HNL → LAX Flight Reliability

Right now

Origin · HNLNo disruption reported

Aviation weather is not currently a factor.

Updated 07:53 UTC

Honolulu airport profile →

Destination · LAXNo disruption reported

Aviation weather is not currently a factor.

Updated 07:53 UTC

Los Angeles airport profile →

Route reliability

July 2023 – July 2026

Route Reliability Score

77/ 100Strong

Better than 80% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)

Calculated from 17,040 flights. How this is calculated

On-time arrivals

83.4%

14,101 of 16,915

Cancellation rate

0.63%

108 cancelled

Median arrival delay

-8 min

Average 2.5 min

Severe delays

4.9%

60+ minutes late

Delay when late

76 min

Average, when 15+ min late

Flights analyzed

17,040

6 carriers

HNL → LAX arrives on time 83.4% of the time; the return trip, LAX → HNL, arrives on time 78.8% of the time, a 4.5-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.

HNL → LAX spends 29.9 minutes on the ground on a 2,556-mile trip: 18.8 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at HNL and 11.1 minutes from touchdown to gate at LAX.

Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026

What stands out

The airline matters unusually much on this route, a wider carrier-to-carrier gap than 97% of 2,692 comparable routes.

Southwest Airlines arrived on time 90.4% of the time, against 67.5% for Alaska Airlines, flying the exact same route.

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 2,692 in the comparison.

Why HNL → LAX flights are cancelled

July 2023 – July 2026

HNL → LAX cancelled 108 of 17,040 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 158. The reason filed most often was the airline, 87.0% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 181 scheduled flights.

Share of cancellations

Airline87.0%

Weather10.2%

Air traffic1.9%

Security0.9%

Of 108 cancelled departures carrying a reason code.

What each reason means

The airline1 in 181

Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.

94 cancellations, 87.0% of the total.

Extreme weather1 in 1,549

Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.

11 cancellations, 10.2% of the total.

The air traffic system1 in 8,520

Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.

2 cancellations, 1.9% of the total.

Security1 in 17,040

A terminal evacuation, a security breach, screening equipment failure, or screening queues over 29 minutes.

1 cancellation, 0.9% 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.

108 coded cancellations were recorded on HNL → LAX; the section appears from 50.

When it goes wrong

July 2023 – July 2026

One arrival in ten is worse than

28 min late

against a median of 8 min early

Arrived an hour or more late4.9%

Typical delay when late76 min

Cancelled0.63%

Landed somewhere else0.10%

Percentiles over 17,040 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.

Will your connection be tight enough?

Layovers at LAX after arriving from HNL.

Connection buffer and chance of missing by layover length, HNL → LAX arrivals
Connection time	Chance of missing	Reads as
30 min	33%	Likely to miss
45 min	16%	High risk
60 min	9.2%	Some risk
90 min	4.8%	Low risk
120 min	3.2%	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 0.63% of the time and diverts 0.10% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.

Chance of missing is the share of 16,915 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 28 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 17,040 operations.

Any other layover length: connection checker.

Best time to fly

HNL → LAX flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 88.4% of the time, against 75.1% for 3–6 PM departures, a gap of 13.3 percentage points.

By day and hour

On-time arrival rate for each weekday and scheduled departure hour, in local time at the departure airport (HNL).

Hour of departure matters more than day of the week: hourly averages sit a typical 6.0 points from the route-wide rate, weekday averages 1.3 points.

On-time arrival rate for HNL to LAX by weekday and scheduled departure hour, local time. Each button reads out one slot.
Hour	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
7 AM–8 AM
8 AM–9 AM
9 AM–10 AM
10 AM–11 AM
11 AM–12 PM
12 PM–1 PM
1 PM–2 PM
2 PM–3 PM
3 PM–4 PM
4 PM–5 PM
5 PM–6 PM
6 PM–7 PM
7 PM–8 PM
8 PM–9 PM
9 PM–10 PM
10 PM–11 PM
11 PM–12 AM

On-time rate, % · stronger color, fewer on time

68–71
72–75
76–79
80–83
84–87
88–91
92–95

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 7 AM (97 flights) are not drawn: no slot in those hours has enough flights to score.

