74% of flights leaving Syracuse (SYR) arrived on time over the past 12 months, 2 points worse than the national average of 76%. About 44 flights leave SYR on a typical day; 3.0% were cancelled. 78% pushed back from the gate on time, so a fair share of the lateness builds up after departure, on the taxiway or in the air.
At a glance
- Best hour to fly: 5 a.m. (81% on time). Worst: 8 p.m. (55%).
- Best month: October (86%). Worst: January (70%).
- Most reliable airline here: Delta Air Lines (77%), vs American Airlines at 73%.
- Biggest delay cause: late-arriving aircraft (40% of delay minutes).
- Year on year: getting worse (78% → 74%).
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 SYR: when a flight was late, it was under 45 minutes late 50% of the time. About 1 in 11 flights landed an hour or more late, and 1 in 40 three hours or more; 3.0% were cancelled outright.
- On time or early74%
- 15–30 min late7.6%
- 30–60 min late6.4%
- 1–2 hours late4.7%
- 2–3 hours late2.1%
- 3+ hours late2.5%
- Diverted0.3%
- Cancelled3.0%
Share of all 16,030 scheduled flights, past 12 months, by arrival time against schedule.
Best time of day to fly out of SYR
Time of day matters more at SYR than almost anything else you control. Flights scheduled to leave at 5 a.m. arrived on time 81% of the time; at 8 p.m. it was 55%, a 26-point gap. Taken together, early departures (5–9 a.m.) ran 80% 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 5.4% of the time, against 3.0% overall.
Hour × month
Combine the two and the spread is wider still. The most reliable combination at SYR was a 5 a.m. departure in October (95% on time); the least, 8 p.m. in June (50%). 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 SYR, with 70% of flights on time across 2023–2026; October is the best at 86%. Summer (June–August) runs 9 points worse than autumn: heavy schedules, peak loads and afternoon thunderstorms. Winter costs 12 points against autumn. Cancellations peak in January (4.1% of flights).
Airlines at SYR
American Airlines runs 34% of departures from SYR. Among airlines with at least 1,000 departures here, Delta Air Lines was the most reliable (77% on time) and American Airlines the least (73%), a 4-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 | 5,392 | 73% | 77% | 3.3% | −7 min |
| Delta Air Lines | 4,723 | 77% | 79% | 3.2% | −12 min |
| United Airlines | 3,490 | 73% | 81% | 2.6% | −5 min |
| JetBlue | 1,488 | 74% | 79% | 3.7% | −9 min |
| Allegiant Air | 806 | 58% | 61% | 0.5% | +5 min |
| Frontier Airlines | 131 | 63% | 60% | 2.3% | 0 min |
Why flights are late at SYR
Airlines report a cause for every flight that arrives 15 or more minutes late. At SYR, 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 30%. 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 480 cancellations, 58% were blamed on weather.
The average taxi from gate to takeoff is 21 minutes, longer than at most large U.S. airports. Airlines pad schedules for it, but a long queue on a busy afternoon still eats into the buffer.
SYR vs nearby airports
| Airport | Distance | Departures | On time | Cancelled |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SYR Syracuse Hancock | — | 16,030 | 74% | 3.0% |
| ITH Ithaca Tompkins | 46 mi | 1,585 | 76% | 4.9% |
Month by month
Over the latest 12 months 74% of SYR departures were on time, against 78% in the 12 months before, a decline of 4 points. The best recent month was September 2025 (85%); the worst, December 2025 (58%).
Worst cancellation days
The worst single day in the past year was Sunday, Jan 25, 2026, when 82% of 38 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 25, 2026 | 38 | 82% | 11% |
| Jan 26, 2026 | 38 | 55% | 13% |
| Feb 23, 2026 | 45 | 40% | 51% |
| Mar 16, 2026 | 46 | 37% | 28% |
| Dec 30, 2025 | 42 | 31% | 2% |
| Feb 24, 2026 | 37 | 27% | 54% |
| Nov 10, 2025 | 45 | 27% | 22% |
| Jul 21, 2026 | 44 | 25% | 52% |
| Jan 27, 2026 | 36 | 25% | 28% |
| Aug 7, 2026 | 47 | 23% | 55% |
Last flights of the day
The last flight of the day is a different bet. Across routes from SYR, each airline's final departure was cancelled 4.6% of the time, against 2.4% for its earlier flights (1.9× 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. 2.8% of last flights landed 3+ hours late. The riskiest last flight out was American Airlines to Washington (11.1% cancelled).
