75% of flights leaving Buffalo (BUF) arrived on time over the past 12 months, right at the national average of 76%. That ranks 57 of 76 large U.S. airports. About 71 flights leave BUF on a typical day; 3.3% were cancelled. 75% 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. (87% on time). Worst: 8 p.m. (58%).
- Best month: October (86%). Worst: January (67%).
- Most reliable airline here: Southwest Airlines (78%), vs JetBlue at 71%.
- Biggest delay cause: late-arriving aircraft (46% of delay minutes).
- Year on year: getting worse (79% → 75%).
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 BUF: when a flight was late, it was under 45 minutes late 49% of the time. About 1 in 11 flights landed an hour or more late, and 1 in 45 three hours or more; 3.3% were cancelled outright.
- On time or early75%
- 15–30 min late7.2%
- 30–60 min late5.6%
- 1–2 hours late4.8%
- 2–3 hours late1.8%
- 3+ hours late2.2%
- Diverted0.3%
- Cancelled3.3%
Share of all 26,065 scheduled flights, past 12 months, by arrival time against schedule.
Best time of day to fly out of BUF
Time of day matters more at BUF than almost anything else you control. Flights scheduled to leave at 5 a.m. arrived on time 87% of the time; at 8 p.m. it was 58%, a 29-point gap. Taken together, early departures (5–9 a.m.) ran 84% on time against 62% 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: 8 p.m. departures were cancelled 6.8% of the time, against 3.3% overall.
Hour × month
Combine the two and the spread is wider still. The most reliable combination at BUF was a 5 a.m. departure in October (96% on time); the least, 6 p.m. in July (46%). 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 BUF, with 67% of flights on time across 2023–2026; October is the best at 86%. Summer (June–August) runs 11 points worse than autumn: heavy schedules, peak loads and afternoon thunderstorms. Winter costs 13 points against autumn. Cancellations peak in January (7.7% of flights).
Airlines at BUF
American Airlines runs 27% of departures from BUF. Among airlines with at least 1,000 departures here, Southwest Airlines was the most reliable (78% on time) and JetBlue the least (71%), a 7-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 | 6,941 | 73% | 75% | 3.6% | −8 min |
| Delta Air Lines | 5,606 | 77% | 76% | 4.1% | −10 min |
| Southwest Airlines | 5,439 | 78% | 74% | 1.1% | −4 min |
| United Airlines | 3,828 | 75% | 77% | 3.3% | −7 min |
| JetBlue | 3,447 | 71% | 73% | 4.6% | −6 min |
| Frontier Airlines | 804 | 67% | 66% | 2.2% | −4 min |
Why flights are late at BUF
Airlines report a cause for every flight that arrives 15 or more minutes late. At BUF, 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 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 848 cancellations, 53% were blamed on weather.
The average taxi from gate to takeoff is 17 minutes, about typical for a large U.S. airport.
BUF vs nearby airports
| Airport | Distance | Departures | On time | Cancelled |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BUF Buffalo Niagara | — | 26,065 | 75% | 3.3% |
| ROC Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester | 55 mi | 16,470 | 74% | 3.4% |
Month by month
Over the latest 12 months 75% of BUF departures were on time, against 79% in the 12 months before, a decline of 4 points. The best recent month was September 2025 (86%); the worst, December 2025 (61%).
Worst cancellation days
The worst single day in the past year was Sunday, Jan 25, 2026, when 76% of 62 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 | 62 | 76% | 16% |
| Dec 29, 2025 | 65 | 72% | 18% |
| Jan 26, 2026 | 60 | 45% | 23% |
| Feb 23, 2026 | 69 | 41% | 30% |
| Mar 16, 2026 | 70 | 27% | 31% |
| Jul 21, 2026 | 80 | 26% | 40% |
| Jul 28, 2026 | 80 | 25% | 43% |
| Aug 7, 2026 | 82 | 24% | 48% |
| Feb 22, 2026 | 71 | 23% | 41% |
| Feb 24, 2026 | 59 | 20% | 47% |
Last flights of the day
The last flight of the day is a different bet. Across routes from BUF, each airline's final departure was cancelled 5.2% of the time, against 2.7% 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. 3.0% of last flights landed 3+ hours late. The riskiest last flight out was American Airlines to Washington (9.1% cancelled).
