Airport month record
HNLJAN
Daniel K. Inouye International in January 2026
- Departures
- 5,054
- Month
- January 2026
- National, same month
- 79.2%
- Carriers
- 5
Historical statistics for January 2026, not live status or a forecast for this year’s January. For today’s conditions at HNL, see live FAA status.
HNL in January lands a B, level with the national rate of 79.2%. About one flight in five arrives 15 minutes late or worse, and those flights are late by about an hour on average. That is a workable record, not a spotless one. That rests on 5,054 flights, of which Southwest Airlines flew 1,017 at 89.2% on time.
Southwest Airlines is the most reliable of the three carriers covered here at 89.2% on time across 1,017 flights.
Key figures
On time
79.7%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 4,978 completed departures
Avg delay
59 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
1.37%
Nationally in January: 4.71%
Whole year
82.9%
HNL across all twelve months
These figures cover 5,054 departures from Daniel K. Inouye International in January 2026. On time means an arrival less than 15 minutes after the scheduled gate time, the DOT's threshold, and the national comparison uses every US departure in the same month rather than the whole year.
Against the year
January next to HNL's other months
Against HNL's own year, January ran 3 points worse than the twelve-month rate of 82.9%, which makes it number ten of twelve months, best first. Either side of it, December ran 76.1% on time and February 81.8%, so this month sits in line with its neighbours.
| Month | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2025 | 5,176 | 83.9% | 56 min | 1.22% | B |
| August 2025 | 4,921 | 88.7% | 55 min | 0.22% | A+ |
| September 2025 | 4,480 | 91.4% | 61 min | 0.25% | A+ |
| October 2025 | 4,682 | 87.4% | 58 min | 0.53% | A+ |
| November 2025 | 4,623 | 84.2% | 50 min | 1.64% | B |
| December 2025 | 5,054 | 76.1% | 58 min | 0.67% | B+ |
| January 2026 (this page) | 5,054 | 79.7% | 59 min | 1.37% | B |
| February 2026 | 4,464 | 81.8% | 55 min | 0.90% | B+ |
| March 2026 | 5,037 | 73.7% | 56 min | 2.24% | C |
| April 2026 | 4,809 | 82.8% | 47 min | 0.60% | B+ |
| May 2026 | 4,953 | 82.7% | 47 min | 1.13% | B |
| June 2026 | 4,899 | 83.7% | 44 min | 0.69% | B+ |
Departure window
The best time of day to leave HNL in January
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 24 points, against 14 points between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.
- 5am–8am510 flights92.9%
- 8am–11am887 flights89.7%
- 11am–2pm1,061 flights76.2%
- 2pm–5pm932 flights68.9%
- 5pm–8pm724 flights74.4%
- 8pm–5am940 flights81.4%
Scale runs 60% to 100%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.
Book the early departure. Flights leaving between 5am–8am arrive on time 92.9% of the time, against 68.9% for the afternoon window. That is 24 points of difference for no extra money, and it comes from the same aircraft having had no earlier flight to fall behind on. The 11am–2pm window is the busiest, with 1,061 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Saturday is the strongest day at 83.6% on time and Monday the weakest at 75.9%. 8 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at HNL in January
The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. Southwest Airlines arrives on time 89.2% of the time; Alaska Airlines manages 75.5%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 3,080 flights means less than a ten-point one.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska Airlines | 3,080 | 75.5% | 54 min | 1.46% | B |
| Southwest Airlines | 1,017 | 89.2% | 39 min | 0.49% | A+ |
| United Airlines | 403 | 86.6% | 91 min | 1.74% | A |
| Delta Air Linesthin sample | 327 | 79.9% | 72 min | 1.22% | B |
| American Airlinesthin sample | 227 | 79.9% | 136 min | 3.52% | B− |
The spread between Southwest and Alaska is 14 points, wide enough that it should decide the booking. On a hundred trips that is 14 more arrivals inside the on-time window.
