Best time to fly out of Stillwater (SWO)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Stillwater: departures in the 6–8am band left on time 90.2% of the time, against 81.1% in the 2–4pm 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 | 86 | 94 | 91 | 92 | 88 | 87 | 93 |
| 8–10am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 10am–12pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 12–2pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2–4pm | 84 | 84 | 80 | 84 | 81 | 81 | 75 |
| 4–6pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 6–8pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 8–10pm | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 10pm–12am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
The steadiest stretch at SWO was 6–8am — 90.2% of departures left on time across 919 flights. The weakest was 2–4pm at 81.1%.
The year at SWO
April was the hard month at SWO: 76.2% of departures left on time, across 180 flights. August was the easy one at 91.4%. 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 | 85.1% | 186 |
| February | 90.9% | 170 |
| March | 86.7% | 186 |
| April | 76.2% | 180 |
| May | 84.2% | 186 |
| June | 86.9% | 180 |
| July | 88% | 186 |
| August | 91.4% | 186 |
| September | 88% | 178 |
| October | 85.9% | 186 |
| November | 82.1% | 177 |
| December | 84.1% | 185 |
Airlines at SWO
Every airline with at least 100 departures from SWO, 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 | 86.8% | 123 min | 2.6% | 1,626 |
| PSA Airlines | 80.4% | 143 min | 5.5% | 399 |
| Envoy Air | 88.8% | — | 0.6% | 161 |
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 SWO were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 338 flights that departed SWO and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 59.7% put down to airline operations and 15.3% to late-arriving aircraft.
- Late-arriving aircraft 15.3%
- Airline operations 59.7%
- Air traffic & airport volume 10.5%
- Severe weather 14.5%
- 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 SWO
Of 2,186 scheduled arrivals into SWO, 79.6% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 367 arrivals that ran late, 43.1% 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 SWO
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.
- DFW 84% on time · 2,186 flights
SWO in one number
Stillwater (SWO)
Rank 259 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: 6–8am. Hardest month: April.
Questions about SWO
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Stillwater?
- 6–8am. Departures in that band left on time 90.2% of the time across 919 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 2–4pm band was the weakest at 81.1%.
- What is the worst month to fly out of SWO?
- April: 76.2% of the departures that flew left on time, with 180 scheduled. August was the other end of the year at 91.4%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- Which airline is most on time at SWO?
- Envoy Air — 88.8% of its 161 departures from SWO left on time. PSA Airlines sat at the other end at 80.4% over 399 flights. Only airlines with at least 100 departures here are ranked.
- How often are flights cancelled at SWO?
- 3% 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.