View as tableHide table

On-time arrival rate (%) with flights beneath, by scheduled departure hour and weekday for HNL to LAX. A dash means fewer than 120 flights, which are not scored.
Hour	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
7 AM–8 AM	86.1% on time329 flights	87.0% on time341 flights	86.9% on time329 flights	92.2% on time306 flights	84.8% on time330 flights	86.4% on time334 flights	88.1% on time331 flights
8 AM–9 AM	90.7% on time206 flights	87.6% on time196 flights	89.7% on time205 flights	89.8% on time178 flights	91.3% on time206 flights	93.5% on time202 flights	86.6% on time205 flights
9 AM–10 AM	24 flights, too few to score	25 flights, too few to score	23 flights, too few to score	23 flights, too few to score	25 flights, too few to score	24 flights, too few to score	25 flights, too few to score
10 AM–11 AM	28 flights, too few to score	29 flights, too few to score	25 flights, too few to score	29 flights, too few to score	34 flights, too few to score	23 flights, too few to score	30 flights, too few to score
11 AM–12 PM	91 flights, too few to score	90 flights, too few to score	90 flights, too few to score	95 flights, too few to score	90 flights, too few to score	106 flights, too few to score	92 flights, too few to score
12 PM–1 PM	86.4% on time268 flights	82.3% on time267 flights	83.5% on time266 flights	83.7% on time264 flights	78.8% on time265 flights	87.4% on time262 flights	80.3% on time267 flights
1 PM–2 PM	74.0% on time290 flights	77.5% on time285 flights	75.8% on time286 flights	74.8% on time291 flights	72.7% on time289 flights	75.3% on time295 flights	75.2% on time291 flights
2 PM–3 PM	76.3% on time209 flights	76.7% on time202 flights	81.6% on time203 flights	78.4% on time207 flights	78.7% on time208 flights	77.0% on time205 flights	71.9% on time205 flights
3 PM–4 PM	70.8% on time161 flights	79.1% on time164 flights	79.5% on time166 flights	69.1% on time165 flights	78.9% on time162 flights	76.9% on time169 flights	78.0% on time164 flights
4 PM–5 PM	23 flights, too few to score	24 flights, too few to score	23 flights, too few to score	23 flights, too few to score	21 flights, too few to score	23 flights, too few to score	21 flights, too few to score
5 PM–6 PM	0 flights, too few to score	0 flights, too few to score	0 flights, too few to score	0 flights, too few to score	2 flights, too few to score	0 flights, too few to score	2 flights, too few to score
6 PM–7 PM	0 flights, too few to score	0 flights, too few to score	0 flights, too few to score	0 flights, too few to score	0 flights, too few to score	0 flights, too few to score	0 flights, too few to score
7 PM–8 PM	0 flights, too few to score	0 flights, too few to score	0 flights, too few to score	0 flights, too few to score	0 flights, too few to score	1 flight, too few to score	0 flights, too few to score
8 PM–9 PM	85.5% on time124 flights	89.4% on time123 flights	85.0% on time120 flights	89.8% on time130 flights	83.7% on time131 flights	81.8% on time123 flights	80.3% on time124 flights
9 PM–10 PM	86.8% on time320 flights	91.2% on time323 flights	92.5% on time322 flights	89.6% on time324 flights	83.9% on time316 flights	88.3% on time332 flights	87.4% on time329 flights
10 PM–11 PM	90.9% on time233 flights	90.5% on time223 flights	91.9% on time224 flights	87.9% on time233 flights	91.8% on time234 flights	91.8% on time233 flights	85.2% on time231 flights
11 PM–12 AM	110 flights, too few to score	96 flights, too few to score	116 flights, too few to score	68.0% on time127 flights	76.3% on time131 flights	73.2% on time127 flights	72.0% on time126 flights

By departure window

5–9 AM88.4%

9 AM–12 PM84.8%

12–3 PM78.5%

3–6 PM75.1%

6–9 PM85.1%

9 PM–5 AM86.5%

By departure hour

12 AM

3 AM

6 AM

9 AM

12 PM

3 PM

6 PM

9 PM

Why HNL → LAX runs late

July 2023 – July 2026

The airline62.1%

crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control

Late-arriving aircraft28.7%

the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late

Air traffic control7.9%

airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control

Weather0.9%

weather severe enough to stop this flight specifically

Security0.4%

screening or terminal security incidents

Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for HNL → LAX. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.