Route by route
Busiest routes out of HNL in January
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HNL to OGG · Kahului | 897 | 78.7% | 42 min | 0.78% | B+ |
| HNL to LIH · Lihue | 691 | 81.3% | 43 min | 0.87% | B+ |
| HNL to KOA · Kailua-Kona | 650 | 83.1% | 40 min | 1.38% | B |
| HNL to ITO · Hilo | 544 | 81.5% | 40 min | 1.84% | B |
| HNL to LAX · Los Angeles | 426 | 79.9% | 101 min | 0.47% | B+ |
| HNL to SEA · Seattlethin sample | 252 | 77.8% | 71 min | 1.59% | B |
| HNL to SFO · San Franciscothin sample | 190 | 79.1% | 86 min | 1.58% | B |
| HNL to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample | 178 | 76.0% | 44 min | 1.69% | B |
| HNL to SAN · San Diegothin sample | 156 | 74.5% | 40 min | 0.64% | C+ |
| HNL to PHX · Phoenixthin sample | 98 | 85.4% | 59 min | 2.04% | A |
| HNL to SLC · Salt Lake Citythin sample | 85 | 75.0% | 70 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| HNL to PDX · Portlandthin sample | 81 | 70.1% | 114 min | 4.94% | C− |
| HNL to SJC · San Josethin sample | 65 | 79.7% | 42 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| HNL to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample | 62 | 67.9% | 41 min | 9.68% | C− |
| HNL to ORD · Chicagothin sample | 62 | 90.2% | 315 min | 1.61% | A |
| HNL to SMF · Sacramentothin sample | 62 | 75.8% | 155 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| HNL to LGB · Long Beachthin sample | 62 | 87.1% | 36 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| HNL to OAK · Oaklandthin sample | 62 | 79.0% | 42 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| HNL to ANC · Anchoragethin sample | 53 | 66.0% | 57 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| HNL to JFK · New Yorkthin sample | 51 | 80.4% | 92 min | 9.80% | B− |
| HNL to DEN · Denverthin sample | 45 | 88.9% | 72 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| HNL to ATL · Atlantathin sample | 36 | 69.4% | 113 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| HNL to IAH · Houstonthin sample | 31 | 87.1% | 277 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| HNL to MSP · Minneapolisthin sample | 31 | 64.5% | 92 min | 0.00% | D+ |
| HNL to ONT · Ontariothin sample | 31 | 61.3% | 80 min | 0.00% | D+ |
Delay causes
What held HNL up in January
One category carries most of the weight here. Carrier accounts for 54% of the 60,000 delay minutes carriers reported, and the remaining four split what is left. The split is by minutes rather than by flights, so a few very long delays count for as much as many short ones.
- 54%Carrier
- 36%Late-arriving aircraft
- 7%National Airspace System
- 2%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
36% of delay minutes trace back to a late-arriving aircraft, meaning the plane was already behind before it got here. That is a cascade, and cascades start small and grow through the day. Across 60,000 reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 15 to one. It is the strongest argument for booking the first departure of the morning, when the aircraft has been sitting at the gate overnight with nothing to inherit. The split is drawn from 60,154 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations sit at 1.37% against a national 4.71%, which is ordinary. Diversions add another 0.14%.
5.5% of arrivals land an hour or more late, close to the national 7.6%. That is the figure that decides a connection, and it says a 60 to 75 minute layover is reasonable here while anything under 45 minutes is a bet. Most delays on this route last about an hour, which a normal layover absorbs.
What to do with this
Flying from HNL in January
For a January trip through HNL: plan on this being one of the airport's harder months. The 5am–8am departures held up best at 92.9% on time, and with 5.5% of arrivals an hour or more late, a connection here deserves more slack than the same trip in September would.
Related
Where to go next
- Daniel K. Inouye International (HNL), the whole year
- HNL in July83.9%
- HNL in August88.7%
- HNL in September91.4%
- HNL in October87.4%
- HNL in November84.2%
- HNL in December76.1%
- HNL in February81.8%
- HNL in March73.7%
- HNL in April82.8%
- HNL in May82.7%
- HNL in June83.7%
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, on-time performance data, July 2025 to June 2026. Last updated 15 September 2026; recomputed monthly. How this data is collected.