Best time to fly out of Waco (ACT)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Waco: departures in the Before 6am band left on time 86.7% of the time, against 72.5% in the 6–8pm 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 | 88 | 90 | 85 | 86 | 89 | 83 | 86 |
| 6–8am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 8–10am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 10am–12pm | 86 | 84 | 81 | 82 | 83 | 82 | 82 |
| 12–2pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2–4pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 4–6pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 6–8pm | 71 | 77 | 76 | 74 | 71 | 71 | 68 |
| 8–10pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 10pm–12am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
The steadiest stretch at ACT was Before 6am — 86.7% of departures left on time across 966 flights. The weakest was 6–8pm at 72.5%.
The year at ACT
June was the hard month at ACT: 68.3% of departures left on time, across 270 flights. March was the easy one at 88.2%. 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 | 79.6% | 279 |
| February | 82.8% | 240 |
| March | 88.2% | 279 |
| April | 86% | 269 |
| May | 84.7% | 278 |
| June | 68.3% | 270 |
| July | 76.8% | 276 |
| August | 80.7% | 280 |
| September | 79.7% | 264 |
| October | 78.3% | 274 |
| November | 84.6% | 260 |
| December | 83.7% | 273 |
Airlines at ACT
Every airline with at least 100 departures from ACT, 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 | 81.3% | 100 min | 3.6% | 2,213 |
| Envoy Air | 80.7% | 84 min | 2.9% | 1,029 |
What delays out of ACT were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 656 flights that departed ACT and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 47.5% put down to airline operations and 26.1% to late-arriving aircraft.
- Late-arriving aircraft 26.1%
- Airline operations 47.5%
- Air traffic & airport volume 8.8%
- Severe weather 17.4%
- 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 ACT
Of 3,242 scheduled arrivals into ACT, 76.1% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 664 arrivals that ran late, 50.5% 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 ACT
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.
ACT in one number
Waco (ACT)
Rank 232 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: Before 6am. Hardest month: June.
Questions about ACT
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Waco?
- Before 6am. Departures in that band left on time 86.7% of the time across 966 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 6–8pm band was the weakest at 72.5%.
- What is the worst month to fly out of ACT?
- June: 68.3% of the departures that flew left on time, with 270 scheduled. March was the other end of the year at 88.2%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- Which airline is most on time at ACT?
- SkyWest Airlines — 81.3% of its 2,213 departures from ACT left on time. Envoy Air sat at the other end at 80.7% over 1,029 flights. Only airlines with at least 100 departures here are ranked.
- How often are flights cancelled at ACT?
- 3.4% 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.