Best time to fly out of Rapid City (RAP)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Rapid City: departures in the Before 6am band left on time 91.1% of the time, against 74.9% 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 | 90 | 92 | 93 | 93 | 88 | 89 | 93 |
| 6–8am | 92 | 92 | 91 | 90 | 90 | 88 | 88 |
| 8–10am | 79 | 83 | 88 | 84 | 85 | 85 | 82 |
| 10am–12pm | 83 | 85 | 84 | 82 | 81 | 79 | 84 |
| 12–2pm | 82 | 82 | 82 | 84 | 82 | 80 | 77 |
| 2–4pm | 81 | 78 | 83 | 76 | 78 | 74 | 81 |
| 4–6pm | 71 | 78 | 79 | 74 | 75 | 79 | 71 |
| 6–8pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 8–10pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 10pm–12am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
The steadiest stretch at RAP was Before 6am — 91.1% of departures left on time across 1,589 flights. The weakest was 4–6pm at 74.9%.
The year at RAP
July was the hard month at RAP: 74.9% of departures left on time, across 1,569 flights. October was the easy one at 88.7%. 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 | 81.2% | 917 |
| February | 85.9% | 901 |
| March | 84.6% | 1,034 |
| April | 83.5% | 1,140 |
| May | 81.1% | 1,554 |
| June | 75.5% | 1,853 |
| July | 74.9% | 1,569 |
| August | 80.7% | 1,538 |
| September | 86.2% | 1,454 |
| October | 88.7% | 1,297 |
| November | 86.8% | 1,066 |
| December | 85.7% | 1,119 |
Airlines at RAP
Every airline with at least 100 departures from RAP, 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 | 83% | 104 min | 1.5% | 7,179 |
| Envoy Air | 82.8% | 84 min | 1.3% | 3,650 |
| United Airlines | 83.7% | 73 min | 1.4% | 2,734 |
| Allegiant Air | 76.6% | 93 min | 0.7% | 1,138 |
| Endeavor Air | 82.8% | 101 min | 0% | 209 |
| Delta Air Lines | 88.5% | — | 2.2% | 186 |
| PSA Airlines | 69.9% | 73 min | 1.9% | 159 |
| American Airlines | 61% | 156 min | 1.3% | 156 |
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 RAP were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 3,082 flights that departed RAP and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 35.6% put down to airline operations and 30.9% to late-arriving aircraft.
- Late-arriving aircraft 30.9%
- Airline operations 35.6%
- Air traffic & airport volume 19.4%
- Severe weather 14.1%
- Security 0.1%
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 RAP
Of 15,442 scheduled arrivals into RAP, 78.7% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 3,035 arrivals that ran late, 54.6% 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 RAP
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 79.1% on time · 7,131 flights
- DFW 82.5% on time · 3,043 flights
- MSP 85.8% on time · 2,161 flights
- ORD 74.7% on time · 1,516 flights
- AZA 76.8% on time · 583 flights
- CLT 65.1% on time · 386 flights
- LAS 69.3% on time · 347 flights
- SFB 82.2% on time · 148 flights
- LAX Not enough flights to say · 60 flights
- PHX Not enough flights to say · 27 flights
RAP in one number
Rapid City (RAP)
Rank 139 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: Before 6am. Hardest month: July.
Questions about RAP
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Rapid City?
- Before 6am. Departures in that band left on time 91.1% of the time across 1,589 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 4–6pm band was the weakest at 74.9%.
- What is the worst month to fly out of RAP?
- July: 74.9% of the departures that flew left on time, with 1,569 scheduled. October was the other end of the year at 88.7%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- Which airline is most on time at RAP?
- Delta Air Lines — 88.5% of its 186 departures from RAP left on time. American Airlines sat at the other end at 61% over 156 flights. Only airlines with at least 100 departures here are ranked.
- How often are flights cancelled at RAP?
- 1.4% 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.