Best time to fly out of Atlantic City (ACY)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Atlantic City: departures in the 6–8am band left on time 92.4% of the time, against 61% 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 | 92 | – | – | 90 | 94 | 90 | 91 |
| 6–8am | 92 | 94 | 95 | 91 | 94 | 91 | 91 |
| 8–10am | – | – | – | – | 89 | 88 | – |
| 10am–12pm | 82 | 84 | 86 | 85 | 85 | 89 | 80 |
| 12–2pm | 76 | 80 | 83 | 81 | 78 | 81 | 73 |
| 2–4pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | 74 |
| 4–6pm | 73 | 85 | 85 | 76 | 72 | 78 | 68 |
| 6–8pm | 62 | – | – | 62 | 60 | – | 60 |
| 8–10pm | 72 | – | – | – | 70 | – | – |
| 10pm–12am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
The steadiest stretch at ACY was 6–8am — 92.4% of departures left on time across 1,765 flights. The weakest was 6–8pm at 61%. 6–8am departures from ACY left on time 92.4% of the time across 1,765 flights; 6–8pm departures, 61% across 512. That is a gap of 31.4 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
The year at ACY
June was the hard month at ACY: 70.9% of departures left on time, across 462 flights. September was the easy one at 88.1%. 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 | 83.9% | 677 |
| February | 80.1% | 720 |
| March | 73.4% | 774 |
| April | 85.6% | 765 |
| May | 79.9% | 525 |
| June | 70.9% | 462 |
| July | 81.8% | 686 |
| August | 79% | 874 |
| September | 88.1% | 728 |
| October | 86.9% | 705 |
| November | 86.5% | 756 |
| December | 77% | 673 |
Airlines at ACY
Every airline with at least 100 departures from ACY, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spirit Airlines | 82.3% | 76 min | 2.4% | 8,070 |
| Allegiant Air | 54.5% | 110 min | 2.5% | 275 |
What delays out of ACY were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 1,535 flights that departed ACY and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 36.8% put down to air traffic & airport volume and 32.4% to late-arriving aircraft.
- Late-arriving aircraft 32.4%
- Airline operations 28.3%
- Air traffic & airport volume 36.8%
- Severe weather 2.4%
- 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 ACY
Of 8,345 scheduled arrivals into ACY, 75.3% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 1,847 arrivals that ran late, 49.2% 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 ACY
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.
- MCO 82.3% on time · 2,432 flights
- FLL 74.2% on time · 1,739 flights
- RSW 83.9% on time · 1,162 flights
- TPA 82.7% on time · 1,105 flights
- PBI 84.5% on time · 1,057 flights
- MYR 83% on time · 698 flights
- SFB Not enough flights to say · 56 flights
- PIE Not enough flights to say · 41 flights
- PGD Not enough flights to say · 28 flights
- MIA Not enough flights to say · 27 flights
ACY in one number
Atlantic City (ACY)
Rank 176 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: 6–8am. Hardest month: June.
Questions about ACY
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Atlantic City?
- 6–8am. Departures in that band left on time 92.4% of the time across 1,765 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 6–8pm band was the weakest at 61%.
- Is the early flight out of ACY really more reliable?
- 6–8am departures from ACY left on time 92.4% of the time across 1,765 flights; 6–8pm departures, 61% across 512. That is a gap of 31.4 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
- What is the worst month to fly out of ACY?
- June: 70.9% of the departures that flew left on time, with 462 scheduled. September was the other end of the year at 88.1%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- Which airline is most on time at ACY?
- Spirit Airlines — 82.3% of its 8,070 departures from ACY left on time. Allegiant Air sat at the other end at 54.5% over 275 flights. Only airlines with at least 100 departures here are ranked.
- How often are flights cancelled at ACY?
- 2.4% 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.