Best time to fly out of Rochester (RST)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Rochester: departures in the Before 6am band left on time 89.2% of the time, against 71.2% 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 | 86 | 94 | 93 | 86 | 88 | 90 |
| 6–8am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 8–10am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 10am–12pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 12–2pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2–4pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 4–6pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 6–8pm | 74 | 76 | – | 66 | 74 | – | 67 |
| 8–10pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 10pm–12am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
The steadiest stretch at RST was Before 6am — 89.2% of departures left on time across 725 flights. The weakest was 6–8pm at 71.2%.
The year at RST
December was the hard month at RST: 69.6% of departures left on time, across 289 flights. November was the easy one at 86.5%. 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 | 74.8% | 226 |
| February | 83.9% | 217 |
| March | 78.7% | 276 |
| April | 79.6% | 327 |
| May | 82.5% | 505 |
| June | 70.9% | 358 |
| July | 77.3% | 274 |
| August | 79.6% | 279 |
| September | 86% | 345 |
| October | 85.4% | 372 |
| November | 86.5% | 267 |
| December | 69.6% | 289 |
Airlines at RST
Every airline with at least 100 departures from RST, 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 | 79.1% | 102 min | 1.6% | 2,340 |
| Envoy Air | 78.7% | 67 min | 3% | 889 |
| Endeavor Air | 81.9% | 101 min | 1.3% | 376 |
What delays out of RST were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 821 flights that departed RST and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 44% put down to airline operations and 22.6% to late-arriving aircraft.
- Late-arriving aircraft 22.6%
- Airline operations 44%
- Air traffic & airport volume 14.8%
- Severe weather 18.5%
- 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 RST
Of 3,735 scheduled arrivals into RST, 73.4% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 908 arrivals that ran late, 50.3% 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 RST
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.
RST in one number
Rochester (RST)
Rank 220 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: Before 6am. Hardest month: December.
Questions about RST
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Rochester?
- Before 6am. Departures in that band left on time 89.2% of the time across 725 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 6–8pm band was the weakest at 71.2%.
- What is the worst month to fly out of RST?
- December: 69.6% of the departures that flew left on time, with 289 scheduled. November was the other end of the year at 86.5%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- Which airline is most on time at RST?
- Endeavor Air — 81.9% of its 376 departures from RST left on time. Envoy Air sat at the other end at 78.7% over 889 flights. Only airlines with at least 100 departures here are ranked.
- How often are flights cancelled at RST?
- 1.9% 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.