Best time to fly out of Tampa (TPA)

The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Tampa: departures in the Before 6am band left on time 93.7% of the time, against 60.1% 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.

Share of departures that left on time, by hour band and day of week.
Departure time MonTueWedThuFriSatSun
Before 6am 92 94 96 94 95 94 92
6–8am 91 93 94 93 92 91 92
8–10am 87 90 91 89 89 87 87
10am–12pm 81 85 86 83 82 81 81
12–2pm 78 82 82 78 77 74 76
2–4pm 71 78 77 73 71 69 67
4–6pm 70 75 73 68 68 68 62
6–8pm 64 72 67 63 66 68 57
8–10pm 61 74 70 60 65 61 52
10pm–12am 60 71 67 64 60 58 53
fewer left on time more left on time

The steadiest stretch at TPA was Before 6am — 93.7% of departures left on time across 7,230 flights. The weakest was 10pm–12am at 60.1%. 6–8am departures from TPA left on time 92.3% of the time across 42,205 flights; 6–8pm departures, 64.9% across 29,461. That is a gap of 27.4 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.

The year at TPA

July was the hard month at TPA: 68.3% of departures left on time, across 19,538 flights. November was the easy one at 85%. Each month pools three years of that month, so a single bad week does not decide it.

Share of departures that left on time, by calendar month. Best month in green, worst in amber. The hairline sits at the overall rate, 78.4%.
Departure on-time share at TPA by calendar month
Month Share departures that left on time Flights
January 79.8% 19,708
February 82.4% 19,050
March 75.1% 23,769
April 81.4% 21,370
May 74.8% 20,286
June 73.5% 18,778
July 68.3% 19,538
August 75.6% 18,232
September 84.4% 16,642
October 84.2% 18,733
November 85% 19,505
December 77.6% 20,911

Airlines at TPA

Every airline with at least 100 departures from TPA, 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 76.9% 55 min 1.4% 72,611
American Airlines 78.2% 93 min 2.2% 39,887
Delta Air Lines 80.4% 77 min 1.6% 39,864
United Airlines 84% 85 min 1.7% 26,023
Frontier Airlines 75.8% 82 min 2.3% 20,651
JetBlue Airways 74.3% 81 min 2.6% 16,058
Spirit Airlines 80.6% 74 min 2.4% 14,449
Envoy Air 75.6% 73 min 2.2% 3,648
Alaska Airlines 73.2% 58 min 2.2% 3,151
Republic Airways 87% — 1.7% 172

A dash under typical delay means fewer than 30 of that airline’s departures ran 15 minutes late or more — too few to average.

What delays out of TPA were put down to

Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 50,067 flights that departed TPA and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 48.2% put down to late-arriving aircraft and 26.3% to airline operations.

Late-arriving aircraft 48.2% Airline operations 26.3% Air traffic & airport volume 21.2% Severe weather 4.1% Security 0.1%
  • Late-arriving aircraft 48.2%
  • Airline operations 26.3%
  • Air traffic & airport volume 21.2%
  • Severe weather 4.1%
  • 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 TPA

Of 236,530 scheduled arrivals into TPA, 74.7% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 55,065 arrivals that ran late, 53.4% 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 TPA

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.

TPA in one number

Tampa (TPA)

Rank 28 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: Before 6am. Hardest month: July.

July 2023–June 2026 · 232,157 departures flown

78.4% of departures left on time

Questions about TPA

What is the best time of day to fly out of Tampa?
Before 6am. Departures in that band left on time 93.7% of the time across 7,230 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 10pm–12am band was the weakest at 60.1%.
Is the early flight out of TPA really more reliable?
6–8am departures from TPA left on time 92.3% of the time across 42,205 flights; 6–8pm departures, 64.9% across 29,461. That is a gap of 27.4 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
What is the worst month to fly out of TPA?
July: 68.3% of the departures that flew left on time, with 19,538 scheduled. November was the other end of the year at 85%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
Which airline is most on time at TPA?
Republic Airways — 87% of its 172 departures from TPA left on time. Alaska Airlines sat at the other end at 73.2% over 3,151 flights. Only airlines with at least 100 departures here are ranked.
How often are flights cancelled at TPA?
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.