76% of flights leaving Hartford (BDL) arrived on time over the past 12 months, right at the national average of 76%. That ranks 45 of 76 large U.S. airports. About 64 flights leave BDL on a typical day; 2.5% were cancelled. 79% pushed back from the gate on time, so most of the lateness is already there when the flight leaves the gate.
At a glance
- Best hour to fly: 5 a.m. (91% on time). Worst: 7 p.m. (63%).
- Best month: October (86%). Worst: July (69%).
- Most reliable airline here: Delta Air Lines (83%), vs JetBlue at 68%.
- Biggest delay cause: late-arriving aircraft (41% of delay minutes).
- Year on year: getting worse (79% → 76%).
How late?
The on-time rate treats a flight 20 minutes late the same as one 5 hours late. Here's the split for flights leaving BDL: when a flight was late, it was under 45 minutes late 54% of the time. About 1 in 14 flights landed an hour or more late, and 1 in 58 three hours or more; 2.5% were cancelled outright.
- On time or early76%
- 15–30 min late7.7%
- 30–60 min late6.0%
- 1–2 hours late3.9%
- 2–3 hours late1.7%
- 3+ hours late1.7%
- Diverted0.3%
- Cancelled2.5%
Share of all 23,364 scheduled flights, past 12 months, by arrival time against schedule.
Best time of day to fly out of BDL
Time of day matters more at BDL than almost anything else you control. Flights scheduled to leave at 5 a.m. arrived on time 91% of the time; at 7 p.m. it was 63%, a 28-point gap. Taken together, early departures (5–9 a.m.) ran 86% on time against 63% for the evening bank (5–10 p.m.). Early planes usually start the day at the airport, so they haven't had a chance to pick up delays elsewhere. By evening a late inbound aircraft, a crew running out of duty hours or an afternoon thunderstorm can push one late flight into the next. Cancellations cluster too: 7 p.m. departures were cancelled 5.3% of the time, against 2.5% overall.
Hour × month
Combine the two and the spread is wider still. The most reliable combination at BDL was a 5 a.m. departure in October (95% on time); the least, 5 p.m. in July (44%). If you can only move one thing, move the hour. Departure hour usually shifts the odds more than the month does.
Each cell: on-time rate for that departure hour in that calendar month, 2023–2026. Find your travel month, then look along the row for the greenest hour.
Best and worst months
July is the hardest month at BDL, with 69% of flights on time across 2023–2026; October is the best at 86%. Summer (June–August) runs 12 points worse than autumn: heavy schedules, peak loads and afternoon thunderstorms. Winter costs 10 points against autumn. Cancellations peak in January (4.9% of flights).
Airlines at BDL
American Airlines runs 30% of departures from BDL. Among airlines with at least 1,000 departures here, Delta Air Lines was the most reliable (83% on time) and JetBlue the least (68%), a 15-point difference. On a route where both fly, that difference is worth more than a small fare gap.
| Airline | Departures | On time | Left on time | Cancelled | Typical arrival |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Airlines | 6,978 | 75% | 77% | 3.6% | −10 min |
| Delta Air Lines | 4,296 | 83% | 84% | 2.2% | −11 min |
| Southwest Airlines | 4,066 | 79% | 77% | 1.5% | −4 min |
| JetBlue | 3,902 | 68% | 74% | 2.6% | −3 min |
| United Airlines | 3,472 | 78% | 84% | 1.9% | −6 min |
| Frontier Airlines | 592 | 64% | 66% | 2.2% | −1 min |
Why flights are late at BDL
Airlines report a cause for every flight that arrives 15 or more minutes late. At BDL, 41% of delay minutes came from late-arriving aircraft: the plane showed up late from its previous flight, so the delay started somewhere else. Next is the airlines themselves at 29%. That's why the first flight of the morning is the safest bet: it has no earlier flight to inherit a delay from. Of the 588 cancellations, 70% were blamed on weather.
The average taxi from gate to takeoff is 16 minutes, about typical for a large U.S. airport.
