82% of flights leaving Kahului (OGG) arrived on time over the past 12 months, 6 points better than the national average of 76%. That ranks 8 of 76 large U.S. airports. About 70 flights leave OGG on a typical day; 1.1% were cancelled. 84% 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. (94% on time). Worst: 4 p.m. (63%).
- Best month: September (92%). Worst: January (79%).
- Most reliable airline here: Southwest Airlines (92%), vs Alaska Airlines at 76%.
- Biggest delay cause: late-arriving aircraft (46% of delay minutes).
- Year on year: getting worse (87% → 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 OGG: when a flight was late, it was under 45 minutes late 69% of the time. About 1 in 28 flights landed an hour or more late, and 1 in 184 three hours or more; 1.1% were cancelled outright.
- On time or early82%
- 15–30 min late8.5%
- 30–60 min late4.7%
- 1–2 hours late2.3%
- 2–3 hours late0.7%
- 3+ hours late0.5%
- Diverted0.2%
- Cancelled1.1%
Share of all 25,714 scheduled flights, past 12 months, by arrival time against schedule.
Best time of day to fly out of OGG
Time of day matters more at OGG than almost anything else you control. Flights scheduled to leave at 6 a.m. arrived on time 94% of the time; at 4 p.m. it was 63%, a 31-point gap. Taken together, early departures (5–9 a.m.) ran 92% on time against 85% 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: 4 p.m. departures were cancelled 3.1% of the time, against 1.1% overall.
Hour × month
Combine the two and the spread is wider still. The most reliable combination at OGG was a 6 a.m. departure in July (98% on time); the least, 4 p.m. in January (70%). 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 OGG, with 79% of flights on time across 2023–2026; September is the best at 92%. Winter costs 6 points against autumn. Cancellations peak in January (2.4% of flights).
Airlines at OGG
Alaska Airlines runs 43% of departures from OGG. Among airlines with at least 1,000 departures here, Southwest Airlines was the most reliable (92% on time) and Alaska Airlines the least (76%), a 17-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 | 10,985 | 76% | 77% | 1.4% | +1 min |
| Southwest Airlines | 5,103 | 92% | 93% | 0.4% | −11 min |
| Hawaiian Airlines | 4,301 | 80% | 83% | 0.7% | 0 min |
| United Airlines | 2,417 | 90% | 92% | 1.0% | −12 min |
| American Airlines | 1,576 | 83% | 85% | 1.0% | −11 min |
| Delta Air Lines | 1,332 | 85% | 87% | 2.5% | −13 min |
Why flights are late at OGG
Airlines report a cause for every flight that arrives 15 or more minutes late. At OGG, 46% 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 40%. 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 276 cancellations, 36% were blamed on weather, so most were within the airlines’ control or the air traffic system’s.
The average taxi from gate to takeoff is 11 minutes, shorter than at most large U.S. airports.
Month by month
Over the latest 12 months 82% of OGG departures were on time, against 87% in the 12 months before, a decline of 5 points. The best recent month was September 2025 (91%); the worst, March 2026 (70%).
Worst cancellation days
The worst single day in the past year was Saturday, Aug 15, 2026, when 41% of 70 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 | 70 | 41% | 54% |
| Mar 14, 2026 | 78 | 36% | 3% |
| Aug 16, 2026 | 67 | 24% | 27% |
| Mar 13, 2026 | 75 | 16% | 28% |
| Mar 15, 2026 | 72 | 14% | 24% |
| Mar 20, 2026 | 75 | 7% | 57% |
| Oct 31, 2025 | 63 | 5% | 76% |
| Oct 30, 2025 | 66 | 5% | 70% |
| Nov 11, 2025 | 66 | 5% | 82% |
| Nov 12, 2025 | 66 | 5% | 85% |
Last flights of the day
The last flight of the day is a different bet. Across routes from OGG, each airline's final departure was cancelled 1.3% of the time, against 1.1% for its earlier flights, about the same. 0.6% of last flights landed 3+ hours late. The riskiest last flight out was American Airlines to Dallas (2.9% cancelled).
