Airport month record

HNLOCT

Daniel K. Inouye International in October 2025

Departures: 4,682
Month: October 2025
National, same month: 79.7%
Carriers: 6

Historical statistics for October 2025, not live status or a forecast for this year’s October. For today’s conditions at HNL, see live FAA status.

HNL in October earns an A+. Close to nine flights in ten arrive inside the 15-minute window the DOT uses to define an on-time arrival, which puts it 8 points better than the national rate of 79.7%. When something does go wrong the average delay runs about an hour. That rests on 4,682 flights, of which Southwest Airlines flew 1,010 at 96.2% on time.

Southwest Airlines is the most reliable of the three carriers covered here at 96.2% on time across 1,010 flights.

On time

87.4%

Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 4,647 completed departures

Avg delay

58 min

Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights

Cancelled

0.53%

Nationally in October: 0.53%

Whole year

82.9%

HNL across all twelve months

These figures cover 4,682 departures from Daniel K. Inouye International in October 2025. 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

October next to HNL's other months

Against HNL's own year, October ran 5 points better than the twelve-month rate of 82.9%, which makes it number three of twelve months, best first. Cancellations were unusually low for HNL in October, at 0.53% against 0.96% across the year. Either side of it, September ran 91.4% on time and November 84.2%, so this month sits in line with its neighbours.

HNL month by month
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 (this page)	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	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 October

Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 10 points, against 13 points between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.

5am–8am546 flights93.6%
8am–11am737 flights90.8%
11am–2pm1,106 flights84.1%
2pm–5pm800 flights83.5%
5pm–8pm608 flights89.9%
8pm–5am885 flights86.4%

Scale runs 75% to 100%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.

Book the early departure. Flights leaving between 5am–8am arrive on time 93.6% of the time, against 83.5% for the afternoon window. That is 10 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 1,106 flights scheduled in it.

Across the week, Tuesday is the strongest day at 92.6% on time and Thursday the weakest at 81.0%. 12 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.

Carrier by carrier

Which airlines ran best at HNL in October

The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. Southwest Airlines arrives on time 96.2% of the time; Hawaiian Airlines manages 83.4%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 2,723 flights means less than a ten-point one.

Carriers at HNL in October 2025
Airline	Flights	On time	Avg delay	Cancelled	Grade
Hawaiian Airlines	2,723	83.4%	55 min	0.51%	B+
Southwest Airlines	1,010	96.2%	34 min	0.40%	A+
United Airlines	370	89.7%	95 min	0.54%	A+
Delta Air Linesthin sample	279	93.8%	44 min	0.72%	A+
American Airlinesthin sample	176	88.5%	111 min	0.57%	A+
Alaska Airlinesthin sample	124	78.7%	68 min	1.61%	B

The spread between Southwest and Hawaiian is 13 points, wide enough that it should decide the booking. On a hundred trips that is 13 more arrivals inside the on-time window.

Route by route

Busiest routes out of HNL in October

Routes from HNL in October 2025
Route	Flights	On time	Avg delay	Cancelled	Grade
HNL to OGG · Kahului	880	90.1%	37 min	0.34%	A+
HNL to LIH · Lihue	640	91.7%	28 min	0.00%	A+
HNL to KOA · Kailua-Kona	590	89.2%	38 min	1.36%	A
HNL to ITO · Hilo	514	90.8%	34 min	0.19%	A+
HNL to LAX · Los Angeles	389	85.8%	83 min	0.26%	A+
HNL to SEA · Seattlethin sample	247	76.3%	65 min	2.02%	B
HNL to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample	186	80.6%	75 min	0.00%	B+
HNL to SFO · San Franciscothin sample	184	84.2%	66 min	0.54%	B+
HNL to SAN · San Diegothin sample	146	78.7%	90 min	0.68%	B+
HNL to PHX · Phoenixthin sample	93	86.0%	137 min	0.00%	A+
HNL to PDX · Portlandthin sample	75	70.3%	109 min	1.33%	C
HNL to LGB · Long Beachthin sample	62	83.9%	50 min	0.00%	B+
HNL to SMF · Sacramentothin sample	62	83.6%	42 min	0.00%	B+
HNL to SLC · Salt Lake Citythin sample	62	88.7%	63 min	0.00%	A+
HNL to OAK · Oaklandthin sample	62	85.5%	55 min	0.00%	A+
HNL to SJC · San Josethin sample	60	86.4%	84 min	0.00%	A+
HNL to DEN · Denverthin sample	56	85.7%	90 min	0.00%	A+
HNL to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample	55	88.9%	65 min	1.82%	A
HNL to JFK · New Yorkthin sample	49	85.4%	57 min	0.00%	A+
HNL to ORD · Chicagothin sample	37	91.7%	84 min	2.70%	A
HNL to ATL · Atlantathin sample	31	77.4%	21 min	0.00%	B+
HNL to IAH · Houstonthin sample	31	96.8%	21 min	0.00%	A+
HNL to ANC · Anchoragethin sample	31	90.3%	155 min	0.00%	A+
HNL to MSP · Minneapolisthin sample	31	96.8%	38 min	0.00%	A+
HNL to ONT · Ontariothin sample	31	70.0%	52 min	3.23%	C−

Delay causes

What held HNL up in October

One category carries most of the weight here. Carrier accounts for 65% of the 34,000 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.

Carrier
65%
Late-arriving aircraft
29%
National Airspace System
5%
Extreme weather
1%
Security
1%

The largest share of delay minutes, 65%, 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 22,000 of the 34,000 delay minutes reported here. The split is drawn from 34,248 reported delay minutes.

Cancellations are rare at 0.53%, below the national 0.53% and low enough to earn the plus on the grade. Roughly one flight in 100 is called off; the risk here is arriving late, not not arriving.

Badly late arrivals are rare here: only 3.2% land an hour or more behind schedule, against 6.3% 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 October

For a October trip through HNL: this is one of the better months to be flying from here, 87.4% on time with 0.53% cancelled. That is a base rate for the month as a whole; a single storm can still spoil a particular day.

Daniel K. Inouye International (HNL), the whole year
HNL in July83.9%
HNL in August88.7%
HNL in September91.4%
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 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.

Key figures