80% of flights leaving Reno (RNO) arrived on time over the past 12 months, 4 points better than the national average of 76%. That ranks 20 of 76 large U.S. airports. About 62 flights leave RNO on a typical day; 0.9% were cancelled. 80% 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. (94% on time). Worst: 2 p.m. (67%).
- Best month: November (85%). Worst: July (76%).
- Most reliable airline here: Delta Air Lines (87%), vs United Airlines at 74%.
- Biggest delay cause: late-arriving aircraft (40% of delay minutes).
- Year on year: getting worse (81% → 80%).
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 RNO: when a flight was late, it was under 45 minutes late 56% of the time. About 1 in 16 flights landed an hour or more late, and 1 in 88 three hours or more; 0.9% were cancelled outright.
- On time or early80%
- 15–30 min late7.3%
- 30–60 min late5.9%
- 1–2 hours late3.8%
- 2–3 hours late1.2%
- 3+ hours late1.1%
- Diverted0.2%
- Cancelled0.9%
Share of all 22,740 scheduled flights, past 12 months, by arrival time against schedule.
Best time of day to fly out of RNO
Time of day matters more at RNO than almost anything else you control. Flights scheduled to leave at 5 a.m. arrived on time 94% of the time; at 2 p.m. it was 67%, a 27-point gap. Taken together, early departures (5–9 a.m.) ran 88% on time against 71% 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: 11 p.m. departures were cancelled 2.8% of the time, against 0.9% overall.
Hour × month
Combine the two and the spread is wider still. The most reliable combination at RNO was a 5 a.m. departure in August (96% on time); the least, 8 p.m. in August (52%). 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 RNO, with 76% of flights on time across 2023–2026; November is the best at 85%. Summer (June–August) runs 6 points worse than autumn: heavy schedules, peak loads and afternoon thunderstorms. Cancellations peak in February (2.5% of flights).
Airlines at RNO
Southwest Airlines runs 37% of departures from RNO. Among airlines with at least 1,000 departures here, Delta Air Lines was the most reliable (87% on time) and United Airlines the least (74%), a 13-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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 8,459 | 80% | 78% | 0.6% | −6 min |
| United Airlines | 4,561 | 74% | 80% | 0.9% | −5 min |
| Alaska Airlines | 3,115 | 80% | 83% | 1.4% | −6 min |
| Delta Air Lines | 2,887 | 87% | 87% | 0.4% | −11 min |
| American Airlines | 2,722 | 82% | 82% | 1.7% | −9 min |
| Frontier Airlines | 424 | 68% | 71% | 1.9% | −5 min |
| Spirit Airlines | 420 | 85% | 86% | 1.9% | −14 min |
| JetBlue | 152 | 52% | 54% | 6.6% | +6 min |
Why flights are late at RNO
Airlines report a cause for every flight that arrives 15 or more minutes late. At RNO, 40% 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 28%. 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 216 cancellations, 57% were blamed on weather.
The average taxi from gate to takeoff is 17 minutes, about typical for a large U.S. airport.
Month by month
Over the latest 12 months 80% of RNO departures were on time, against 81% in the 12 months before, a decline of 2 points. The best recent month was January 2026 (87%); the worst, August 2026 (73%).
Worst cancellation days
The worst single day in the past year was Sunday, Dec 21, 2025, when 29% of 68 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 21, 2025 | 68 | 29% | 44% |
| Feb 24, 2026 | 53 | 23% | 53% |
| Nov 5, 2025 | 55 | 13% | 67% |
| Nov 7, 2025 | 65 | 9% | 77% |
| Sep 26, 2025 | 67 | 9% | 72% |
| Jan 26, 2026 | 57 | 9% | 88% |
| Jan 24, 2026 | 48 | 8% | 85% |
| Feb 17, 2026 | 60 | 8% | 15% |
| Nov 9, 2025 | 65 | 6% | 68% |
| Nov 8, 2025 | 52 | 6% | 79% |
Last flights of the day
The last flight of the day is a different bet. Across routes from RNO, each airline's final departure was cancelled 1.1% of the time, against 0.8% 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. 1.4% of last flights landed 3+ hours late. The riskiest last flight out was United Airlines to San Francisco (1.9% cancelled).
