Do morning flights get delayed less?

Yes, significantly. BTS data consistently shows that flights departing before 8 AM have a 15-20% lower delay rate than flights departing after 2 PM. The earliest flights of the day (6-7 AM departures) have the best on-time performance of any time slot.

The reason is simple: morning flights start the day with a "clean slate." The aircraft is already at the gate from the previous night, there's no cascading delay from a prior leg, weather hasn't had time to develop, and airport traffic is below peak. The first flight of the day on a given aircraft is essentially immune to the compounding-delay effect that plagues afternoon schedules.

The tradeoff: early morning flights mean earlier wake-ups, and if you're connecting, morning flights are more likely to be affected by overnight maintenance issues (planes that developed problems the day before). But the data is clear — if schedule reliability is your priority, book the earliest departure available. The sweet spot is 6-8 AM: early enough to avoid cascading delays, late enough that overnight maintenance is resolved.