How this route holds up in bad weather

July 2023 – July 2026

The harder-hit end is the one the flight leaves from, where a cancellation keeps it from departing at all. Bad weather cancels 2.7 times the normal rate at HNL against 1.3 times at LAX. Cancelled in bad weather against normal hours: HNL 2.3% against 0.8%, LAX 1.0% against 0.8%. Flights that did leave HNL in bad weather arrived on time 75.5% of the time, against 85.7% in normal hours.

Bad weather and normal hours at the airports

Scheduled departures, July 2023 – July 2026

Departures from HNL and LAX in hours of bad weather and in normal hours
Departures from	HNL	LAX
Cancelled in bad weather	2.3%	1.0%
Cancelled in normal hours	0.8%	0.8%
Arrived on time, bad weather	75.5%	78.9%
Arrived on time, normal hours	85.7%	81.4%
Departures in bad weather	4,177	60,639

These are airport figures, not route figures: every scheduled departure from HNL and LAX, to any destination, in hours the weather report called bad.

Weather source and limits. In full: HNL, 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.

Airlines on this route
Carrier	Flights	On time	Cancelled	Median delay	Severe
United Airlines	3,993	86.5%	0.65%	-11 min	4.9%
American Airlines	3,563	87.3%	0.06%	-11 min	4.1%
Delta Air Lines	3,381	89.1%	0.77%	-12 min	3.9%
Hawaiian Airlines	3,042	72.6%	1.05%	1 min	7.2%
Alaska Airlines	1,541	67.5%	1.17%	4 min	7.2%
Southwest Airlines	1,520	90.4%	0.26%	-11 min	1.8%

United Airlines flew 23.4% of the 17,040 flights listed. Alaska Airlines cancelled 1.17% of its flights here against 0.06% for American Airlines.

Southwest Airlines arrived on time 22.9 percentage points more often than Alaska Airlines on this route.

Flights on this route

Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.

Flights on this route
Flight	Scheduled	Operations	On time
AA162 American Airlines	12:25 PM	1,127	84.0%
DL658 Delta Air Lines	9:00 PM	1,124	91.4%
UA1221 United Airlines	8:00 AM	953	92.3%
UA1157 United Airlines	1:00 PM	859	81.9%
AA144 American Airlines	8:30 PM	816	90.1%
UA1169 United Airlines	9:40 PM	746	91.2%
DL427 Delta Air Lines	12:00 PM	691	81.3%
DL422 Delta Air Lines	7:00 AM	691	92.4%

DL422 (7:00 AM) arrived on time 92.4% of the time, 11.1 points more often than DL427 (12:00 PM) at 81.3%.

Weekly and seasonal patterns

By day of week

Mon82.3%

Tue85.0%

Wed85.4%

Thu83.3%

Fri82.2%

Sat83.8%

Sun81.5%

Wednesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 3.9 percentage points.

By month

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

July is historically the weakest month and September the strongest, a spread of 9.4 percentage points.

Reliability over time

July 2023 – July 2026

24

25

26

Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 81.0% against 84.5% in the 12 months before — declining by 3.5 percentage points.

Data and methodology

Calculated by FlyerIntel from 17,040 HNL → 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

Analysis last recomputed September 26, 2026

HNL airport LAX airport Return direction LAX → HNL

HNL→LAX

Right now

Route reliability

What stands out

Why HNL → LAX flights are cancelled

Share of cancellations

What each reason means

When it goes wrong

Will your connection be tight enough?

Best time to fly

By day and hour

By departure window

By departure hour

Why HNL → LAX runs late

How this route holds up in bad weather

Bad weather and normal hours at the airports

Airlines on this route

Flights on this route

Weekly and seasonal patterns

By day of week

By month

Reliability over time

Data and methodology