| Last flight to | Airline | Leaves | Cancelled | 3h+ late | On time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DFW Dallas | American Airlines | 5:46 p.m. | 2.9% | 1.5% | 60% |
| LAX Los Angeles | American Airlines | 9:45 p.m. | 0.9% | 2.3% | 86% |
| PHX Phoenix | American Airlines | 10:52 p.m. | 0.8% | 2.3% | 82% |
| SAN San Diego | Alaska Airlines | 11:03 p.m. | 2.8% | 0.0% | 76% |
| SEA Seattle | Alaska Airlines | 9:40 p.m. | 2.2% | 0.0% | 76% |
| LAX Los Angeles | Delta Air Lines | 9:50 p.m. | 2.1% | 0.0% | 87% |
| LAX Los Angeles | United Airlines | 9:59 p.m. | 1.8% | 0.0% | 94% |
| KOA Kona | Alaska Airlines | 3:54 p.m. | 0.4% | 1.2% | 73% |
| LAX Los Angeles | Alaska Airlines | 3:00 p.m. | 0.8% | 0.8% | 73% |
| PDX Portland | Alaska Airlines | 9:10 p.m. | 1.1% | 0.3% | 84% |
| SFO San Francisco | United Airlines | 10:55 p.m. | 1.1% | 0.3% | 94% |
| HNL Honolulu | Southwest Airlines | 7:00 p.m. | 0.8% | 0.3% | 93% |
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 OGG
- Book the earliest departure you can live with. At OGG 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 OGG come from late-arriving aircraft. If your inbound plane is late, your flight will be too, whatever the board says.
Routes from OGG
Where you're going matters too. From OGG, the most reliable busy route was to San Francisco (SFO, 90% on time) and the least reliable to Lihue (LIH, 75%). 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SMF Sacramento | 480 | 74% | 0.8% | +1 min |
| LIH Lihue | 1,460 | 75% | 0.1% | +2 min |
| SJC San Jose | 471 | 75% | 0.4% | +2 min |
| DFW Dallas | 501 | 77% | 2.0% | −10 min |
| SAN San Diego | 908 | 78% | 1.5% | −6 min |
| KOA Kona | 1,460 | 79% | 0.3% | 0 min |
| SEA Seattle | 1,809 | 80% | 1.6% | −9 min |
| LAX Los Angeles | 2,169 | 80% | 0.9% | −7 min |
| HNL Honolulu | 10,001 | 83% | 1.3% | −2 min |
| LGB Long Beach | 370 | 83% | 0.5% | −2 min |
| OAK Oakland | 730 | 84% | 0.5% | −7 min |
| PDX Portland | 728 | 84% | 0.7% | −10 min |
| LAS Las Vegas | 735 | 87% | 0.8% | −12 min |
| DEN Denver | 382 | 89% | 1.8% | −12 min |
| SFO San Francisco | 1,703 | 90% | 0.8% | −11 min |
| PHX Phoenix | 860 | 93% | 0.5% | −15 min |
Flights into OGG
Arriving rather than leaving? These are the routes into Kahului, least reliable first. The weakest is from Dallas (67% on time).
| From | Flights | On time | Cancelled |
|---|---|---|---|
| DFW Dallas | 501 | 67% | 1.4% |
| SEA Seattle | 1,809 | 78% | 0.6% |
| LAX Los Angeles | 2,170 | 81% | 0.6% |
| LIH Lihue | 1,460 | 81% | 0.5% |
| SAN San Diego | 907 | 82% | 0.7% |
| PHX Phoenix | 860 | 82% | 0.4% |
| HNL Honolulu | 9,998 | 83% | 1.1% |
| LAS Las Vegas | 735 | 83% | 0.8% |
| OAK Oakland | 731 | 84% | 1.4% |
| DEN Denver | 382 | 84% | 1.1% |
| SMF Sacramento | 480 | 86% | 1.5% |
| SFO San Francisco | 1,703 | 86% | 0.5% |
| KOA Kona | 1,460 | 87% | 0.4% |
| PDX Portland | 728 | 89% | 0.4% |
| LGB Long Beach | 370 | 90% | 0.8% |
| SJC San Jose | 470 | 91% | 0.2% |
Questions about OGG delays
What is the best time to fly out of OGG?
Flights scheduled at 6 a.m.: over the past year 94% of OGG departures at that hour arrived on time, against 63% at 4 p.m., the worst hour.
What month has the most flight delays at OGG?
January (79% on time). September is the best month (92%).
Which airline is most on time at OGG?
Southwest Airlines: 92% of its OGG departures arrived on time over the past year. Alaska Airlines had the weakest record at 76%.
Why are flights delayed at OGG?
The biggest cause was late-arriving aircraft (46% of delay minutes): the plane showed up late from its previous flight, so the delay started somewhere else. Then the airlines themselves (40%).
How often are flights cancelled at OGG?
1.1% of scheduled departures over the past 12 months, peaking in January at 2.4%.
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.