Best time to fly out of Salina (SLN)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Salina: departures in the 6–8am band left on time 86.2% of the time, against 83.1% in the 10am–12pm 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 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 6–8am | 83 | 84 | 85 | 88 | 92 | 86 | 86 |
| 8–10am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 10am–12pm | 86 | 82 | 84 | – | 82 | 79 | 86 |
| 12–2pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2–4pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 4–6pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 6–8pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 8–10pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 10pm–12am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
The steadiest stretch at SLN was 6–8am — 86.2% of departures left on time across 811 flights. The weakest was 10am–12pm at 83.1%.
The year at SLN
December was the hard month at SLN: 75.7% of departures left on time, across 212 flights. April was the easy one at 87.9%. 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 | 81.1% | 214 |
| February | 86.9% | 198 |
| March | 87.5% | 217 |
| April | 87.9% | 201 |
| May | 82.1% | 239 |
| June | 85.1% | 223 |
| July | 80.1% | 208 |
| August | 80.8% | 217 |
| September | 85.6% | 210 |
| October | 87.1% | 217 |
| November | 79.4% | 206 |
| December | 75.7% | 212 |
Airlines at SLN
Every airline with at least 100 departures from SLN, 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 | 83.3% | 127 min | 1.8% | 2,562 |
What delays out of SLN were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 502 flights that departed SLN and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 52.6% put down to airline operations and 24.8% to late-arriving aircraft.
- Late-arriving aircraft 24.8%
- Airline operations 52.6%
- Air traffic & airport volume 12.7%
- Severe weather 10%
- Security 0%
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 SLN
Of 2,564 scheduled arrivals into SLN, 71.5% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 671 arrivals that ran late, 43.7% 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 SLN
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.
SLN in one number
Salina (SLN)
Rank 244 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: 6–8am. Hardest month: December.
Questions about SLN
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Salina?
- 6–8am. Departures in that band left on time 86.2% of the time across 811 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 10am–12pm band was the weakest at 83.1%.
- What is the worst month to fly out of SLN?
- December: 75.7% of the departures that flew left on time, with 212 scheduled. April was the other end of the year at 87.9%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- How often are flights cancelled at SLN?
- 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.