Airport month record
HNLMAR
Daniel K. Inouye International in March 2026
- Departures
- 5,037
- Month
- March 2026
- National, same month
- 75.7%
- Carriers
- 5
Historical statistics for March 2026, not live status or a forecast for this year’s March. For today’s conditions at HNL, see live FAA status.
HNL in March sits in the middle of the pack with a C. Close to three flights in four arrive on time by the DOT's definition, 2 points worse than the national rate of 75.7%. The late ones land about an hour behind schedule. That rests on 5,037 flights, of which Southwest Airlines flew 1,062 at 78.6% on time.
Southwest Airlines is the most reliable of the three carriers covered here at 78.6% on time across 1,062 flights.
Key figures
On time
73.7%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 4,913 completed departures
Avg delay
56 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
2.24%
Nationally in March: 2.90%
Whole year
82.9%
HNL across all twelve months
These figures cover 5,037 departures from Daniel K. Inouye International in March 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
March next to HNL's other months
Against HNL's own year, March ran 9 points worse than the twelve-month rate of 82.9%, which makes it the worst of the twelve months in the data. Cancellations are where March stands out: 2.24% of scheduled departures were called off, 2.3 times the airport's rate across the year. Either side of it, February ran 81.8% on time and April 82.8%, so a trip moved by a few weeks would have landed in a better stretch.
| 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 | 5,054 | 79.7% | 59 min | 1.37% | B |
| February 2026 | 4,464 | 81.8% | 55 min | 0.90% | B+ |
| March 2026 (this page) | 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 March
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 25 points, against 7 points between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.
- 5am–8am563 flights88.6%
- 8am–11am821 flights81.3%
- 11am–2pm1,177 flights63.7%
- 2pm–5pm850 flights68.6%
- 5pm–8pm637 flights77.6%
- 8pm–5am989 flights72.8%
Scale runs 55% to 95%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.
The weak window here is the middle of the day, not the evening: 11am–2pm runs 63.7% on time against 88.6% for 5am–8am. That shape usually means a departure bank rather than an accumulating delay, so the recovery later in the afternoon is real rather than noise. The 11am–2pm window is the busiest, with 1,177 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Wednesday is the strongest day at 87.2% on time and Friday the weakest at 56.0%. 31 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at HNL in March
The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. Southwest Airlines arrives on time 78.6% of the time; Alaska Airlines manages 71.7%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 2,911 flights means less than a ten-point one.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska Airlines | 2,911 | 71.7% | 52 min | 3.16% | C− |
| Southwest Airlines | 1,062 | 78.6% | 60 min | 0.94% | B+ |
| United Airlines | 446 | 74.9% | 52 min | 0.45% | C+ |
| Delta Air Linesthin sample | 350 | 77.0% | 69 min | 1.43% | B |
| American Airlinesthin sample | 268 | 70.1% | 86 min | 1.49% | C |
Alaska Airlines cancels 3.2% of what it schedules here, the highest in the table. A cancelled flight never appears in an on-time rate, so read that column alongside the punctuality one rather than after it.
Route by route
Busiest routes out of HNL in March
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HNL to OGG · Kahului | 840 | 77.6% | 54 min | 3.93% | B− |
| HNL to LIH · Lihue | 634 | 75.2% | 57 min | 3.47% | B− |
| HNL to KOA · Kailua-Kona | 627 | 78.6% | 49 min | 3.19% | B− |
| HNL to ITO · Hilo | 529 | 78.2% | 53 min | 4.54% | B− |
| HNL to LAX · Los Angeles | 460 | 67.2% | 67 min | 0.43% | C+ |
| HNL to SEA · Seattlethin sample | 259 | 77.8% | 88 min | 0.77% | B+ |
| HNL to SFO · San Franciscothin sample | 214 | 76.2% | 45 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| HNL to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample | 200 | 69.3% | 43 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| HNL to SAN · San Diegothin sample | 155 | 59.4% | 49 min | 0.00% | D+ |
| HNL to PHX · Phoenixthin sample | 124 | 70.8% | 46 min | 2.42% | C |
| HNL to SLC · Salt Lake Citythin sample | 91 | 74.4% | 40 min | 1.10% | C |
| HNL to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample | 82 | 60.5% | 72 min | 1.22% | D |
| HNL to PDX · Portlandthin sample | 74 | 76.7% | 66 min | 1.35% | B |
| HNL to DEN · Denverthin sample | 62 | 77.4% | 61 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| HNL to OAK · Oaklandthin sample | 62 | 72.6% | 53 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| HNL to ORD · Chicagothin sample | 62 | 77.4% | 78 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| HNL to LGB · Long Beachthin sample | 62 | 62.9% | 45 min | 0.00% | D+ |
| HNL to SMF · Sacramentothin sample | 62 | 62.3% | 58 min | 0.00% | D+ |
| HNL to SJC · San Josethin sample | 61 | 65.0% | 72 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| HNL to JFK · New Yorkthin sample | 54 | 68.5% | 39 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| HNL to ANC · Anchoragethin sample | 43 | 67.4% | 64 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| HNL to GUM · Hagatnathin sample | 31 | 54.8% | 30 min | 0.00% | F+ |
| HNL to ONT · Ontariothin sample | 31 | 54.8% | 61 min | 0.00% | F+ |
| HNL to IAH · Houstonthin sample | 31 | 45.2% | 31 min | 0.00% | F+ |
| HNL to MSP · Minneapolisthin sample | 31 | 76.7% | 100 min | 3.23% | B− |
Delay causes
What held HNL up in March
One category carries most of the weight here. Carrier accounts for 48% of the 73,000 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.
- 48%Carrier
- 32%Late-arriving aircraft
- 13%National Airspace System
- 7%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
The largest share of delay minutes, 48%, falls under carrier control: crew scheduling, maintenance, fuelling, baggage. Unlike weather, that is a management outcome, and it is the category where the gap between two carriers on the same schedule is genuinely earned. It accounts for 35,000 of the 73,000 delay minutes reported here. The split is drawn from 72,689 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations sit at 2.24% against a national 2.90%, which is ordinary. Diversions add another 0.22%.
6.7% of arrivals land an hour or more late, close to the national 9.5%. 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 March
For a March trip through HNL: plan on this being one of the airport's harder months. The 5am–8am departures held up best at 88.6% on time, and with 6.7% 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 January79.7%
- HNL in February81.8%
- 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.