Airport month record
PBIMAR
Palm Beach International in March 2026
- Departures
- 3,385
- Month
- March 2026
- National, same month
- 75.7%
- Carriers
- 8
Historical statistics for March 2026, not live status or a forecast for this year’s March. For today’s conditions at PBI, see live FAA status.
PBI in March carries a cancellation problem, not just a delay problem: 3.5% of scheduled flights never operate, against 2.9% nationally. Of the ones that do fly, about seven flights in ten arrive on time, worth a C− overall. The punctuality figure counts only flights that actually departed, so it flatters an operation that cancels this often. That rests on 3,385 flights, of which United Airlines flew 577 at 74.8% on time.
United Airlines is the most reliable of the four carriers covered here at 74.8% on time across 577 flights.
Key figures
On time
69.1%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 3,254 completed departures
Avg delay
79 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
3.49%
Nationally in March: 2.90%
Whole year
75.1%
PBI across all twelve months
These figures cover 3,385 departures from Palm Beach 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 PBI's other months
Against PBI's own year, March ran 6 points worse than the twelve-month rate of 75.1%, which makes it the worst of the eleven months in the data. Either side of it, February ran 73.8% on time and April 71.3%, so a trip moved by a few weeks would have landed in a better stretch.
| Month | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 2025 | 1,818 | 82.2% | 74 min | 0.44% | B+ |
| October 2025 | 2,268 | 78.1% | 78 min | 0.88% | B+ |
| November 2025 | 2,792 | 76.8% | 89 min | 2.11% | B |
| December 2025 | 3,186 | 71.7% | 79 min | 1.95% | C |
| January 2026 | 3,108 | 74.7% | 79 min | 5.50% | C− |
| February 2026 | 2,973 | 73.8% | 78 min | 4.78% | C− |
| March 2026 (this page) | 3,385 | 69.1% | 79 min | 3.49% | C− |
| April 2026 | 3,067 | 71.3% | 75 min | 0.62% | C+ |
| May 2026 | 2,545 | 83.1% | 79 min | 0.98% | B+ |
| June 2026 | 2,154 | 79.1% | 90 min | 1.81% | B |
| July 2026 | 2,102 | 71.8% | 101 min | 5.33% | C− |
Departure window
The best time of day to leave PBI in March
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 33 points, against 10 points between the best and worst carrier.
- 5am–8am490 flights90.2%
- 8am–11am574 flights81.5%
- 11am–2pm648 flights68.5%
- 2pm–5pm618 flights57.6%
- 5pm–8pm767 flights58.9%
- 8pm–5am288 flights61.5%
Scale runs 50% to 95%.
Book the early departure. Flights leaving between 5am–8am arrive on time 90.2% of the time, against 57.6% for the afternoon window. That is 33 points of difference for no extra money, and it comes from the same aircraft having had no earlier flight to fall behind on. The 5pm–8pm window is the busiest, with 767 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Tuesday is the strongest day at 75.5% on time and Thursday the weakest at 59.2%, a spread of 16 points.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at PBI in March
The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. United Airlines arrives on time 74.8% of the time; JetBlue Airways manages 64.4%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 992 flights means less than a ten-point one.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JetBlue Airways | 992 | 64.4% | 85 min | 3.02% | D− |
| Delta Air Lines | 704 | 68.6% | 70 min | 5.40% | C− |
| American Airlines | 676 | 73.4% | 82 min | 2.81% | C |
| United Airlines | 577 | 74.8% | 84 min | 1.91% | C |
| Southwest Airlinesthin sample | 260 | 71.4% | 64 min | 1.92% | C |
| Frontier Airlinesthin sample | 64 | 54.0% | 85 min | 1.56% | F |
| Spirit Airlinesthin sample | 62 | 50.0% | 70 min | 22.58% | F− |
| Allegiant Airthin sample | 46 | 69.6% | 73 min | 0.00% | C+ |