| Last flight to | Airline | Leaves | Cancelled | 3h+ late | On time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DCA Washington | American Airlines | 5:25 p.m. | 9.1% | 6.6% | 43% |
| EWR Newark | United Airlines | 7:00 p.m. | 10.4% | 4.1% | 60% |
| JFK New York | JetBlue | 8:02 p.m. | 8.2% | 5.2% | 61% |
| LGA New York | American Airlines | 6:00 p.m. | 8.6% | 4.3% | 61% |
| JFK New York | Delta Air Lines | 8:05 p.m. | 11.9% | 0.8% | 66% |
| ORD Chicago | United Airlines | 6:04 p.m. | 4.1% | 6.9% | 50% |
| LGA New York | Delta Air Lines | 6:10 p.m. | 7.8% | 3.1% | 63% |
| PHL Philadelphia | American Airlines | 7:40 p.m. | 6.6% | 2.8% | 69% |
| MCO Orlando | JetBlue | 9:59 a.m. | 5.6% | 3.3% | 62% |
| ORD Chicago | American Airlines | 4:57 p.m. | 5.5% | 2.8% | 59% |
| IAD Washington | United Airlines | 7:52 p.m. | 3.8% | 3.6% | 78% |
| BOS Boston | JetBlue | 9:33 p.m. | 4.6% | 2.6% | 54% |
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 BUF
- Book the earliest departure you can live with. At BUF 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? Southwest Airlines has the better record here.
- Need to arrive tonight? Don't book the last flight out of BUF; the one before it leaves you a backup.
- Delayed already? Most delays at BUF come from late-arriving aircraft. If your inbound plane is late, your flight will be too, whatever the board says.
Routes from BUF
Where you're going matters too. From BUF, the most reliable busy route was to Baltimore (BWI, 85% on time) and the least reliable to Washington (DCA, 62%). 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 | 1,108 | 62% | 5.4% | +2 min |
| FLL Fort Lauderdale | 534 | 71% | 3.0% | −3 min |
| ORD Chicago | 2,555 | 71% | 3.0% | −4 min |
| LGA New York | 2,316 | 72% | 5.9% | −7 min |
| JFK New York | 2,636 | 73% | 6.9% | −10 min |
| DFW Dallas | 573 | 73% | 2.8% | −6 min |
| BOS Boston | 1,349 | 73% | 3.5% | −9 min |
| DEN Denver | 573 | 73% | 0.2% | −2 min |
| MCO Orlando | 1,813 | 74% | 1.8% | −3 min |
| MDW Chicago | 829 | 74% | 1.6% | −1 min |
| EWR Newark | 1,065 | 76% | 5.6% | −12 min |
| PHL Philadelphia | 1,367 | 76% | 3.4% | −11 min |
| BNA Nashville | 370 | 76% | 0.8% | 0 min |
| CLT Charlotte | 1,164 | 78% | 1.6% | −8 min |
| ATL Atlanta | 1,533 | 78% | 2.0% | −9 min |
| TPA Tampa | 712 | 79% | 0.6% | −6 min |
| DTW Detroit | 1,538 | 80% | 1.8% | −11 min |
| IAD Washington | 1,150 | 81% | 2.4% | −10 min |
| BWI Baltimore | 1,728 | 85% | 1.5% | −7 min |
Flights into BUF
Arriving rather than leaving? These are the routes into Buffalo Niagara, least reliable first. The weakest is from Dallas (59% on time).
| From | Flights | On time | Cancelled |
|---|---|---|---|
| DFW Dallas | 573 | 59% | 2.8% |
| DCA Washington | 1,108 | 60% | 5.6% |
| FLL Fort Lauderdale | 536 | 63% | 2.6% |
| MCO Orlando | 1,811 | 65% | 1.6% |
| DEN Denver | 574 | 67% | 0.2% |
| ORD Chicago | 2,554 | 68% | 3.1% |
| LGA New York | 2,317 | 70% | 6.7% |
| JFK New York | 2,637 | 71% | 6.9% |
| BOS Boston | 1,349 | 71% | 3.6% |
| EWR Newark | 1,065 | 72% | 5.6% |
| BNA Nashville | 371 | 72% | 0.8% |
| CLT Charlotte | 1,164 | 72% | 1.6% |
| MDW Chicago | 829 | 73% | 1.5% |
| BWI Baltimore | 1,727 | 74% | 2.1% |
| PHL Philadelphia | 1,366 | 75% | 3.5% |
| ATL Atlanta | 1,534 | 75% | 1.9% |
| DTW Detroit | 1,538 | 78% | 1.6% |
| IAD Washington | 1,149 | 78% | 2.6% |
| TPA Tampa | 711 | 78% | 1.3% |
Questions about BUF delays
What is the best time to fly out of BUF?
Flights scheduled at 5 a.m.: over the past year 87% of BUF departures at that hour arrived on time, against 58% at 8 p.m., the worst hour.
What month has the most flight delays at BUF?
January (67% on time). October is the best month (86%).
Which airline is most on time at BUF?
Southwest Airlines: 78% of its BUF departures arrived on time over the past year. JetBlue had the weakest record at 71%.
Why are flights delayed at BUF?
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 (28%).
How often are flights cancelled at BUF?
3.3% of scheduled departures over the past 12 months, peaking in January at 7.7%.
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.