82% of flights leaving Hilo (ITO) arrived on time over the past 12 months, 6 points better than the national average of 76%. About 18 flights leave ITO on a typical day; 1.4% were cancelled. 83% 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: 6 a.m. (95% on time). Worst: 5 p.m. (62%).
- Best month: September (94%). Worst: January (82%).
- Most reliable airline here: Southwest Airlines (93%), vs Alaska Airlines at 74%.
- Biggest delay cause: late-arriving aircraft (65% of delay minutes).
- Year on year: getting worse (90% → 82%).
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 ITO: when a flight was late, it was under 45 minutes late 71% of the time. About 1 in 33 flights landed an hour or more late, and 1 in 348 three hours or more; 1.4% were cancelled outright.
- On time or early82%
- 15–30 min late9.0%
- 30–60 min late4.9%
- 1–2 hours late2.2%
- 2–3 hours late0.6%
- 3+ hours late0.3%
- Diverted0.0%
- Cancelled1.4%
Share of all 6,603 scheduled flights, past 12 months, by arrival time against schedule.
Best time of day to fly out of ITO
Time of day matters more at ITO than almost anything else you control. Flights scheduled to leave at 6 a.m. arrived on time 95% of the time; at 5 p.m. it was 62%, a 33-point gap. Taken together, early departures (5–9 a.m.) ran 93% on time against 76% 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 a.m. departures were cancelled 2.1% of the time, against 1.4% overall.
Hour × month
Combine the two and the spread is wider still. The most reliable combination at ITO was a 6 a.m. departure in October (98% on time); the least, 4 p.m. in July (69%). 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
January is the hardest month at ITO, with 82% of flights on time across 2023–2026; September is the best at 94%. Summer (June–August) runs 4 points worse than autumn: heavy schedules, peak loads and afternoon thunderstorms. Winter costs 6 points against autumn. Cancellations peak in August (3.4% of flights).
Airlines at ITO
Alaska Airlines runs 49% of departures from ITO. Among airlines with at least 1,000 departures here, Southwest Airlines was the most reliable (93% on time) and Alaska Airlines the least (74%), a 19-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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska Airlines | 3,206 | 74% | 78% | 2.1% | +3 min |
| Southwest Airlines | 1,837 | 93% | 92% | 1.0% | −10 min |
| Hawaiian Airlines | 1,560 | 83% | 84% | 0.3% | −1 min |
Why flights are late at ITO
Airlines report a cause for every flight that arrives 15 or more minutes late. At ITO, 65% 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 25%. 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 92 cancellations, 54% were blamed on weather.
The average taxi from gate to takeoff is 10 minutes, shorter than at most large U.S. airports.
Month by month
Over the latest 12 months 82% of ITO departures were on time, against 90% in the 12 months before, a decline of 9 points. The best recent month was September 2025 (94%); the worst, March 2026 (73%).
Worst cancellation days
The worst single day in the past year was Saturday, Aug 15, 2026, when 100% of 17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 15, 2026 | 17 | 100% | 0% |
| Mar 10, 2026 | 17 | 47% | 41% |
| Aug 16, 2026 | 15 | 33% | 7% |
| Jun 1, 2026 | 19 | 32% | 42% |
| Jan 24, 2026 | 18 | 28% | 61% |
| Mar 13, 2026 | 18 | 17% | 28% |
| Jan 25, 2026 | 18 | 11% | 78% |
| Nov 13, 2025 | 19 | 11% | 84% |
| Mar 27, 2026 | 19 | 11% | 84% |
| Aug 14, 2026 | 19 | 11% | 79% |
Last flights of the day
The last flight of the day is a different bet. Across routes from ITO, each airline's final departure was cancelled 1.0% of the time, against 1.5% for its earlier flights, so at ITO the last flight is actually the steadier one. 0.1% of last flights landed 3+ hours late. The riskiest last flight out was Alaska Airlines to Honolulu (1.7% cancelled).
| Last flight to | Airline | Leaves | Cancelled | 3h+ late | On time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HNL Honolulu | Alaska Airlines | 8:45 p.m. | 1.7% | 0.0% | 76% |
| HNL Honolulu | Southwest Airlines | 6:55 p.m. | 0.8% | 0.3% | 87% |
| HNL Honolulu | Hawaiian Airlines | — | 0.0% | 0.0% | 83% |
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 ITO
- Book the earliest departure you can live with. At ITO the 6 a.m. flights do best.
- Traveling in January? Leave extra slack for anything that can't move: cruises, weddings, the last connection of the day.
- Choosing between airlines? Southwest Airlines has the better record here.
- Delayed already? Most delays at ITO come from late-arriving aircraft. If your inbound plane is late, your flight will be too, whatever the board says.
Routes from ITO
Least reliable first. Routes with at least 365 flights a year.
| To | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Typical arrival |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HNL Honolulu | 6,272 | 81% | 1.5% | −1 min |
Flights into ITO
Arriving rather than leaving? These are the routes into Hilo, least reliable first. The weakest is from Honolulu (82% on time).
| From | Flights | On time | Cancelled |
|---|---|---|---|
| HNL Honolulu | 6,276 | 82% | 1.4% |
Questions about ITO delays
What is the best time to fly out of ITO?
Flights scheduled at 6 a.m.: over the past year 95% of ITO departures at that hour arrived on time, against 62% at 5 p.m., the worst hour.
What month has the most flight delays at ITO?
January (82% on time). September is the best month (94%).
Which airline is most on time at ITO?
Southwest Airlines: 93% of its ITO departures arrived on time over the past year. Alaska Airlines had the weakest record at 74%.
Why are flights delayed at ITO?
The biggest cause was late-arriving aircraft (65% of delay minutes): the plane showed up late from its previous flight, so the delay started somewhere else. Then the airlines themselves (25%).
How often are flights cancelled at ITO?
1.4% of scheduled departures over the past 12 months, peaking in August at 3.4%.
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.