Airport month record
HNLMAY
Daniel K. Inouye International in May 2026
- Departures
- 4,953
- Month
- May 2026
- National, same month
- 78.6%
- Carriers
- 5
Historical statistics for May 2026, not live status or a forecast for this year’s May. For today’s conditions at HNL, see live FAA status.
HNL in May lands a B, 4 points better than the national rate of 78.6%. About one flight in six arrives 15 minutes late or worse, and those flights are late by roughly 45 minutes on average. That is a workable record, not a spotless one. That rests on 4,953 flights, of which Southwest Airlines flew 1,069 at 91.9% on time.
Southwest Airlines is the most reliable of the three carriers covered here at 91.9% on time across 1,069 flights.
Key figures
On time
82.7%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 4,894 completed departures
Avg delay
47 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
1.13%
Nationally in May: 0.92%
Whole year
82.9%
HNL across all twelve months
These figures cover 4,953 departures from Daniel K. Inouye International in May 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
May next to HNL's other months
Against HNL's own year, May ran level with the twelve-month rate of 82.9%, which makes it number eight of twelve months, best first. Either side of it, April ran 82.8% on time and June 83.7%, 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 | 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 (this page) | 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 May
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 16 points, against 14 points between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.
- 5am–8am618 flights91.2%
- 8am–11am716 flights89.5%
- 11am–2pm1,245 flights75.4%
- 2pm–5pm851 flights78.4%
- 5pm–8pm571 flights82.6%
- 8pm–5am952 flights85.5%
Scale runs 65% 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 75.4% on time against 91.2% 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 1,245 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Sunday is the strongest day at 85.5% on time and Friday the weakest at 74.2%. 11 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at HNL in May
The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. Southwest Airlines arrives on time 91.9% of the time; Alaska Airlines manages 78.2%. 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 | 78.2% | 42 min | 1.72% | B |
| Southwest Airlines | 1,069 | 91.9% | 39 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| United Airlines | 434 | 82.8% | 56 min | 0.92% | B+ |
| Delta Air Linesthin sample | 310 | 90.9% | 35 min | 0.32% | A+ |
| American Airlinesthin sample | 229 | 85.1% | 163 min | 0.44% | A+ |
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 May
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HNL to OGG · Kahului | 818 | 84.0% | 36 min | 0.73% | B+ |
| HNL to LIH · Lihue | 660 | 81.9% | 43 min | 3.03% | B− |
| HNL to KOA · Kailua-Kona | 634 | 85.2% | 42 min | 1.89% | A |
| HNL to ITO · Hilo | 542 | 81.2% | 39 min | 0.74% | B+ |
| HNL to LAX · Los Angeles | 506 | 79.8% | 71 min | 0.99% | B+ |
| HNL to SEA · Seattlethin sample | 248 | 77.3% | 55 min | 0.40% | B+ |
| HNL to SFO · San Franciscothin sample | 216 | 78.6% | 52 min | 0.46% | B+ |
| HNL to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample | 206 | 82.3% | 38 min | 0.49% | B+ |
| HNL to SAN · San Diegothin sample | 152 | 84.7% | 28 min | 1.32% | B |
| HNL to PHX · Phoenixthin sample | 124 | 88.6% | 90 min | 0.81% | A+ |
| HNL to PDX · Portlandthin sample | 80 | 79.7% | 30 min | 1.25% | B |
| HNL to SJC · San Josethin sample | 62 | 96.8% | 17 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| HNL to SLC · Salt Lake Citythin sample | 62 | 83.6% | 47 min | 1.61% | B |
| HNL to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample | 62 | 87.1% | 182 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| HNL to DEN · Denverthin sample | 62 | 88.7% | 39 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| HNL to OAK · Oaklandthin sample | 62 | 78.7% | 37 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| HNL to JFK · New Yorkthin sample | 62 | 80.6% | 35 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| HNL to LGB · Long Beachthin sample | 62 | 82.3% | 42 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| HNL to SMF · Sacramentothin sample | 62 | 85.5% | 38 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| HNL to ORD · Chicagothin sample | 31 | 83.9% | 58 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| HNL to ANC · Anchoragethin sample | 31 | 80.6% | 85 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| HNL to DTW · Detroitthin sample | 31 | 87.1% | 39 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| HNL to MSP · Minneapolisthin sample | 31 | 87.1% | 51 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| HNL to GUM · Hagatnathin sample | 31 | 80.6% | 41 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| HNL to IAH · Houstonthin sample | 31 | 67.7% | 32 min | 0.00% | C+ |
Delay causes
What held HNL up in May
One category carries most of the weight here. Carrier accounts for 48% of the 40,000 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
- 17%National Airspace System
- 4%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 19,000 of the 40,000 delay minutes reported here. The split is drawn from 39,695 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations sit at 1.13% against a national 0.92%, which is ordinary. Diversions add another 0.06%.
Badly late arrivals are rare here: only 2.9% land an hour or more behind schedule, against 7.1% nationally. Connections built on this flight are about as safe as US domestic connections get, though a cancelled flight still ignores every layover you give it.
What to do with this
Flying from HNL in May
For a May trip through HNL: expect 82.7% on time and 1.13% cancelled, going by May 2026. The 5am–8am window was the strongest part of the day.
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 March73.7%
- HNL in April82.8%
- 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.