Best time to fly out of Northwest Arkansas (XNA)

The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Northwest Arkansas: departures in the 6–8am band left on time 88.8% of the time, against 68% 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.

Share of departures that left on time, by hour band and day of week.
Departure time MonTueWedThuFriSatSun
Before 6am 84 90 89 90 87 90 90
6–8am 87 92 91 90 87 87 88
8–10am 84 89 87 89 83 86 86
10am–12pm 83 84 85 83 82 81 82
12–2pm 81 85 82 85 82 79 81
2–4pm 78 82 84 79 78 80 79
4–6pm 75 79 79 79 79 79 74
6–8pm 72 73 72 69 74 74 62
8–10pm 71 – – 71 69 60 67
10pm–12am – – – – – – –
fewer left on time more left on time

The steadiest stretch at XNA was 6–8am — 88.8% of departures left on time across 7,371 flights. The weakest was 8–10pm at 68%. 6–8am departures from XNA left on time 88.8% of the time across 7,371 flights; 6–8pm departures, 70.6% across 3,030. That is a gap of 18.2 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.

The year at XNA

June was the hard month at XNA: 74.8% of departures left on time, across 3,672 flights. October was the easy one at 88.8%. 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, 82.1%.
Departure on-time share at XNA by calendar month
Month Share departures that left on time Flights
January 81% 2,989
February 85.2% 2,805
March 81.7% 3,345
April 82.9% 3,332
May 78% 3,551
June 74.8% 3,672
July 75.4% 3,435
August 82.5% 3,342
September 84.4% 3,288
October 88.8% 3,481
November 87.2% 3,343
December 84.1% 3,389

Airlines at XNA

Every airline with at least 100 departures from XNA, 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
Envoy Air 82.8% 76 min 1.3% 16,895
SkyWest Airlines 85.2% 88 min 0.9% 7,382
American Airlines 74.4% 110 min 2.2% 3,278
Republic Airways 84.1% 86 min 3.3% 2,620
Allegiant Air 70.4% 96 min 0.7% 2,575
Endeavor Air 86.9% 76 min 0.5% 2,318
PSA Airlines 79.5% 115 min 3.9% 2,119
Delta Air Lines 89.2% 85 min 0.8% 1,463
United Airlines 84.8% 89 min 0.8% 824
Frontier Airlines 73.5% 72 min 0.8% 498

Endeavor Air (through December 2024) stopped filing before June 2026. Its row covers a shorter run of months than the rest of the table, so its figure is not set against the others anywhere on this page.

What delays out of XNA were put down to

Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 7,663 flights that departed XNA and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 37.5% put down to late-arriving aircraft and 29.6% to airline operations.

Late-arriving aircraft 37.5% Airline operations 29.6% Air traffic & airport volume 19.2% Severe weather 13.5% Security 0.2%
  • Late-arriving aircraft 37.5%
  • Airline operations 29.6%
  • Air traffic & airport volume 19.2%
  • Severe weather 13.5%
  • Security 0.2%

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 XNA

Of 39,977 scheduled arrivals into XNA, 78.3% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 7,972 arrivals that ran late, 53.9% 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 XNA

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.

XNA in one number

Northwest Arkansas (XNA)

Rank 88 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: 6–8am. Hardest month: June.

July 2023–June 2026 · 39,396 departures flown

82.1% of departures left on time

Questions about XNA

What is the best time of day to fly out of Northwest Arkansas?
6–8am. Departures in that band left on time 88.8% of the time across 7,371 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 8–10pm band was the weakest at 68%.
Is the early flight out of XNA really more reliable?
6–8am departures from XNA left on time 88.8% of the time across 7,371 flights; 6–8pm departures, 70.6% across 3,030. That is a gap of 18.2 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
What is the worst month to fly out of XNA?
June: 74.8% of the departures that flew left on time, with 3,672 scheduled. October was the other end of the year at 88.8%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
Which airline is most on time at XNA?
Delta Air Lines — 89.2% of its 1,463 departures from XNA left on time. Allegiant Air sat at the other end at 70.4% over 2,575 flights. Only airlines with at least 100 departures here are ranked. Airlines that stopped filing before June 2026 are left out of the ranking — their figures cover a shorter run of months than the rest of the table.
How often are flights cancelled at XNA?
1.4% 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.