on time · 2,979 flights
- SEA 76.7% on time · 2,522 flights
- LGB 83.2% on time · 2,145 flights
RNO in one number
Reno Tahoe (RNO)
Rank 66 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: Before 6am. Hardest month: July.
Questions about RNO
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Reno Tahoe?
- Before 6am. Departures in that band left on time 94.7% of the time across 3,955 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 10pm–12am band was the weakest at 70.5%.
- Is the early flight out of RNO really more reliable?
- 6–8am departures from RNO left on time 93% of the time across 12,297 flights; 6–8pm departures, 72.6% across 5,930. That is a gap of 20.4 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
- What is the worst month to fly out of RNO?
- July: 77% of the departures that flew left on time, with 5,748 scheduled. November was the other end of the year at 87.6%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- Which airline is most on time at RNO?
- SkyWest Airlines — 86.3% of its 12,728 departures from RNO left on time. JetBlue Airways sat at the other end at 64.5% over 753 flights. Only airlines with at least 100 departures here are ranked.
- How often are flights cancelled at RNO?
- 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.