BDL vs nearby airports
| Airport | Distance | Departures | On time | Cancelled |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BDL Bradley | — | 23,364 | 76% | 2.5% |
| ORH Worcester | 47 mi | 1,457 | 68% | 3.5% |
Month by month
Over the latest 12 months 76% of BDL departures were on time, against 79% in the 12 months before, a decline of 3 points. The best recent month was September 2025 (85%); the worst, December 2025 (66%).
Worst cancellation days
The worst single day in the past year was Monday, Feb 23, 2026, when 99% of 69 scheduled departures were cancelled. Days like that are usually a major storm, a system outage or a holiday peak hitting bad weather. No average predicts them, so on a stormy forecast, check your airline's travel waivers.
| Date | Departures | Cancelled | On time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 23, 2026 | 69 | 99% | 0% |
| Jan 26, 2026 | 56 | 96% | 0% |
| Jan 25, 2026 | 61 | 79% | 16% |
| Feb 24, 2026 | 57 | 46% | 35% |
| Mar 16, 2026 | 64 | 30% | 33% |
| Jan 27, 2026 | 50 | 24% | 30% |
| Jul 18, 2026 | 60 | 20% | 45% |
| Feb 22, 2026 | 70 | 19% | 31% |
| Jul 21, 2026 | 64 | 17% | 44% |
| Dec 27, 2025 | 69 | 16% | 30% |
Last flights of the day
The last flight of the day is a different bet. Across routes from BDL, each airline's final departure was cancelled 3.4% of the time, against 2.3% for its earlier flights (1.5× as often). Late in the day crews run short on duty hours, aircraft arrive late from elsewhere, and with no later flight to fold passengers into, cancelling is easier for the airline. 2.4% of last flights landed 3+ hours late. The riskiest last flight out was American Airlines to Washington (11.0% cancelled).
| Last flight to | Airline | Leaves | Cancelled | 3h+ late | On time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DCA Washington | American Airlines | 7:33 p.m. | 11.0% | 4.4% | 48% |
| PBI West Palm Beach | JetBlue | 9:05 a.m. | 2.7% | 4.8% | 60% |
| ORD Chicago | American Airlines | 5:23 p.m. | 6.3% | 1.1% | 60% |
| PHL Philadelphia | American Airlines | 7:31 p.m. | 5.8% | 1.1% | 74% |
| SJU San Juan | JetBlue | 7:59 p.m. | 1.5% | 5.0% | 52% |
| IAD Washington | United Airlines | 7:45 p.m. | 4.1% | 2.2% | 78% |
| ORD Chicago | United Airlines | 4:55 p.m. | 2.2% | 3.9% | 55% |
| CLT Charlotte | American Airlines | 5:25 p.m. | 2.2% | 3.6% | 70% |
| FLL Fort Lauderdale | JetBlue | 5:07 p.m. | 2.3% | 3.4% | 53% |
| DFW Dallas | American Airlines | 5:59 p.m. | 3.1% | 2.5% | 62% |
| MSP Minneapolis | Delta Air Lines | 6:59 p.m. | 3.2% | 2.1% | 77% |
| BWI Baltimore | Southwest Airlines | 4:50 p.m. | 3.0% | 1.9% | 67% |
Each airline's last scheduled departure of the day on a route, on days it flies the route at least twice; past 12 months. Riskiest first.
Tips for flying out of BDL
- Book the earliest departure you can live with. At BDL the 5 a.m. flights do best.
- Traveling in July? Leave extra slack for anything that can't move: cruises, weddings, the last connection of the day.
- Choosing between airlines? Delta Air Lines has the better record here.
- Need to arrive tonight? Don't book the last flight out of BDL; the one before it leaves you a backup.
- Delayed already? Most delays at BDL come from late-arriving aircraft. If your inbound plane is late, your flight will be too, whatever the board says.
Routes from BDL
Where you're going matters too. From BDL, the most reliable busy route was to Detroit (DTW, 87% on time) and the least reliable to Washington (DCA, 64%). Flights into congested airports inherit their delays: an air traffic program at the destination holds planes on the ground here.