Delta Air Lines cancels 5.4% 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 PBI in March
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PBI to EWR · Newark | 408 | 69.4% | 67 min | 2.94% | C |
| PBI to ATL · Atlantathin sample | 347 | 74.9% | 86 min | 3.46% | C− |
| PBI to LGA · New Yorkthin sample | 337 | 53.1% | 79 min | 7.42% | F− |
| PBI to BOS · Bostonthin sample | 249 | 64.6% | 72 min | 3.61% | D− |
| PBI to JFK · New Yorkthin sample | 218 | 67.9% | 83 min | 4.13% | C− |
| PBI to DCA · Washingtonthin sample | 189 | 65.2% | 91 min | 2.12% | C |
| PBI to HPN · White Plainsthin sample | 185 | 61.4% | 70 min | 3.24% | D− |
| PBI to CLT · Charlottethin sample | 180 | 85.3% | 83 min | 1.11% | A |
| PBI to ORD · Chicagothin sample | 164 | 64.1% | 108 min | 3.05% | D− |
| PBI to PHL · Philadelphiathin sample | 161 | 77.4% | 96 min | 1.24% | B |
| PBI to BWI · Baltimorethin sample | 125 | 79.3% | 78 min | 3.20% | B− |
| PBI to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample | 116 | 68.2% | 49 min | 5.17% | C− |
| PBI to ISP · Islipthin sample | 98 | 63.9% | 70 min | 1.02% | D |
| PBI to IAD · Washingtonthin sample | 62 | 90.0% | 52 min | 3.23% | A− |
| PBI to DTW · Detroitthin sample | 62 | 66.1% | 80 min | 3.23% | C− |
| PBI to BDL · Hartfordthin sample | 61 | 65.0% | 117 min | 1.64% | C |
| PBI to IAH · Houstonthin sample | 60 | 80.7% | 87 min | 5.00% | B− |
| PBI to DEN · Denverthin sample | 58 | 70.2% | 105 min | 1.72% | C |
| PBI to PVD · Providencethin sample | 53 | 75.0% | 77 min | 1.89% | B |
| PBI to MCO · Orlandothin sample | 34 | 72.7% | 43 min | 2.94% | C |
| PBI to STL · St. Louisthin sample | 31 | 61.3% | 60 min | 0.00% | D+ |
| PBI to MSP · Minneapolisthin sample | 31 | 72.4% | 34 min | 6.45% | C− |
| PBI to ACY · Atlantic Citythin sample | 31 | 83.3% | 84 min | 22.58% | B− |
| PBI to LAX · Los Angelesthin sample | 31 | 80.0% | 102 min | 3.23% | B− |
| PBI to BNA · Nashvillethin sample | 31 | 64.5% | 66 min | 0.00% | D+ |
Delay causes
What held PBI up in March
Late-arriving aircraft accounts for 47% of the 80,000 delay minutes carriers reported here, and the remaining four split what is left.
- 47%Late-arriving aircraft
- 25%National Airspace System
- 22%Carrier
- 5%Extreme weather
- 1%Security
47% of delay minutes trace back to a late-arriving aircraft, meaning the plane was already behind before it got here. Across 80,000 reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 10 to one. The split is drawn from 79,508 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations run at 3.49%, against 2.90% nationally. That is about one flight in 30 cancelled outright. A cancelled flight is invisible in every on-time figure on this page, so the punctuality numbers above describe only the flights that actually operated.
13.2% of arrivals land a full hour or more behind schedule, against 9.5% nationally. Ninety minutes is the honest minimum for a connection here, and two hours if the onward flight is on a separate ticket.
What to do with this
Flying from PBI in March
For a March trip through PBI: plan on this being one of the airport's harder months. The 5am–8am departures held up best at 90.2% on time, and with 13.2% of arrivals an hour or more late, a connection here deserves more slack than the same trip in May would.
Related
Where to go next
- Palm Beach International (PBI), the whole year
- PBI in September82.2%
- PBI in October78.1%
- PBI in November76.8%
- PBI in December71.7%
- PBI in January74.7%
- PBI in February73.8%
- PBI in April71.3%
- PBI in May83.1%
- PBI in June79.1%
- PBI in July71.8%
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, on-time performance data, September 2025 to August 2026. Last updated ; recomputed monthly. How this data is collected.