Best time to fly out of Southwest Florida (RSW)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Southwest Florida: departures in the 6–8am band left on time 94.6% of the time, against 66.5% 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 | 92 | 94 | 96 | 97 | 95 | 96 | 92 |
| 6–8am | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 96 | 94 | 94 |
| 8–10am | 89 | 91 | 93 | 92 | 91 | 91 | 89 |
| 10am–12pm | 82 | 84 | 85 | 83 | 83 | 83 | 82 |
| 12–2pm | 80 | 83 | 80 | 79 | 79 | 76 | 75 |
| 2–4pm | 74 | 78 | 77 | 76 | 73 | 72 | 68 |
| 4–6pm | 72 | 74 | 73 | 70 | 72 | 69 | 65 |
| 6–8pm | 68 | 74 | 69 | 70 | 72 | 67 | 63 |
| 8–10pm | 69 | 73 | 73 | 67 | 68 | 63 | 59 |
| 10pm–12am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
The steadiest stretch at RSW was 6–8am — 94.6% of departures left on time across 15,201 flights. The weakest was 8–10pm at 66.5%. 6–8am departures from RSW left on time 94.6% of the time across 15,201 flights; 6–8pm departures, 68.9% across 13,809. That is a gap of 25.7 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
The year at RSW
July was the hard month at RSW: 71.3% of departures left on time, across 6,611 flights. November was the easy one at 85.9%. 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 | 78.4% | 10,855 |
| February | 80.7% | 10,864 |
| March | 74.5% | 13,420 |
| April | 82.1% | 10,842 |
| May | 79.1% | 8,122 |
| June | 78% | 6,438 |
| July | 71.3% | 6,611 |
| August | 78.3% | 6,115 |
| September | 85.8% | 5,631 |
| October | 85.7% | 7,122 |
| November | 85.9% | 8,765 |
| December | 77% | 10,645 |
Airlines at RSW
Every airline with at least 100 departures from RSW, 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 | 77.7% | 58 min | 1.3% | 23,423 |
| Delta Air Lines | 83.7% | 88 min | 1.5% | 21,989 |
| American Airlines | 77.9% | 98 min | 2% | 17,461 |
| United Airlines | 86.5% | 89 min | 1.6% | 16,911 |
| JetBlue Airways | 73.3% | 90 min | 2.5% | 12,208 |
| Frontier Airlines | 72.5% | 87 min | 2.8% | 6,421 |
| Spirit Airlines | 77.1% | 79 min | 2.6% | 5,916 |
| Alaska Airlines | 80.3% | 59 min | 2% | 352 |
| Envoy Air | 73.5% | 72 min | 1.6% | 257 |
| Republic Airways | 74.9% | 84 min | 6% | 199 |
| Allegiant Air | 68.9% | 106 min | 1.8% | 170 |
What delays out of RSW were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 21,786 flights that departed RSW and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 49.1% put down to late-arriving aircraft and 25.6% to airline operations.
- Late-arriving aircraft 49.1%
- Airline operations 25.6%
- Air traffic & airport volume 21.6%
- Severe weather 3.7%
- 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 RSW
Of 105,433 scheduled arrivals into RSW, 75.3% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 23,823 arrivals that ran late, 54.2% 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 RSW
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.
- ATL 85.9% on time · 9,295 flights
- ORD 78.5% on time · 8,723 flights
- BOS 72% on time · 6,630 flights
- EWR 79.2% on time · 6,127 flights
- CLT 82.9% on time · 5,816 flights
- DTW 80.2% on time · 5,627 flights
- BWI 81% on time · 4,323 flights
- PHL 73.6% on time · 4,241 flights
- DFW 73.4% on time · 4,079 flights
- JFK 75.8% on time · 3,964 flights
RSW in one number
Southwest Florida (RSW)
Rank 50 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: 6–8am. Hardest month: July.
Questions about RSW
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Southwest Florida?
- 6–8am. Departures in that band left on time 94.6% of the time across 15,201 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 8–10pm band was the weakest at 66.5%.
- Is the early flight out of RSW really more reliable?
- 6–8am departures from RSW left on time 94.6% of the time across 15,201 flights; 6–8pm departures, 68.9% across 13,809. That is a gap of 25.7 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
- What is the worst month to fly out of RSW?
- July: 71.3% of the departures that flew left on time, with 6,611 scheduled. November was the other end of the year at 85.9%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- Which airline is most on time at RSW?
- United Airlines — 86.5% of its 16,911 departures from RSW left on time. Allegiant Air sat at the other end at 68.9% over 170 flights. Only airlines with at least 100 departures here are ranked.
- How often are flights cancelled at RSW?
- 1.8% 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.