Route profile
BWI→LAX
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Baltimore to Los Angeles, 2,329 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 46% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 5,389 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
BWI → LAX arrives on time 75.6% of the time; the return trip, LAX → BWI, arrives on time 82.0% of the time, a 6.4-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
BWI → LAX spends 25.8 minutes on the ground on a 2,329-mile trip: 15.4 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at BWI and 10.4 minutes from touchdown to gate at LAX.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
On-time performance swings unusually widely by time of day here, wider than 98% of 4,023 comparable routes.
88.0% on time for 5–9 AM departures, against 51.1% for 9 PM–5 AM.
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 BWI to LAX differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
BWI to LAX struggles most at 9 PM: 52.6% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 26.3 points behind the 78.9% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 16.9 points.
BWI to LAX is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 5 PM: 81.3% arrive on time, 8.6 points ahead of the 72.7% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 11.5 points.
Friday is the day BWI to LAX slips furthest against routes of similar length, 71.6% on time where they average 77.7%, 6.1 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 4.6 points.
In June, BWI to LAX runs 11.6 points below routes of similar length, 62.9% on time to 74.5%. Against all other routes the gap is 9.8 points.
Southwest Airlines’ flights on BWI to LAX arrive on time 68.0% of the time, 9.8 points below the 77.8% it manages on its routes of similar length. Against all other routes the gap is 9.4 points.
BWI to LAX against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 9 PM departures | 52.6% | routes of similar length | 78.9% | −26.3 pts | 215 here, 58,865 there |
| Hour: 5 PM departures | 81.3% | routes of similar length | 72.7% | +8.6 pts | 327 here, 59,186 there |
| Weekday: Friday | 71.6% | routes of similar length | 77.7% | −6.1 pts | 804 here, 164,361 there |
| Month: June | 62.9% | routes of similar length | 74.5% | −11.6 pts | 509 here, 98,525 there |
| Airline: Southwest Airlines | 68.0% | routes of similar length | 77.8% | −9.8 pts | 2,690 here, 62,972 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 2,329 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.
Why BWI → LAX flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
BWI → LAX cancelled 73 of 5,389 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 74. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 52.1% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 142 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 73 cancelled departures carrying a reason code.
What each reason means
Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.
38 cancellations, 52.1% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
33 cancellations, 45.2% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
2 cancellations, 2.7% 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.
73 coded cancellations were recorded on BWI → LAX; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
42 min late
against a median of 4 min early
Percentiles over 5,389 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at LAX after arriving from BWI.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 42% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 24% | High risk |
| 60 min | 14% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 6.5% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 3.4% | 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 1.35% of the time and diverts 0.11% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 5,310 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 42 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 5,389 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
BWI → LAX flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 88.0% of the time, against 51.1% for 9 PM–5 AM departures, a gap of 36.9 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 5 AM: too few flights to score
- 6 AM: 87.2% on time from 1,027 flights
- 7 AM: 87.1% on time from 567 flights
- 8 AM: 88.9% on time from 558 flights
- 9 AM: 88.4% on time from 129 flights
- 10 AM: 86.4% on time from 132 flights
- 11 AM to 1 PM: too few flights to score
- 2 PM: 66.7% on time from 148 flights
- 3 PM: 55.4% on time from 325 flights
- 4 PM: too few flights to score
- 5 PM: 81.3% on time from 331 flights
- 6 PM: 66.4% on time from 619 flights
- 7 PM: 63.4% on time from 618 flights
- 8 PM: 66.1% on time from 332 flights
- 9 PM: 52.6% on time from 216 flights
- 10 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why BWI → LAX runs late
July 2023 – July 2026
crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control
the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late
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 BWI → LAX. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 2,721 | 68.0% | 1.03% | 2 min | 7.5% |
| United Airlines | 1,624 | 86.5% | 1.54% | -8 min | 4.5% |
| Spirit Airlines | 1,044 | 78.6% | 1.92% | -8 min | 7.5% |
Southwest Airlines flew 50.5% of the 5,389 flights listed.
United Airlines arrived on time 18.5 percentage points more often than Southwest Airlines on this route.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Friday the least, a gap of 6.2 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 80.9%
- Feb: 79.2%
- Mar: 84.1%
- Apr: 73.9%
- May: 77.2%
- Jun: 62.9%
- Jul: 64.2%
- Aug: 72.4%
- Sep: 82.6%
- Oct: 79.7%
- Nov: 83.9%
- Dec: 78.6%
June is historically the weakest month and March the strongest, a spread of 21.2 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 64.1% from 146 flights
- August 2023: 71.7% from 155 flights
- September 2023: 79.6% from 149 flights
- October 2023: 72.8% from 161 flights
- November 2023: 83.3% from 150 flights
- December 2023: 84.4% from 122 flights
- January 2024: 78.2% from 124 flights
- February 2024: too few flights to score (116)
- March 2024: 81.5% from 130 flights
- April 2024: 71.0% from 131 flights
- May 2024: 73.9% from 185 flights
- June 2024: 65.5% from 203 flights
- July 2024: 57.6% from 211 flights
- August 2024: 67.5% from 194 flights
- September 2024: 86.8% from 152 flights
- October 2024: 89.3% from 131 flights
- November 2024: 85.5% from 138 flights
- December 2024: 84.4% from 135 flights
- January 2025: too few flights to score (100)
- February 2025: too few flights to score (93)
- March 2025: 89.0% from 120 flights
- April 2025: 79.5% from 146 flights
- May 2025: 81.0% from 154 flights
- June 2025: 70.7% from 166 flights
- July 2025: 71.2% from 176 flights
- August 2025: 78.6% from 169 flights
- September 2025: 81.4% from 169 flights
- October 2025: 78.7% from 164 flights
- November 2025: 82.8% from 134 flights
- December 2025: 66.4% from 123 flights
- January 2026: too few flights to score (107)
- February 2026: too few flights to score (113)
- March 2026: 82.3% from 143 flights
- April 2026: 70.9% from 141 flights
- May 2026: 77.5% from 143 flights
- June 2026: 50.3% from 145 flights
- July 2026: 65.3% from 150 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 73.9% against 80.0% in the 12 months before — declining by 6.1 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 5,389 BWI → 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