Best time to fly out of Northwest Arkansas (XNA)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Northwest Arkansas: departures in the 6–8am band left on time 88.8% of the time, against 68% in the 8–10pm 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 | 84 | 90 | 89 | 90 | 87 | 90 | 90 |
| 6–8am | 87 | 92 | 91 | 90 | 87 | 87 | 88 |
| 8–10am | 84 | 89 | 87 | 89 | 83 | 86 | 86 |
| 10am–12pm | 83 | 84 | 85 | 83 | 82 | 81 | 82 |
| 12–2pm | 81 | 85 | 82 | 85 | 82 | 79 | 81 |
| 2–4pm | 78 | 82 | 84 | 79 | 78 | 80 | 79 |
| 4–6pm | 75 | 79 | 79 | 79 | 79 | 79 | 74 |
| 6–8pm | 72 | 73 | 72 | 69 | 74 | 74 | 62 |
| 8–10pm | 71 | – | – | 71 | 69 | 60 | 67 |
| 10pm–12am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
The steadiest stretch at XNA was 6–8am — 88.8% of departures left on time across 7,371 flights. The weakest was 8–10pm at 68%. 6–8am departures from XNA left on time 88.8% of the time across 7,371 flights; 6–8pm departures, 70.6% across 3,030. That is a gap of 18.2 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
The year at XNA
June was the hard month at XNA: 74.8% of departures left on time, across 3,672 flights. October was the easy one at 88.8%. 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% | 2,989 |
| February | 85.2% | 2,805 |
| March | 81.7% | 3,345 |
| April | 82.9% | 3,332 |
| May | 78% | 3,551 |
| June | 74.8% | 3,672 |
| July | 75.4% | 3,435 |
| August | 82.5% | 3,342 |
| September | 84.4% | 3,288 |
| October | 88.8% | 3,481 |
| November | 87.2% | 3,343 |
| December | 84.1% | 3,389 |
Airlines at XNA
Every airline with at least 100 departures from XNA, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Envoy Air | 82.8% | 76 min | 1.3% | 16,895 |
| SkyWest Airlines | 85.2% | 88 min | 0.9% | 7,382 |
| American Airlines | 74.4% | 110 min | 2.2% | 3,278 |
| Republic Airways | 84.1% | 86 min | 3.3% | 2,620 |
| Allegiant Air | 70.4% | 96 min | 0.7% | 2,575 |
| Endeavor Air | 86.9% | 76 min | 0.5% | 2,318 |
| PSA Airlines | 79.5% | 115 min | 3.9% | 2,119 |
| Delta Air Lines | 89.2% | 85 min | 0.8% | 1,463 |
| United Airlines | 84.8% | 89 min | 0.8% | 824 |
| Frontier Airlines | 73.5% | 72 min | 0.8% | 498 |
What delays out of XNA were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 7,663 flights that departed XNA and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 37.5% put down to late-arriving aircraft and 29.6% to airline operations.
- Late-arriving aircraft 37.5%
- Airline operations 29.6%
- Air traffic & airport volume 19.2%
- Severe weather 13.5%
- 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 XNA
Of 39,977 scheduled arrivals into XNA, 78.3% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 7,972 arrivals that ran late, 53.9% 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 XNA
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 77.1% on time · 10,088 flights
- ORD 79.4% on time · 5,581 flights
- CLT 81.7% on time · 4,626 flights
- DEN 78.3% on time · 3,805 flights
- ATL 87.5% on time · 3,726 flights
- LGA 81.7% on time · 2,476 flights
- PHX 87.4% on time · 1,863 flights
- LAX 80.7% on time · 1,340 flights
- DCA 90% on time · 1,098 flights
- MSP 81.8% on time · 685 flights
XNA in one number
Northwest Arkansas (XNA)
Rank 88 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: 6–8am. Hardest month: June.
Questions about XNA
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Northwest Arkansas?
- 6–8am. Departures in that band left on time 88.8% of the time across 7,371 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 8–10pm band was the weakest at 68%.
- Is the early flight out of XNA really more reliable?
- 6–8am departures from XNA left on time 88.8% of the time across 7,371 flights; 6–8pm departures, 70.6% across 3,030. That is a gap of 18.2 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
- What is the worst month to fly out of XNA?
- June: 74.8% of the departures that flew left on time, with 3,672 scheduled. October was the other end of the year at 88.8%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- Which airline is most on time at XNA?
- Delta Air Lines — 89.2% of its 1,463 departures from XNA left on time. Allegiant Air sat at the other end at 70.4% over 2,575 flights. Only airlines with at least 100 departures here are ranked.
- How often are flights cancelled at XNA?
- 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.