Route profile
ATL→SNA
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Atlanta to Santa Ana, 1,919 miles.
Right now
Aviation weather is not currently a factor.
Aviation weather is not currently a factor.
Route reliability
July 2023 – July 2026
Better than 63% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 3,208 flights. How this is calculated
ATL → SNA arrives on time 76.6% of the time; the return trip, SNA → ATL, arrives on time 82.4% of the time, a 5.8-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
ATL → SNA spends 27.9 minutes on the ground on a 1,919-mile trip: 18.0 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at ATL and 9.9 minutes from touchdown to gate at SNA.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
Unlike most, it barely matters what time you fly this route, a steadier spread than 99% of 4,023 comparable routes.
78.8% on time for 3–6 PM departures, against 74.9% for 9 AM–12 PM, a narrow gap either way.
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · Ranked against every other route with the same kind of figure and at least 4,023 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where ATL to SNA differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
ATL to SNA is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 8 PM: 78.3% arrive on time, 11.7 points ahead of the 66.6% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 10.9 points.
ATL to SNA struggles most at 10 AM: 68.5% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 10.6 points behind the 79.1% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 14.2 points.
In May, ATL to SNA runs 8.2 points below routes of similar length, 68.0% on time to 76.2%. Against all other routes the gap is 7.3 points.
Delta Air Lines’ flights on ATL to SNA arrive on time 76.6% of the time, 5.1 points below the 81.7% it manages on its routes of similar length. Against all other routes the gap is 4.9 points.
ATL to SNA against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 8 PM departures | 78.3% | routes of similar length | 66.6% | +11.7 pts | 725 here, 35,271 there |
| Hour: 10 AM departures | 68.5% | routes of similar length | 79.1% | −10.6 pts | 149 here, 65,726 there |
| Month: May | 68.0% | routes of similar length | 76.2% | −8.2 pts | 291 here, 95,302 there |
| Airline: Delta Air Lines | 76.6% | routes of similar length | 81.7% | −5.1 pts | 3,161 here, 285,527 there |
Each comparison pools the flights of other routes, with this route’s own left out. Similar length means within 15% of this route’s 1,919 miles, with at least 5 such routes. A bucket is set against the most comparable group that has enough flights: similar length, then the same origin (at least 3 routes), then all other routes. Hours, weekdays and months appear only where both sides have 120 completed flights, and airlines where both have 600. The gap must be at least 2 points and 2 standard errors, and only the largest gap each way is kept per measure. These are differences in the flights counted, not causes.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
37 min late
against a median of 2 min early
Percentiles over 3,208 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at SNA after arriving from ATL.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 45% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 23% | High risk |
| 60 min | 12% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 5.0% | Low risk |
| 120 min | 2.9% | Low risk |
This is one leg of a connection. Gate changes and the next flight's own schedule matter too. And a connection can fail before delay is even the question — this route cancels 0.81% of the time and diverts 0.65% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 3,161 arrivals on this route that landed later than the connection time less 30 minutes to reach the next gate.
The worst tenth of arrivals on this route land at least 37 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 3,208 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
ATL → SNA flights departing 3–6 PM arrived on time 78.8% of the time, against 74.9% for 9 AM–12 PM departures, a gap of 3.9 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 8 AM: too few flights to score
- 9 AM: 75.6% on time from 832 flights
- 10 AM: 68.5% on time from 150 flights
- 11 AM: 75.9% on time from 428 flights
- 12 PM to 4 PM: too few flights to score
- 5 PM: 77.4% on time from 558 flights
- 6 PM: 73.0% on time from 230 flights
- 7 PM: too few flights to score
- 8 PM: 78.3% on time from 746 flights
- 9 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Departure windows with fewer than 120 flights are not scored.
Why ATL → SNA runs late
July 2023 – July 2026
crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control
airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control
the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late
weather severe enough to stop this flight specifically
screening or terminal security incidents
Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for ATL → SNA. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.
Airlines on this route
Carriers with at least 200 flights, by the airline that operated each one.
| Carrier | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Severe |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delta Air Lines | 3,208 | 76.6% | 0.81% | -2 min | 5.1% |
Other ways to fly Atlanta to Los Angeles
Airport pairs in the same two city markets, as the DOT defines them.
| Route | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATL→LAX Atlanta to Los Angeles | 16,302 | 77.0% | 0.85% | -4 min | 67 |
| ATL→SNA this route Atlanta to Santa Ana | 3,208 | 76.6% | 0.81% | -2 min | 70 |
Flights on this route
Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.
| Flight | Scheduled | Operations | On time |
|---|---|---|---|
| DL329 Delta Air Lines | 9:40 AM | 944 | 75.5% |
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Friday the least, a gap of 6.5 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 79.4%
- Feb: 75.9%
- Mar: 80.5%
- Apr: 73.8%
- May: 68.0%
- Jun: 75.5%
- Jul: 71.0%
- Aug: 76.7%
- Sep: 78.7%
- Oct: 85.1%
- Nov: 79.6%
- Dec: 80.7%
May is historically the weakest month and October the strongest, a spread of 17.1 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 75.9% against 76.5% in the 12 months before — broadly unchanged.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 3,208 ATL → SNA flight records from the US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, covering July 2023 – July 2026. Late means 15 or more minutes past scheduled arrival; cancelled and diverted flights are left out of on-time rates.
Full methodology · Data sources · Report a problem
Related research: How Long a Layover Needs to Be · Two Airlines on One Route · Best Time of Day to Fly From Major US Airports
Analysis last recomputed