Route profile
AUS→LAX
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Austin to Los Angeles, 1,242 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 66% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 12,819 flights. How this is calculated
AUS → LAX arrives on time 80.2% of the time; the return trip, LAX → AUS, arrives on time 79.5% of the time.
AUS → LAX spends 26.1 minutes on the ground on a 1,242-mile trip: 15.5 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at AUS and 10.6 minutes from touchdown to gate at LAX.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
This route has stayed remarkably steady year over year, a smaller swing than 98% of 5,368 comparable routes.
82.3% on time over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), against 82.2% in the 12 months before (2024-08 to 2025-07), virtually unchanged.
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 5,368 in the comparison.
Why AUS → LAX flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
AUS → LAX cancelled 78 of 12,819 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 164. The reason filed most often was the airline, 60.3% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 273 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 78 cancelled departures carrying a reason code.
What each reason means
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
47 cancellations, 60.3% of the total.
Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.
30 cancellations, 38.5% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
1 cancellation, 1.3% of the total.
A terminal evacuation, a security breach, screening equipment failure, or screening queues over 29 minutes.
0 cancellations, 0.0% of the total.
Reason codes are the operating airline’s own filing with US DOT, not an independent finding of fault. Ordinary bad weather is filed under air traffic, so weather’s full share is larger than its bar.
78 coded cancellations were recorded on AUS → LAX; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
39 min late
against a median of 7 min early
Percentiles over 12,819 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at LAX after arriving from AUS.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 35% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 19% | High risk |
| 60 min | 12% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 6.6% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 4.0% | 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 0.61% of the time and diverts 0.12% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 12,726 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 39 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 12,819 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
AUS → LAX flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 90.7% of the time, against 59.8% for 9 PM–5 AM departures, a gap of 30.9 percentage points.
By day and hour
On-time arrival rate for each weekday and scheduled departure hour, in local time at the departure airport (AUS).
Hour of departure matters more than day of the week: hourly averages sit a typical 9.2 points from the route-wide rate, weekday averages 3.7 points.
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On-time rate, % · stronger color, fewer on time
- 60–69
- 70–79
- 80–89
- 90–99
- Fewer than 120 flights, not scored
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · On time is arrival within 15 minutes of schedule. Cells round to whole percentages; the table shows one decimal.
No slot is named best or worst: too few reach 500 flights. Departures before 6 AM and after 9 PM (995 flights) are not drawn: no slot in those hours has enough flights to score.
View as tableHide table
| Hour | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 AM–7 AM | 91.4% on time142 flights | 94.4% on time144 flights | 90.7% on time140 flights | 90.7% on time140 flights | 95.9% on time145 flights | 106 flights, too few to score | 92.1% on time166 flights |
| 7 AM–8 AM | 90.7% on time304 flights | 92.7% on time330 flights | 91.4% on time338 flights | 91.4% on time303 flights | 87.5% on time298 flights | 92.1% on time305 flights | 84.8% on time299 flights |
| 8 AM–9 AM | 111 flights, too few to score | 91.6% on time120 flights | 107 flights, too few to score | 112 flights, too few to score | 109 flights, too few to score | 71 flights, too few to score | 75 flights, too few to score |
| 9 AM–10 AM | 15 flights, too few to score | 7 flights, too few to score | 12 flights, too few to score | 19 flights, too few to score | 19 flights, too few to score | 19 flights, too few to score | 14 flights, too few to score |