| Last flight to | Airline | Leaves | Cancelled | 3h+ late | On time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SFO San Francisco | United Airlines | 6:55 p.m. | 1.9% | 4.4% | 49% |
| DFW Dallas | American Airlines | 11:59 p.m. | 3.0% | 2.5% | 78% |
| LAS Las Vegas | Spirit Airlines | — | 2.2% | 2.2% | 81% |
| SAN San Diego | Alaska Airlines | 11:43 a.m. | 1.5% | 1.5% | 65% |
| PHX Phoenix | American Airlines | 7:07 p.m. | 1.4% | 1.4% | 80% |
| DEN Denver | United Airlines | 6:33 p.m. | 0.3% | 2.2% | 82% |
| SAN San Diego | Southwest Airlines | 8:55 p.m. | 1.2% | 1.2% | 57% |
| PHX Phoenix | Southwest Airlines | 4:15 p.m. | 0.8% | 1.4% | 72% |
| PDX Portland | Alaska Airlines | 5:35 p.m. | 1.9% | 0.3% | 89% |
| DEN Denver | Southwest Airlines | 2:30 p.m. | 0.8% | 1.4% | 73% |
| SEA Seattle | Alaska Airlines | 7:50 p.m. | 1.4% | 0.8% | 67% |
| LGB Long Beach | Southwest Airlines | 5:45 p.m. | 1.7% | 0.0% | 66% |
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 RNO
- Book the earliest departure you can live with. At RNO 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 RNO; the one before it leaves you a backup.
- Delayed already? Most delays at RNO come from late-arriving aircraft. If your inbound plane is late, your flight will be too, whatever the board says.
Routes from RNO
Where you're going matters too. From RNO, the most reliable busy route was to Salt Lake City (SLC, 90% on time) and the least reliable to San Francisco (SFO, 58%). 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SFO San Francisco | 1,980 | 58% | 1.4% | +6 min |
| SAN San Diego | 1,573 | 70% | 1.4% | +1 min |
| SEA Seattle | 1,290 | 75% | 1.0% | −4 min |
| DFW Dallas | 1,274 | 79% | 2.8% | −10 min |
| LAS Las Vegas | 4,136 | 81% | 0.9% | −9 min |
| LGB Long Beach | 687 | 81% | 1.0% | −8 min |
| BUR Burbank | 424 | 82% | 0.2% | −9 min |
| PHX Phoenix | 2,438 | 84% | 0.6% | −8 min |
| LAX Los Angeles | 2,690 | 86% | 0.5% | −8 min |
| DEN Denver | 2,438 | 86% | 0.3% | −8 min |
| SLC Salt Lake City | 1,201 | 90% | 0.2% | −11 min |
| PDX Portland | 1,003 | 91% | 1.2% | −11 min |
Flights into RNO
Arriving rather than leaving? These are the routes into Reno Tahoe, least reliable first. The weakest is from Dallas (71% on time).
| From | Flights | On time | Cancelled |
|---|---|---|---|
| DFW Dallas | 1,274 | 71% | 2.7% |
| SFO San Francisco | 1,979 | 71% | 1.1% |
| SAN San Diego | 1,573 | 72% | 1.9% |
| DEN Denver | 2,439 | 74% | 0.3% |
| LAS Las Vegas | 4,136 | 78% | 0.9% |
| PHX Phoenix | 2,438 | 79% | 0.6% |
| SEA Seattle | 1,289 | 81% | 0.7% |
| BUR Burbank | 424 | 84% | 0.0% |
| LGB Long Beach | 687 | 84% | 0.4% |
| SLC Salt Lake City | 1,201 | 88% | 0.2% |
| LAX Los Angeles | 2,688 | 88% | 0.5% |
| PDX Portland | 1,005 | 88% | 0.7% |
Questions about RNO delays
What is the best time to fly out of RNO?
Flights scheduled at 5 a.m.: over the past year 94% of RNO departures at that hour arrived on time, against 67% at 2 p.m., the worst hour.
What month has the most flight delays at RNO?
July (76% on time). November is the best month (85%).
Which airline is most on time at RNO?
Delta Air Lines: 87% of its RNO departures arrived on time over the past year. United Airlines had the weakest record at 74%.
Why are flights delayed at RNO?
The biggest cause was late-arriving aircraft (40% of delay minutes): the plane showed up late from its previous flight, so the delay started somewhere else. Then the airlines themselves (28%).
How often are flights cancelled at RNO?
0.9% of scheduled departures over the past 12 months, peaking in February at 2.5%.
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.