Best time to fly out of Bemidji (BJI)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Bemidji: departures in the 6–8am band left on time 89.4% of the time, against 84.6% 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 | 89 | 94 | 91 | 84 | 90 | 89 | 89 |
| 8–10am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 10am–12pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 12–2pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2–4pm | 88 | 86 | 84 | 87 | 82 | 83 | 81 |
| 4–6pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 6–8pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 8–10pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 10pm–12am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
The steadiest stretch at BJI was 6–8am — 89.4% of departures left on time across 989 flights. The weakest was 2–4pm at 84.6%.
The year at BJI
December was the hard month at BJI: 77.1% of departures left on time, across 184 flights. April was the easy one at 91.6%. 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 | 80.2% | 183 |
| February | 90.4% | 170 |
| March | 87.4% | 186 |
| April | 91.6% | 180 |
| May | 91.4% | 186 |
| June | 85.7% | 180 |
| July | 83.4% | 175 |
| August | 91.3% | 184 |
| September | 87.6% | 180 |
| October | 87.1% | 186 |
| November | 89.1% | 176 |
| December | 77.1% | 184 |
Airlines at BJI
Every airline with at least 100 departures from BJI, 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 | 86.9% | 123 min | 1.1% | 2,170 |
What delays out of BJI were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 313 flights that departed BJI and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 73.5% put down to airline operations and 21.7% to severe weather.
- Late-arriving aircraft 0%
- Airline operations 73.5%
- Air traffic & airport volume 4.7%
- Severe weather 21.7%
- Security 0%
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 BJI
Of 2,170 scheduled arrivals into BJI, 83.5% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 327 arrivals that ran late, 40.4% 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 BJI
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.
- MSP 85.4% on time · 2,170 flights
BJI in one number
Bemidji (BJI)
Rank 271 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: 6–8am. Hardest month: December.
Questions about BJI
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Bemidji?
- 6–8am. Departures in that band left on time 89.4% of the time across 989 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 2–4pm band was the weakest at 84.6%.
- What is the worst month to fly out of BJI?
- December: 77.1% of the departures that flew left on time, with 184 scheduled. April was the other end of the year at 91.6%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- How often are flights cancelled at BJI?
- 1.1% 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.