| 10 AM–11 AM | 10 flights, too few to score | 26 flights, too few to score | 26 flights, too few to score | 10 flights, too few to score | 8 flights, too few to score | 25 flights, too few to score | 24 flights, too few to score |
| 11 AM–12 PM | 34 flights, too few to score | 28 flights, too few to score | 27 flights, too few to score | 33 flights, too few to score | 33 flights, too few to score | 24 flights, too few to score | 31 flights, too few to score |
| 12 PM–1 PM | 95 flights, too few to score | 67 flights, too few to score | 68 flights, too few to score | 90 flights, too few to score | 93 flights, too few to score | 75 flights, too few to score | 78 flights, too few to score |
| 1 PM–2 PM | 81.8% on time134 flights | 85.4% on time125 flights | 89.1% on time130 flights | 80.6% on time142 flights | 77.9% on time133 flights | 61 flights, too few to score | 79.3% on time137 flights |
| 2 PM–3 PM | 76.3% on time140 flights | 88.4% on time146 flights | 84.7% on time150 flights | 78.1% on time146 flights | 79.5% on time132 flights | 90 flights, too few to score | 75.2% on time130 flights |
| 3 PM–4 PM | 118 flights, too few to score | 79.1% on time129 flights | 79.3% on time123 flights | 112 flights, too few to score | 118 flights, too few to score | 79.4% on time127 flights | 80.2% on time121 flights |
| 4 PM–5 PM | 74.8% on time258 flights | 83.5% on time233 flights | 80.3% on time224 flights | 71.8% on time245 flights | 68.5% on time251 flights | 82.1% on time174 flights | 71.8% on time221 flights |
| 5 PM–6 PM | 42 flights, too few to score | 27 flights, too few to score | 27 flights, too few to score | 54 flights, too few to score | 49 flights, too few to score | 40 flights, too few to score | 46 flights, too few to score |
| 6 PM–7 PM | 59 flights, too few to score | 70 flights, too few to score | 72 flights, too few to score | 62 flights, too few to score | 66 flights, too few to score | 45 flights, too few to score | 51 flights, too few to score |
| 7 PM–8 PM | 63.2% on time125 flights | 116 flights, too few to score | 116 flights, too few to score | 73.4% on time124 flights | 75.6% on time123 flights | 89 flights, too few to score | 68.6% on time121 flights |
| 8 PM–9 PM | 70.2% on time189 flights | 77.8% on time172 flights | 72.8% on time181 flights | 72.8% on time178 flights | 65.0% on time181 flights | 97 flights, too few to score | 60.2% on time177 flights |
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 4 AM: too few flights to score
- 5 AM: 94.9% on time from 294 flights
- 6 AM: 91.9% on time from 983 flights
- 7 AM: 90.1% on time from 2,177 flights
- 8 AM: 89.0% on time from 705 flights
- 9 AM: too few flights to score
- 10 AM: 94.4% on time from 129 flights
- 11 AM: 80.4% on time from 210 flights
- 12 PM: 80.1% on time from 566 flights
- 1 PM: 82.2% on time from 862 flights
- 2 PM: 80.8% on time from 934 flights
- 3 PM: 77.8% on time from 848 flights
- 4 PM: 75.8% on time from 1,606 flights
- 5 PM: 65.6% on time from 285 flights
- 6 PM: 76.4% on time from 425 flights
- 7 PM: 72.1% on time from 814 flights
- 8 PM: 69.3% on time from 1,175 flights
- 9 PM: 61.0% on time from 438 flights
- 10 PM: 58.1% on time from 262 flights
- 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why AUS → LAX runs late
July 2023 – July 2026
the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late
crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control
airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control
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 AUS → LAX. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on AUS → LAX, at 48.3%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 90.7% of the time and 9 PM–5 AM departures 59.8%.
How this route holds up in bad weather
July 2023 – July 2026
Bad weather raises cancellations by a similar amount at both ends of AUS to LAX: 1.7 times the normal rate at AUS and 1.3 times at LAX. Cancelled in bad weather against normal hours: AUS 1.6% against 0.9%, LAX 1.0% against 0.8%. Flights that did leave AUS in bad weather arrived on time 74.9% of the time, against 77.5% in normal hours.
Bad weather and normal hours at the airports
Scheduled departures, July 2023 – July 2026| Departures from | AUS | LAX |
|---|---|---|
| Cancelled in bad weather | 1.6% | 1.0% |
| Cancelled in normal hours | 0.9% | 0.8% |
| Arrived on time, bad weather | 74.9% | 78.9% |
| Arrived on time, normal hours | 77.5% | 81.4% |
| Departures in bad weather | 22,580 | 60,639 |
Of the carriers on this route, Southwest Airlines (1.0% cancelled against 2.0% for the other carriers at AUS) cancelled the fewest departures from AUS in bad weather and American Airlines (2.7% cancelled against 1.3% for the other carriers at AUS) the most. One more carrier flies this route but has too few bad-weather departures from AUS to compare.
