There are so many great things about going on holiday, but setting an alarm for the middle of the night to catch an early flight isn’t really one of them.
According to Travel and Leisure, though, it definitely does have its perks: they advise that you should actually opt for early flights, in order to have a better chance of getting to your destination on time.
This is because early flights are typically less likely to be delayed than those in the afternoon or evening, because they aren’t impacted by as many flights that depart prior to them.
This is because of air traffic: controllers who aims to move aircraft safely and efficiently through the airspace system, by keeping planes set distances apart while moving them from airport to airport using set route.
So, the more flights before yours that have delays for various reasons (lack of cabin crew, massive clean up job, etc), the more likely your flight is to be delayed, too.
According to FiveThirtyEight’s data, delays tend to start at around 8am each day and get gradually worse, until they peak at around 6pm.
So that’s one reason it’s worthwhile getting to the airport for 4am, then.
