Best time to fly out of Williston Basin (XWA)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Williston Basin: departures in the 6–8am band left on time 86.2% of the time, against 76.5% in the 12–2pm 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 | 88 | 85 | 88 | 89 | 86 | 82 | 85 |
| 8–10am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 10am–12pm | 83 | 91 | 86 | 87 | 83 | – | 82 |
| 12–2pm | 70 | 80 | 77 | 79 | 75 | 79 | 75 |
| 2–4pm | 78 | 79 | 79 | 77 | 76 | 78 | 76 |
| 4–6pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 6–8pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 8–10pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 10pm–12am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
The steadiest stretch at XWA was 6–8am — 86.2% of departures left on time across 2,006 flights. The weakest was 12–2pm at 76.5%.
The year at XWA
January was the hard month at XWA: 69.9% of departures left on time, across 511 flights. May was the easy one at 88.3%. 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 | 69.9% | 511 |
| February | 75.2% | 477 |
| March | 81.2% | 534 |
| April | 82.8% | 495 |
| May | 88.3% | 571 |
| June | 79.4% | 577 |
| July | 78.9% | 523 |
| August | 82.9% | 562 |
| September | 88.3% | 545 |
| October | 85.7% | 550 |
| November | 79.4% | 501 |
| December | 72.1% | 533 |
Airlines at XWA
Every airline with at least 100 departures from XWA, 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 | 80.5% | 122 min | 1.4% | 6,379 |
What delays out of XWA were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 1,368 flights that departed XWA and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 56.9% put down to airline operations and 16% to severe weather.
- Late-arriving aircraft 11.7%
- Airline operations 56.9%
- Air traffic & airport volume 15%
- Severe weather 16%
- Security 0.4%
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 XWA
Of 6,379 scheduled arrivals into XWA, 77.4% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 1,311 arrivals that ran late, 52.2% 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 XWA
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.
XWA in one number
Williston Basin (XWA)
Rank 195 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: 6–8am. Hardest month: January.
Questions about XWA
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Williston Basin?
- 6–8am. Departures in that band left on time 86.2% of the time across 2,006 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 12–2pm band was the weakest at 76.5%.
- What is the worst month to fly out of XWA?
- January: 69.9% of the departures that flew left on time, with 511 scheduled. May was the other end of the year at 88.3%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- How often are flights cancelled at XWA?
- 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.