This route’s airlines in bad weather at AUS
All departures from AUS| Airline | Bad-weather departures | Cancelled | Other carriers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 9,022 | 1.0%below the others | 2.0% |
| Delta Air Lines | 3,362 | 1.2%about level | 1.6% |
| United Airlines | 2,784 | 1.4%about level | 1.6% |
| SkyWest Airlines | 1,375 | 2.3%about level | 1.8% |
| American Airlines | 3,760 | 2.7%above the others | 1.3% |
These are airport figures, not route figures: every scheduled departure from AUS and LAX, to any destination, in hours the weather report called bad. The airline rows count each carrier’s departures from AUS on every route.
Weather source and limits. In full: AUS (airlines), LAX, What Weather Costs Each Airport, Who Cancels More When the Weather Turns, Airports That Change Places When Weather Turns.
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 | 3,868 | 81.1% | 0.80% | -8 min | 7.1% |
| Southwest Airlines | 3,392 | 75.0% | 0.27% | -2 min | 6.1% |
| American Airlines | 2,581 | 78.0% | 0.81% | -9 min | 9.2% |
| SkyWest Airlines | 1,393 | 87.7% | 0.29% | -11 min | 4.0% |
| United Airlines | 1,360 | 87.5% | 0.81% | -9 min | 4.7% |
| Spirit Airlines | 225 | 80.2% | 0.89% | -5 min | 8.1% |
Delta Air Lines flew 30.2% of the 12,819 flights listed.
SkyWest Airlines arrived on time 12.7 percentage points more often than Southwest Airlines on this route.
Flights on this route
Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.
| Flight | Scheduled | Operations | On time |
|---|---|---|---|
| DL306 Delta Air Lines | 7:20 AM | 940 | 91.4% |
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 10.5 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 83.4%
- Feb: 82.2%
- Mar: 82.6%
- Apr: 81.0%
- May: 69.9%
- Jun: 73.7%
- Jul: 75.1%
- Aug: 83.5%
- Sep: 86.0%
- Oct: 84.3%
- Nov: 81.3%
- Dec: 83.3%
May is historically the weakest month and September the strongest, a spread of 16.1 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 78.2% from 379 flights
- August 2023: 80.5% from 414 flights
- September 2023: 79.9% from 387 flights
- October 2023: 85.1% from 397 flights
- November 2023: 80.4% from 384 flights
- December 2023: 87.0% from 353 flights
- January 2024: 75.3% from 298 flights
- February 2024: 76.1% from 284 flights
- March 2024: 78.3% from 362 flights
- April 2024: 79.6% from 354 flights
- May 2024: 58.4% from 361 flights
- June 2024: 67.2% from 344 flights
- July 2024: 67.4% from 353 flights
- August 2024: 86.3% from 337 flights
- September 2024: 88.8% from 322 flights
- October 2024: 84.0% from 338 flights
- November 2024: 88.5% from 330 flights
- December 2024: 79.5% from 342 flights
- January 2025: 88.5% from 307 flights
- February 2025: 86.2% from 289 flights
- March 2025: 82.2% from 380 flights
- April 2025: 83.1% from 351 flights
- May 2025: 73.4% from 352 flights
- June 2025: 78.2% from 356 flights
- July 2025: 70.7% from 354 flights
- August 2025: 84.5% from 315 flights
- September 2025: 91.1% from 270 flights
- October 2025: 83.6% from 347 flights
- November 2025: 75.4% from 351 flights
- December 2025: 83.2% from 346 flights
- January 2026: 86.1% from 305 flights
- February 2026: 84.3% from 279 flights
- March 2026: 87.0% from 387 flights
- April 2026: 80.3% from 383 flights
- May 2026: 77.5% from 381 flights
- June 2026: 75.4% from 359 flights
- July 2026: 83.2% from 368 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 82.3% against 82.2% in the 12 months before — broadly unchanged.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 12,819 AUS → LAX 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