| Last flight to | Airline | Leaves | Cancelled | 3h+ late | On time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DCA Washington | American Airlines | 7:52 p.m. | 11.1% | 3.1% | 45% |
| LGA New York | Delta Air Lines | 6:07 p.m. | 9.0% | 2.6% | 61% |
| ORD Chicago | American Airlines | 8:19 p.m. | 6.6% | 3.0% | 62% |
| PHL Philadelphia | American Airlines | 7:21 p.m. | 6.6% | 3.0% | 69% |
| JFK New York | Delta Air Lines | 4:55 p.m. | 5.9% | 2.8% | 73% |
| ORD Chicago | United Airlines | 5:49 p.m. | 3.8% | 4.7% | 56% |
| IAD Washington | United Airlines | 7:52 p.m. | 4.1% | 3.6% | 72% |
| EWR Newark | United Airlines | — | 2.7% | 2.7% | 70% |
| CLT Charlotte | American Airlines | 7:30 p.m. | 1.7% | 2.5% | 71% |
| DTW Detroit | Delta Air Lines | 5:17 p.m. | 1.1% | 2.5% | 70% |
| ATL Atlanta | Delta Air Lines | 6:54 p.m. | 1.9% | 1.6% | 82% |
| MCO Orlando | JetBlue | 1:29 p.m. | 1.4% | 0.5% | 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 SYR
- Book the earliest departure you can live with. At SYR the 5 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? Delta Air Lines has the better record here.
- Need to arrive tonight? Don't book the last flight out of SYR; the one before it leaves you a backup.
- Delayed already? Most delays at SYR come from late-arriving aircraft. If your inbound plane is late, your flight will be too, whatever the board says.
Routes from SYR
Where you're going matters too. From SYR, the most reliable busy route was to Atlanta (ATL, 81% on time) and the least reliable to Chicago (ORD, 71%). 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DCA Washington | 1,028 | 60% | 6.0% | +2 min |
| LGA New York | 975 | 68% | 5.7% | −7 min |
| MCO Orlando | 669 | 71% | 1.5% | −7 min |
| ORD Chicago | 2,377 | 71% | 3.1% | −5 min |
| DEN Denver | 481 | 72% | 1.0% | −1 min |
| EWR Newark | 539 | 73% | 3.1% | −6 min |
| PHL Philadelphia | 1,300 | 76% | 3.0% | −8 min |
| BOS Boston | 716 | 77% | 2.9% | −10 min |
| DTW Detroit | 1,317 | 77% | 1.1% | −12 min |
| CLT Charlotte | 1,088 | 78% | 1.4% | −7 min |
| IAD Washington | 1,344 | 78% | 2.9% | −10 min |
| JFK New York | 1,488 | 78% | 5.6% | −14 min |
| ATL Atlanta | 1,124 | 81% | 2.0% | −12 min |
Flights into SYR
Arriving rather than leaving? These are the routes into Syracuse Hancock, least reliable first. The weakest is from Washington (63% on time).
| From | Flights | On time | Cancelled |
|---|---|---|---|
| DCA Washington | 1,028 | 63% | 5.5% |
| LGA New York | 975 | 66% | 6.5% |
| BOS Boston | 716 | 70% | 2.4% |
| CLT Charlotte | 1,089 | 72% | 1.1% |
| EWR Newark | 538 | 73% | 3.4% |
| ORD Chicago | 2,377 | 73% | 2.6% |
| JFK New York | 1,488 | 74% | 5.7% |
| DTW Detroit | 1,317 | 75% | 1.1% |
| DEN Denver | 481 | 77% | 0.4% |
| MCO Orlando | 670 | 77% | 1.3% |
| IAD Washington | 1,344 | 77% | 2.8% |
| PHL Philadelphia | 1,300 | 77% | 2.9% |
| ATL Atlanta | 1,124 | 78% | 1.9% |
Questions about SYR delays
What is the best time to fly out of SYR?
Flights scheduled at 5 a.m.: over the past year 81% of SYR departures at that hour arrived on time, against 55% at 8 p.m., the worst hour.
What month has the most flight delays at SYR?
January (70% on time). October is the best month (86%).
Which airline is most on time at SYR?
Delta Air Lines: 77% of its SYR departures arrived on time over the past year. American Airlines had the weakest record at 73%.
Why are flights delayed at SYR?
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 (30%).
How often are flights cancelled at SYR?
3.0% of scheduled departures over the past 12 months, peaking in January at 4.1%.
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.