Best time to fly out of Rafael Hernández (BQN)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Rafael Hernández: departures in the Before 6am band left on time 77.2% of the time, against 60.4% in the 8–10pm 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 | 71 | 77 | 81 | 81 | 76 | 76 | 77 |
| 6–8am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 8–10am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 10am–12pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 12–2pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2–4pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 4–6pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 6–8pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 8–10pm | 66 | – | 63 | 51 | 67 | 58 | 57 |
| 10pm–12am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
The steadiest stretch at BQN was Before 6am — 77.2% of departures left on time across 3,350 flights. The weakest was 8–10pm at 60.4%.
The year at BQN
July was the hard month at BQN: 63.8% of departures left on time, across 728 flights. February was the easy one at 83.2%. 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 | 78.1% | 607 |
| February | 83.2% | 523 |
| March | 75.7% | 600 |
| April | 79.8% | 582 |
| May | 81.1% | 640 |
| June | 72% | 634 |
| July | 63.8% | 728 |
| August | 66.4% | 719 |
| September | 75.2% | 481 |
| October | 77.3% | 518 |
| November | 75.7% | 614 |
| December | 73.4% | 697 |
Airlines at BQN
Every airline with at least 100 departures from BQN, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JetBlue Airways | 77% | 82 min | 1.6% | 4,583 |
| Frontier Airlines | 71.4% | 80 min | 1.6% | 1,393 |
| United Airlines | 74.4% | 83 min | 2.6% | 1,096 |
| Spirit Airlines | 54.9% | 67 min | 1.1% | 271 |
What delays out of BQN were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 1,640 flights that departed BQN and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 65.8% put down to late-arriving aircraft and 22.2% to airline operations.
- Late-arriving aircraft 65.8%
- Airline operations 22.2%
- Air traffic & airport volume 9.2%
- Severe weather 2.1%
- Security 0.8%
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 BQN
Of 7,344 scheduled arrivals into BQN, 67.8% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 2,231 arrivals that ran late, 53% 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 BQN
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.
BQN in one number
Rafael Hernández (BQN)
Rank 183 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: Before 6am. Hardest month: July.
Questions about BQN
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Rafael Hernández?
- Before 6am. Departures in that band left on time 77.2% of the time across 3,350 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 8–10pm band was the weakest at 60.4%.
- What is the worst month to fly out of BQN?
- July: 63.8% of the departures that flew left on time, with 728 scheduled. February was the other end of the year at 83.2%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- Which airline is most on time at BQN?
- JetBlue Airways — 77% of its 4,583 departures from BQN left on time. Spirit Airlines sat at the other end at 54.9% over 271 flights. Only airlines with at least 100 departures here are ranked.
- How often are flights cancelled at BQN?
- 1.7% 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.