Best time to fly out of Orlando Sanford (SFB)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Orlando Sanford: departures in the 6–8am band left on time 89.8% of the time, against 52.5% 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 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 6–8am | 92 | 90 | 92 | 91 | 88 | 90 | 88 |
| 8–10am | 89 | 91 | 92 | 91 | 89 | 88 | 89 |
| 10am–12pm | 83 | 87 | 93 | 85 | 83 | 87 | 87 |
| 12–2pm | 66 | 80 | 78 | 69 | 67 | 71 | 67 |
| 2–4pm | 75 | 76 | 74 | 74 | 76 | 72 | 65 |
| 4–6pm | 65 | 70 | 67 | 71 | 65 | 58 | 61 |
| 6–8pm | 52 | 52 | 61 | 54 | 54 | 52 | 48 |
| 8–10pm | 63 | – | – | 66 | 68 | 61 | 49 |
| 10pm–12am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
The steadiest stretch at SFB was 6–8am — 89.8% of departures left on time across 5,675 flights. The weakest was 6–8pm at 52.5%. 6–8am departures from SFB left on time 89.8% of the time across 5,675 flights; 6–8pm departures, 52.5% across 3,798. That is a gap of 37.3 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
The year at SFB
July was the hard month at SFB: 66.1% of departures left on time, across 2,997 flights. September was the easy one at 79.7%. 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 | 76.4% | 2,309 |
| February | 77.9% | 2,329 |
| March | 76% | 2,992 |
| April | 78.5% | 2,437 |
| May | 72.2% | 2,499 |
| June | 68.2% | 3,014 |
| July | 66.1% | 2,997 |
| August | 73.4% | 2,148 |
| September | 79.7% | 1,557 |
| October | 79.1% | 2,396 |
| November | 78.8% | 2,196 |
| December | 72.5% | 2,705 |
Airlines at SFB
Every airline with at least 100 departures from SFB, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Allegiant Air | 74.4% | 77 min | 0.9% | 29,579 |
What delays out of SFB were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 7,976 flights that departed SFB and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 37% put down to airline operations and 31.1% to late-arriving aircraft.
- Late-arriving aircraft 31.1%
- Airline operations 37%
- Air traffic & airport volume 13.6%
- Severe weather 18%
- 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 SFB
Of 29,587 scheduled arrivals into SFB, 67.5% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 9,248 arrivals that ran late, 46.1% 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 SFB
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.
- ABE 78.7% on time · 1,952 flights
- TYS 69% on time · 1,890 flights
- AVL 68.9% on time · 1,523 flights
- GRR 72.9% on time · 1,160 flights
- CVG 69.7% on time · 1,038 flights
- FNT 76.6% on time · 898 flights
- MDT 76.5% on time · 807 flights
- BGR 84.2% on time · 756 flights
- ATW 77.7% on time · 660 flights
- LEX 59.1% on time · 653 flights
SFB in one number
Orlando Sanford (SFB)
Rank 103 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: 6–8am. Hardest month: July.
Questions about SFB
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Orlando Sanford?
- 6–8am. Departures in that band left on time 89.8% of the time across 5,675 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 6–8pm band was the weakest at 52.5%.
- Is the early flight out of SFB really more reliable?
- 6–8am departures from SFB left on time 89.8% of the time across 5,675 flights; 6–8pm departures, 52.5% across 3,798. That is a gap of 37.3 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
- What is the worst month to fly out of SFB?
- July: 66.1% of the departures that flew left on time, with 2,997 scheduled. September was the other end of the year at 79.7%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- How often are flights cancelled at SFB?
- 0.9% 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.