What Is the Best Time to Fly and Avoid Delays?

Everyone knows that flying after the pandemic has been a test of patience. A significant proportion of flights departing and arriving at airports in the United States – usually around 20% to 25% – are recorded as delayed. Surely you want to avoid being one of them, right? Here are four tips on the best times to fly and avoid flight delays.
Choose a morning flight
Jumping out of bed to catch a flight at 6 AM isn’t fun, but statistically, early morning is the best time of day to fly if you want to arrive at your destination on time.
The planes assigned to the first flights of the day often arrive at the airport the night before. If you don’t have to wait for an aircraft to arrive, that’s one less reason for delays.
If you are traveling in the summer, avoid afternoon flights
Weather-related issues account for about one-third of the reasons for delays in the National Airspace System (NAS). And in some places, they can have a significant impact. When airports are affected by extreme weather conditions, such as strong winds, storms, tornadoes, blizzards, or hurricanes, there’s a good chance of delays.
In particular, if you are traveling in the summer, avoid flying in the late afternoon and early evening. The heat during the morning can create large storm clouds by the end of the day in many parts of the country. As a result, the risk of storms is higher in the afternoon, so you should avoid this part of the day to minimize your chance of being affected.
Try to schedule your flight for midweek
You may have noticed that flights tend to be cheaper in the middle of the week, which usually reflects lower demand.
Airports tend to be less crowded in the middle of the week, especially on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The reduction in passenger traffic means there will likely be less pressure on staff and systems, increasing the likelihood of a timely departure.
BTS statistics support this, recording fewer delays in the middle of the week compared to weekends. In 2023, Tuesday was the best day of the week to fly, with 80.5% of flights on time, closely followed by Wednesday (77.95%). In contrast, Friday performed poorly, with 74.64% of flights not experiencing delays; Sunday showed the second worst performance (75.28%).
If possible, avoid certain holidays
Predictably, the times with the most delays are precisely when everyone needs to fly: holidays. The high volume of traffic can negatively impact airport operations and air traffic control.
These delays are exacerbated by baggage handling issues and catering loading delays. Sometimes it’s unavoidable, but if it fits your travel plans, you might choose to avoid these exceptionally busy periods by flying a day before or after. And some holidays are worse than others in terms of delays, with Independence Day and the period between Christmas and New Year’s being particularly problematic.
In 2023, the Transportation Security Administration recorded the busiest travel day of the year on Friday, June 30, with a record 2.8 million passengers. BTS reported that 27% of departing and arriving flights were delayed.
Source: Daily Passport