Best time to fly out of Burlington (BTV)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Patrick Leahy Burlington: departures in the 6–8am band left on time 90.9% of the time, against 67.6% 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 | 88 | 92 | 91 | 92 | 91 | 92 | 88 |
| 6–8am | 91 | 92 | 94 | 91 | 90 | 91 | 88 |
| 8–10am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 10am–12pm | 85 | 88 | 85 | 86 | 86 | 83 | 88 |
| 12–2pm | 79 | 84 | 83 | 84 | 80 | 79 | 79 |
| 2–4pm | 77 | 80 | 83 | 75 | 76 | 75 | 76 |
| 4–6pm | 73 | 78 | 75 | 70 | 70 | 76 | 70 |
| 6–8pm | 75 | 71 | 66 | 67 | 65 | 65 | 62 |
| 8–10pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 10pm–12am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
The steadiest stretch at BTV was 6–8am — 90.9% of departures left on time across 5,265 flights. The weakest was 6–8pm at 67.6%. 6–8am departures from BTV left on time 90.9% of the time across 5,265 flights; 6–8pm departures, 67.6% across 1,065. That is a gap of 23.3 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
The year at BTV
July was the hard month at BTV: 74.3% of departures left on time, across 2,167 flights. November was the easy one at 89%. 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 | 81.3% | 1,504 |
| February | 81.2% | 1,357 |
| March | 86.4% | 1,479 |
| April | 86.9% | 1,577 |
| May | 84.6% | 1,787 |
| June | 76.9% | 1,908 |
| July | 74.3% | 2,167 |
| August | 81.6% | 2,169 |
| September | 85.9% | 2,136 |
| October | 86.2% | 2,286 |
| November | 89% | 1,590 |
| December | 80.5% | 1,595 |
Airlines at BTV
Every airline with at least 100 departures from BTV, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA Airlines | 79% | 123 min | 3.8% | 5,898 |
| Republic Airways | 87.1% | 95 min | 3.1% | 4,577 |
| United Airlines | 84.5% | 100 min | 1.3% | 3,195 |
| Endeavor Air | 85.8% | 96 min | 3.1% | 2,553 |
| American Airlines | 79.2% | 111 min | 1.4% | 1,581 |
| SkyWest Airlines | 76.6% | 124 min | 1.9% | 1,453 |
| Delta Air Lines | 89.6% | 103 min | 1.6% | 1,286 |
| Envoy Air | 79.8% | 61 min | 2% | 501 |
| JetBlue Airways | 78.3% | 86 min | 3% | 371 |
| Frontier Airlines | 79.4% | — | 1.4% | 138 |
A dash under typical delay means fewer than 30 of that airline’s departures ran 15 minutes late or more — too few to average.
What delays out of BTV were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 4,451 flights that departed BTV and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 34.8% put down to airline operations and 32.5% to late-arriving aircraft.
- Late-arriving aircraft 32.5%
- Airline operations 34.8%
- Air traffic & airport volume 22.1%
- Severe weather 10.4%
- Security 0.2%
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 BTV
Of 21,554 scheduled arrivals into BTV, 76.6% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 4,472 arrivals that ran late, 53.2% 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 BTV
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.
- DCA 73% on time · 3,882 flights
- ORD 73.6% on time · 3,206 flights
- PHL 77% on time · 2,724 flights
- EWR 81.7% on time · 2,455 flights
- CLT 80.2% on time · 1,924 flights
- JFK 84.8% on time · 1,470 flights
- IAD 88.4% on time · 1,451 flights
- LGA 85% on time · 1,376 flights
- ATL 86.7% on time · 1,123 flights
- DTW 76.7% on time · 1,101 flights
BTV in one number
Patrick Leahy Burlington (BTV)
Rank 119 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: 6–8am. Hardest month: July.
Questions about BTV
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Patrick Leahy Burlington?
- 6–8am. Departures in that band left on time 90.9% of the time across 5,265 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 6–8pm band was the weakest at 67.6%.
- Is the early flight out of BTV really more reliable?
- 6–8am departures from BTV left on time 90.9% of the time across 5,265 flights; 6–8pm departures, 67.6% across 1,065. That is a gap of 23.3 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
- What is the worst month to fly out of BTV?
- July: 74.3% of the departures that flew left on time, with 2,167 scheduled. November was the other end of the year at 89%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- Which airline is most on time at BTV?
- Delta Air Lines — 89.6% of its 1,286 departures from BTV left on time. SkyWest Airlines sat at the other end at 76.6% over 1,453 flights. Only airlines with at least 100 departures here are ranked.
- How often are flights cancelled at BTV?
- 2.7% 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.