Least reliable first. Routes with at least 365 flights a year.
| To | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Typical arrival |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SJU San Juan | 968 | 57% | 2.0% | +7 min |
| DCA Washington | 1,681 | 64% | 6.3% | −4 min |
| FLL Fort Lauderdale | 726 | 66% | 2.8% | 0 min |
| PBI West Palm Beach | 485 | 68% | 2.1% | −1 min |
| MCO Orlando | 1,869 | 71% | 2.0% | −3 min |
| ORD Chicago | 2,375 | 73% | 2.8% | −5 min |
| TPA Tampa | 652 | 74% | 1.7% | −3 min |
| DFW Dallas | 681 | 74% | 3.2% | −7 min |
| MDW Chicago | 837 | 77% | 1.6% | −4 min |
| IAD Washington | 1,402 | 79% | 2.5% | −7 min |
| PHL Philadelphia | 1,418 | 79% | 3.1% | −11 min |
| CLT Charlotte | 1,673 | 80% | 2.1% | −12 min |
| MSP Minneapolis | 837 | 80% | 2.5% | −7 min |
| BWI Baltimore | 1,724 | 81% | 1.8% | −5 min |
| BNA Nashville | 385 | 81% | 1.0% | −5 min |
| DEN Denver | 887 | 81% | 1.0% | −8 min |
| ATL Atlanta | 2,310 | 82% | 1.9% | −9 min |
| DTW Detroit | 1,243 | 87% | 2.3% | −14 min |
| JFK New York | 365 | 88% | 3.8% | −14 min |
| MIA Miami | 429 | 89% | 1.6% | −16 min |
Flights into BDL
Arriving rather than leaving? These are the routes into Bradley, least reliable first. The weakest is from New York (62% on time).
| From | Flights | On time | Cancelled |
|---|---|---|---|
| JFK New York | 365 | 62% | 3.6% |
| DCA Washington | 1,680 | 64% | 6.2% |
| FLL Fort Lauderdale | 726 | 64% | 2.2% |
| DFW Dallas | 681 | 64% | 3.1% |
| SJU San Juan | 968 | 68% | 2.3% |
| MCO Orlando | 1,867 | 69% | 2.1% |
| MIA Miami | 428 | 70% | 1.6% |
| TPA Tampa | 652 | 71% | 1.7% |
| ORD Chicago | 2,376 | 73% | 2.4% |
| CLT Charlotte | 1,673 | 73% | 2.1% |
| PBI West Palm Beach | 487 | 73% | 2.9% |
| DEN Denver | 887 | 74% | 1.2% |
| PHL Philadelphia | 1,419 | 75% | 3.0% |
| MDW Chicago | 836 | 75% | 1.4% |
| ATL Atlanta | 2,310 | 78% | 2.0% |
| BNA Nashville | 386 | 78% | 1.0% |
| MSP Minneapolis | 838 | 79% | 2.3% |
| BWI Baltimore | 1,723 | 79% | 2.2% |
| IAD Washington | 1,402 | 83% | 2.1% |
| DTW Detroit | 1,242 | 83% | 2.2% |
Questions about BDL delays
What is the best time to fly out of BDL?
Flights scheduled at 5 a.m.: over the past year 91% of BDL departures at that hour arrived on time, against 63% at 7 p.m., the worst hour.
What month has the most flight delays at BDL?
July (69% on time). October is the best month (86%).
Which airline is most on time at BDL?
Delta Air Lines: 83% of its BDL departures arrived on time over the past year. JetBlue had the weakest record at 68%.
Why are flights delayed at BDL?
The biggest cause was late-arriving aircraft (41% of delay minutes): the plane showed up late from its previous flight, so the delay started somewhere else. Then the airlines themselves (29%).
How often are flights cancelled at BDL?
2.5% of scheduled departures over the past 12 months, peaking in January at 4.9%.
Hours are scheduled local departure times. "On time" means arriving less than 15 minutes late at the destination; cancelled and diverted flights count as not on time. Method.