Best time to fly out of Tucson (TUS)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Tucson: departures in the Before 6am band left on time 94.3% of the time, against 73.7% 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 | 94 | 95 | 93 | 95 | 95 | 94 | 95 |
| 6–8am | 93 | 93 | 94 | 93 | 92 | 93 | 93 |
| 8–10am | 87 | 88 | 88 | 87 | 86 | 88 | 86 |
| 10am–12pm | 86 | 88 | 88 | 85 | 84 | 86 | 85 |
| 12–2pm | 79 | 86 | 85 | 82 | 80 | 84 | 80 |
| 2–4pm | 70 | 77 | 77 | 73 | 73 | 79 | 75 |
| 4–6pm | 75 | 82 | 82 | 74 | 76 | 80 | 73 |
| 6–8pm | 71 | 82 | 79 | 70 | 69 | 80 | 71 |
| 8–10pm | 82 | – | – | 80 | 78 | – | 72 |
| 10pm–12am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
The steadiest stretch at TUS was Before 6am — 94.3% of departures left on time across 2,881 flights. The weakest was 6–8pm at 73.7%. 6–8am departures from TUS left on time 93.1% of the time across 13,235 flights; 6–8pm departures, 73.7% across 3,602. That is a gap of 19.4 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
The year at TUS
June was the hard month at TUS: 79.8% of departures left on time, across 4,243 flights. November was the easy one at 87.3%. 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 | 85.7% | 5,186 |
| February | 84.9% | 4,872 |
| March | 84.6% | 5,701 |
| April | 84.3% | 5,397 |
| May | 80.6% | 5,082 |
| June | 79.8% | 4,243 |
| July | 81.4% | 4,094 |
| August | 84.9% | 4,110 |
| September | 87.2% | 4,237 |
| October | 85.6% | 4,779 |
| November | 87.3% | 4,943 |
| December | 85.1% | 5,250 |
Airlines at TUS
Every airline with at least 100 departures from TUS, 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 | 86.9% | 84 min | 0.3% | 24,269 |
| Southwest Airlines | 80.1% | 55 min | 0.4% | 13,347 |
| American Airlines | 81.3% | 99 min | 2.1% | 9,570 |
| Delta Air Lines | 89.1% | 102 min | 1.3% | 3,519 |
| United Airlines | 85.8% | 81 min | 0.9% | 3,395 |
| Envoy Air | 88.6% | 72 min | 0.6% | 1,858 |
| Alaska Airlines | 81.3% | 45 min | 0.6% | 1,622 |
| Frontier Airlines | 79.2% | 97 min | 2.2% | 314 |
What delays out of TUS were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 8,972 flights that departed TUS and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 38.4% put down to airline operations and 35% to late-arriving aircraft.
- Late-arriving aircraft 35%
- Airline operations 38.4%
- Air traffic & airport volume 19.4%
- Severe weather 7.1%
- 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 TUS
Of 57,903 scheduled arrivals into TUS, 79.4% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 11,472 arrivals that ran late, 57.2% 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 TUS
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.
- PHX 85.1% on time · 9,826 flights
- DEN 83.2% on time · 7,822 flights
- LAX 85.2% on time · 7,694 flights
- DFW 80.7% on time · 6,746 flights
- LAS 82.3% on time · 3,900 flights
- SLC 94.3% on time · 3,297 flights
- SEA 83.6% on time · 3,186 flights
- ORD 82.4% on time · 3,015 flights
- SFO 74.5% on time · 2,747 flights
- ATL 91.8% on time · 2,401 flights
TUS in one number
Tucson (TUS)
Rank 68 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: Before 6am. Hardest month: June.
Questions about TUS
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Tucson?
- Before 6am. Departures in that band left on time 94.3% of the time across 2,881 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 6–8pm band was the weakest at 73.7%.
- Is the early flight out of TUS really more reliable?
- 6–8am departures from TUS left on time 93.1% of the time across 13,235 flights; 6–8pm departures, 73.7% across 3,602. That is a gap of 19.4 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
- What is the worst month to fly out of TUS?
- June: 79.8% of the departures that flew left on time, with 4,243 scheduled. November was the other end of the year at 87.3%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- Which airline is most on time at TUS?
- Delta Air Lines — 89.1% of its 3,519 departures from TUS left on time. Frontier Airlines sat at the other end at 79.2% over 314 flights. Only airlines with at least 100 departures here are ranked.
- How often are flights cancelled at TUS?
- 0.8% 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.