Best time to fly out of Salt Lake City (SLC)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Salt Lake City: departures in the 6–8am band left on time 92.1% of the time, against 73.1% 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 | 90 | 92 | 93 | 91 | 90 | 92 |
| 6–8am | 92 | 93 | 94 | 93 | 91 | 92 | 91 |
| 8–10am | 89 | 91 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 89 | 90 |
| 10am–12pm | 87 | 89 | 88 | 87 | 87 | 86 | 86 |
| 12–2pm | 82 | 84 | 83 | 82 | 81 | 82 | 80 |
| 2–4pm | 82 | 85 | 84 | 82 | 79 | 82 | 80 |
| 4–6pm | 78 | 82 | 81 | 78 | 78 | 82 | 76 |
| 6–8pm | 71 | 78 | 77 | 70 | 72 | 76 | 70 |
| 8–10pm | 82 | 87 | 86 | 81 | 81 | 87 | 81 |
| 10pm–12am | 83 | 87 | 86 | 82 | 82 | 80 | 80 |
The steadiest stretch at SLC was 6–8am — 92.1% of departures left on time across 24,083 flights. The weakest was 6–8pm at 73.1%. 6–8am departures from SLC left on time 92.1% of the time across 24,083 flights; 6–8pm departures, 73.1% across 10,912. That is a gap of 19 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
The year at SLC
July was the hard month at SLC: 78.6% of departures left on time, across 29,940 flights. November was the easy one at 88.9%. 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 | 83.1% | 28,324 |
| February | 84.3% | 26,676 |
| March | 84.5% | 30,629 |
| April | 85.9% | 28,728 |
| May | 84.2% | 29,690 |
| June | 80.8% | 29,689 |
| July | 78.6% | 29,940 |
| August | 82.9% | 29,405 |
| September | 87.6% | 27,791 |
| October | 88.4% | 28,701 |
| November | 88.9% | 26,822 |
| December | 84.5% | 28,537 |
Airlines at SLC
Every airline with at least 100 departures from SLC, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delta Air Lines | 83.8% | 67 min | 0.6% | 163,115 |
| SkyWest Airlines | 90.7% | 72 min | 0.3% | 101,004 |
| Southwest Airlines | 76.3% | 49 min | 0.4% | 35,358 |
| United Airlines | 82.7% | 80 min | 1.2% | 13,178 |
| American Airlines | 78.6% | 100 min | 1.9% | 12,275 |
| Frontier Airlines | 78.9% | 90 min | 1.6% | 8,992 |
| Alaska Airlines | 79.5% | 49 min | 1.4% | 4,033 |
| JetBlue Airways | 70.4% | 86 min | 1.4% | 3,554 |
| Spirit Airlines | 76% | 74 min | 1% | 2,400 |
| Hawaiian Airlines | 78.8% | 113 min | 0.3% | 596 |
| Envoy Air | 85.4% | 65 min | 0.2% | 427 |
What delays out of SLC were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 54,133 flights that departed SLC and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 48.3% put down to airline operations and 26.6% to late-arriving aircraft.
- Late-arriving aircraft 26.6%
- Airline operations 48.3%
- Air traffic & airport volume 18.6%
- Severe weather 6.4%
- 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 SLC
Of 344,744 scheduled arrivals into SLC, 84.5% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 50,881 arrivals that ran late, 55.6% 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 SLC
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.
- DEN 77.7% on time · 23,658 flights
- PHX 83.8% on time · 17,331 flights
- LAX 85% on time · 12,950 flights
- LAS 76.8% on time · 12,416 flights
- SEA 81% on time · 11,934 flights
- DFW 78% on time · 11,706 flights
- SFO 72.3% on time · 10,556 flights
- ORD 79.4% on time · 9,100 flights
- ATL 85.8% on time · 8,986 flights
- SAN 82.1% on time · 8,023 flights
SLC in one number
Salt Lake City (SLC)
Rank 19 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: 6–8am. Hardest month: July.
Questions about SLC
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Salt Lake City?
- 6–8am. Departures in that band left on time 92.1% of the time across 24,083 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 6–8pm band was the weakest at 73.1%.
- Is the early flight out of SLC really more reliable?
- 6–8am departures from SLC left on time 92.1% of the time across 24,083 flights; 6–8pm departures, 73.1% across 10,912. That is a gap of 19 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
- What is the worst month to fly out of SLC?
- July: 78.6% of the departures that flew left on time, with 29,940 scheduled. November was the other end of the year at 88.9%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- Which airline is most on time at SLC?
- SkyWest Airlines — 90.7% of its 101,004 departures from SLC left on time. JetBlue Airways sat at the other end at 70.4% over 3,554 flights. Only airlines with at least 100 departures here are ranked.
- How often are flights cancelled at SLC?
- 0.6% 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.