Best time to fly out of Aspen-Pitkin (Sardy ) (ASE)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Aspen-Pitkin (Sardy ): departures in the 6–8am band left on time 80.4% of the time, against 62.5% in the 2–4pm 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 | 75 | 84 | 85 | 85 | 80 | 80 | 75 |
| 8–10am | 71 | 80 | 84 | 77 | 72 | 75 | 73 |
| 10am–12pm | 70 | 75 | 80 | 78 | 68 | 67 | 70 |
| 12–2pm | 60 | 75 | 74 | 65 | 62 | 56 | 58 |
| 2–4pm | 61 | 74 | 72 | 64 | 58 | 53 | 57 |
| 4–6pm | 62 | 76 | 77 | 70 | 61 | 60 | 61 |
| 6–8pm | 64 | 78 | 75 | 70 | 73 | 64 | 61 |
| 8–10pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 10pm–12am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
The steadiest stretch at ASE was 6–8am — 80.4% of departures left on time across 2,531 flights. The weakest was 2–4pm at 62.5%. 6–8am departures from ASE left on time 80.4% of the time across 2,531 flights; 6–8pm departures, 68.9% across 1,519. That is a gap of 11.5 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
The year at ASE
February was the hard month at ASE: 60.5% of departures left on time, across 2,848 flights. November was the easy one at 83%. 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 | 65.4% | 3,033 |
| February | 60.5% | 2,848 |
| March | 65.1% | 3,310 |
| April | 75.5% | 1,472 |
| May | 77% | 441 |
| June | 66.7% | 1,918 |
| July | 71.7% | 2,045 |
| August | 71.3% | 1,935 |
| September | 79.8% | 1,561 |
| October | 80.8% | 1,273 |
| November | 83% | 1,007 |
| December | 63.3% | 2,208 |
Airlines at ASE
Every airline with at least 100 departures from ASE, 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 | 69.3% | 101 min | 6.2% | 23,051 |
What delays out of ASE were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 6,533 flights that departed ASE and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 28.7% put down to airline operations and 28.7% to severe weather.
- Late-arriving aircraft 22.3%
- Airline operations 28.7%
- Air traffic & airport volume 19.8%
- Severe weather 28.7%
- Security 0.6%
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 ASE
Of 23,055 scheduled arrivals into ASE, 65.6% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 6,129 arrivals that ran late, 45.3% 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 ASE
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.
- DEN 73.2% on time · 8,188 flights
- DFW 68.8% on time · 3,480 flights
- LAX 73% on time · 3,426 flights
- ORD 65.2% on time · 2,931 flights
- IAH 66.6% on time · 1,830 flights
- ATL 62.7% on time · 1,195 flights
- SFO 64.9% on time · 1,071 flights
- AUS 58.7% on time · 564 flights
- PHX 63.7% on time · 318 flights
- CLT Not enough flights to say · 48 flights
ASE in one number
Aspen-Pitkin (Sardy ) (ASE)
Rank 115 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: 6–8am. Hardest month: February.
Questions about ASE
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Aspen-Pitkin (Sardy )?
- 6–8am. Departures in that band left on time 80.4% of the time across 2,531 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 2–4pm band was the weakest at 62.5%.
- Is the early flight out of ASE really more reliable?
- 6–8am departures from ASE left on time 80.4% of the time across 2,531 flights; 6–8pm departures, 68.9% across 1,519. That is a gap of 11.5 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
- What is the worst month to fly out of ASE?
- February: 60.5% of the departures that flew left on time, with 2,848 scheduled. November was the other end of the year at 83%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- How often are flights cancelled at ASE?
- 6.2% 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.