Santa Ana, CA · Airport profile
SNA
John Wayne Airport
SNA right now
Live conditions where a permitted source publishes them, and the historical record where none does.
Aviation weather is not currently a factor.
94.4% leave on time
06:00–06:59 local · 9,854 departures on record
When flights run late in this hour, most of the delay is attributed to the airline.
Historical pattern for SNA from US DOT BTS — not a live reading.
Minimal operational impact. Conditions are not a notable factor for operations right now.
Forecast issued 11:20Z.
UpdatedFlyerIntel shows live values only where a permitted source provides them. Sections without data are left empty rather than estimated.
Airport reliability
Departures from SNA, July 2023 – June 2026.
Better than 77% of major US airports covered by FlyerIntel (58 compared)
Calculated from 133,365 flights. How this is calculated
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – June 2026
Best time to fly from SNA
On-time arrival rate by scheduled local departure time.
Flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 91.1% of the time, against 77.2% for 6–9 PM departures — a gap of 13.9 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – June 2026 · Buckets with fewer than 120 flights are not scored.
International arrivals
How long passport control normally takes at this airport. This is the arrivals queue, not departure security.
| Terminal | Typical wait | Busy-hour wait | Worst recorded | Hours over 30 min |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terminal C | 5 min | 7 min | 30 min | 0.0% |
Typical wait by hour — Terminal C
Source: US Customs and Border Protection · 2024-08-28 to 2026-08-28 · These are CBP passport control waits for arriving international passengers — a different queue from TSA departure screening. CBP publishes them about two days in arrears, so this describes what is normal rather than what is happening now.
What to expect at SNA
How busy the airport is through the day, from scheduled departure volume.
Scheduled departures by hour
The busiest hour is 7 AM, with about 11 departures a day, against roughly 3 at 9 PM. Counterintuitively, that peak is also more punctual than a typical hour here — early banks fly aircraft that have been on the ground overnight rather than ones inheriting the day’s delays.
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – June 2026 · Taxi-out is the time between leaving the gate and lifting off, averaged across departures and weighted by hour.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 9.3 percentage points.
By month
July is historically the weakest month and September the strongest, a spread of 7.9 percentage points.
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – June 2026
Airlines at SNA
Departure performance by operating carrier. Regional flights are reported by the carrier that operated them, not by the mainline brand.
| Carrier | Departures | On time | Cancelled | Median delay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines WN | 43,761 | 83.7% | 0.81% | -7 min |
| American Airlines AA | 19,863 | 81.5% | 1.47% | -8 min |
| United Airlines UA | 18,440 | 83.6% | 0.73% | -10 min |
| SkyWest Airlines OO | 14,196 | 74.9% | 1.17% | -5 min |
| Delta Air Lines DL | 14,094 | 84.1% | 0.70% | -10 min |
| Alaska Airlines AS | 12,763 | 87.7% | 1.25% | -8 min |
| Frontier Airlines F9 | 3,447 | 76.7% | 2.06% | -7 min |
| Spirit Airlines NK | 3,414 | 86.1% | 1.26% | -6 min |
| Allegiant Air G4 | 3,387 | 70.8% | 1.30% | -2 min |
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – June 2026 · Carriers with fewer than 500 departures are not listed.
Routes from SNA
Ranked by FlyerIntel Route Reliability Score.
Busiest routes
| Destination | Flights | On time | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| SNA → SFO San Francisco | 13,393 | 72.3% | 56 |
| SNA → PHX Phoenix | 13,229 | 83.3% | 76 |
| SNA → LAS Las Vegas | 12,367 | 81.3% | 72 |
| SNA → SEA Seattle | 12,090 | 85.7% | 81 |
| SNA → DEN Denver | 11,037 | 83.5% | 78 |
| SNA → DFW Dallas–Fort Worth | 8,819 | 81.6% | 61 |
| SNA → SJC San Jose | 8,068 | 86.6% | 86 |
| SNA → OAK Oakland | 7,759 | 85.7% | 84 |
| SNA → SMF Sacramento | 6,765 | 85.0% | 84 |
| SNA → ORD Chicago | 6,534 | 81.2% | 72 |
| SNA → SLC Salt Lake City | 5,275 | 86.7% | 79 |
| SNA → PDX Portland | 4,156 | 90.5% | 89 |
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – June 2026 · Only routes with at least 750 flights are ranked.
Reliability over time
On-time arrival rate for departures, by month.
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – June 2026
Data and sources
Historical statistics
Every historical figure on this page is calculated by FlyerIntel from US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics on-time performance records covering July 2023 – June 2026, comprising 133,365 departures from SNA. A flight counts as delayed when it arrives 15 or more minutes after schedule.
Live conditions
Aviation weather comes from the NOAA Aviation Weather Center. Operational events come from the FAA where available. FlyerIntel shows the age of every live value and does not display data it cannot currently retrieve.
Latest observation for SNA: METAR KSNA 301253Z COR 00000KT 7SM FEW029 FEW170 23/20 A2987 RMK AO2 SLP113 T02280200 $ (issued ).