Best time to fly out of Bismarck (BIS)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Bismarck: departures in the 6–8am band left on time 89.3% of the time, against 74.6% in the 4–6pm 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 | 89 | 87 | 90 | 88 | 87 | 86 | 91 |
| 6–8am | 90 | 93 | 90 | 91 | 86 | 88 | 88 |
| 8–10am | 80 | 85 | 84 | 82 | 79 | 79 | 83 |
| 10am–12pm | 84 | – | 83 | 90 | 86 | 82 | 87 |
| 12–2pm | 82 | 85 | 83 | 81 | 84 | 79 | 85 |
| 2–4pm | 74 | 84 | 80 | 72 | 80 | 77 | 72 |
| 4–6pm | 75 | 76 | 76 | 72 | 74 | 75 | 74 |
| 6–8pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 8–10pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 10pm–12am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
The steadiest stretch at BIS was 6–8am — 89.3% of departures left on time across 2,166 flights. The weakest was 4–6pm at 74.6%.
The year at BIS
January was the hard month at BIS: 75.7% of departures left on time, across 909 flights. October was the easy one at 87%. 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 | 75.7% | 909 |
| February | 80% | 844 |
| March | 83.4% | 993 |
| April | 84.9% | 962 |
| May | 84.9% | 942 |
| June | 80.4% | 1,046 |
| July | 77.6% | 1,055 |
| August | 84% | 1,042 |
| September | 85.7% | 1,003 |
| October | 87% | 1,046 |
| November | 86.5% | 921 |
| December | 76.3% | 1,037 |
Airlines at BIS
Every airline with at least 100 departures from BIS, 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 | 81.5% | 108 min | 0.9% | 6,722 |
| Envoy Air | 81.4% | 72 min | 0.6% | 2,275 |
| Delta Air Lines | 88.7% | 108 min | 0.6% | 1,417 |
| Allegiant Air | 80.4% | 74 min | 1% | 1,376 |
What delays out of BIS were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 2,263 flights that departed BIS and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 51.7% put down to airline operations and 19% to late-arriving aircraft.
- Late-arriving aircraft 19%
- Airline operations 51.7%
- Air traffic & airport volume 17.9%
- Severe weather 10.9%
- Security 0.5%
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 BIS
Of 11,801 scheduled arrivals into BIS, 80.5% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 2,184 arrivals that ran late, 51.4% 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 BIS
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 78.5% on time · 4,137 flights
- MSP 84% on time · 4,007 flights
- DFW 79.7% on time · 1,979 flights
- AZA 80% on time · 779 flights
- LAS 79.6% on time · 365 flights
- ORD 73.2% on time · 300 flights
- SFB 71.5% on time · 138 flights
- PIE Not enough flights to say · 94 flights
- DIK Not enough flights to say · 1 flights
BIS in one number
Bismarck (BIS)
Rank 161 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: 6–8am. Hardest month: January.
Questions about BIS
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Bismarck?
- 6–8am. Departures in that band left on time 89.3% of the time across 2,166 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 4–6pm band was the weakest at 74.6%.
- What is the worst month to fly out of BIS?
- January: 75.7% of the departures that flew left on time, with 909 scheduled. October was the other end of the year at 87%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- Which airline is most on time at BIS?
- Delta Air Lines — 88.7% of its 1,417 departures from BIS left on time. Allegiant Air sat at the other end at 80.4% over 1,376 flights. Only airlines with at least 100 departures here are ranked.
- How often are flights cancelled at BIS?
- 0.8% 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.