Route profile
LAX→BNA
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Los Angeles to Nashville, 1,797 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 81% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 6,718 flights. How this is calculated
LAX → BNA arrives on time 82.4% of the time; the return trip, BNA → LAX, arrives on time 79.4% of the time, a 2.9-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
LAX → BNA spends 24.6 minutes on the ground on a 1,797-mile trip: 16.3 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at LAX and 8.2 minutes from touchdown to gate at BNA.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
This route holds up about the same all year, a steadier seasonal pattern than 91% of 3,357 comparable routes.
88.8% on time in its best month (September) against 77.8% in its worst (June).
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 3,357 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where LAX to BNA differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
LAX to BNA is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 2 PM: 87.6% arrive on time, 13.6 points ahead of the 74.0% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 13 points.
LAX to BNA struggles most at 10 AM: 71.9% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 7.3 points behind the 79.2% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 10.8 points.
LAX to BNA holds up on Mondays better than routes of similar length do: 83.5% on time to their 77.1%, a 6.4 points lead. Against all other routes the gap is 6.3 points.
July is kinder to LAX to BNA than to routes of similar length: 79.2% on time against 69.9%, 9.3 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 9.5 points.
Delta Air Lines does better on LAX to BNA than on its routes of similar length: 88.5% on time here, 81.9% there, 6.6 points apart. Against all other routes the gap is 7 points.
LAX to BNA against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 2 PM departures | 87.6% | routes of similar length | 74.0% | +13.6 pts | 121 here, 60,409 there |
| Hour: 10 AM departures | 71.9% | routes of similar length | 79.2% | −7.3 pts | 921 here, 73,321 there |
| Weekday: Monday | 83.5% | routes of similar length | 77.1% | +6.4 pts | 1,011 here, 180,748 there |
| Month: July | 79.2% | routes of similar length | 69.9% | +9.3 pts | 789 here, 146,959 there |
| Airline: Delta Air Lines | 88.5% | routes of similar length | 81.9% | +6.6 pts | 2,693 here, 319,932 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 1,797 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 LAX → BNA flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
LAX → BNA cancelled 52 of 6,718 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 129. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 50.0% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 258 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 52 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.
26 cancellations, 50.0% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
25 cancellations, 48.1% of the total.
A terminal evacuation, a security breach, screening equipment failure, or screening queues over 29 minutes.
1 cancellation, 1.9% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
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.
52 coded cancellations were recorded on LAX → BNA; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
31 min late
against a median of 7 min early
Percentiles over 6,718 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at BNA after arriving from LAX.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 36% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 17% | High risk |
| 60 min | 10% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 4.8% | 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 0.77% of the time and diverts 0.33% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 6,644 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 31 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 6,718 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
LAX → BNA flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 92.9% of the time, against 67.7% for 6–9 PM departures, a gap of 25.2 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 4 AM: too few flights to score
- 5 AM: 91.1% on time from 316 flights
- 6 AM: 93.3% on time from 860 flights
- 7 AM: 93.4% on time from 631 flights
- 8 AM: 91.9% on time from 162 flights
- 9 AM: 79.1% on time from 201 flights
- 10 AM: 71.9% on time from 937 flights
- 11 AM: 78.8% on time from 379 flights
- 12 PM: 75.4% on time from 486 flights
- 1 PM: 73.0% on time from 179 flights
- 2 PM: 87.6% on time from 121 flights
- 3 PM: 82.9% on time from 291 flights
- 4 PM: 76.5% on time from 198 flights
- 5 PM: 82.3% on time from 491 flights
- 6 PM: 70.8% on time from 380 flights
- 7 PM to 9 PM: too few flights to score
- 10 PM: 80.4% on time from 188 flights
- 11 PM: 87.7% on time from 731 flights
Why LAX → BNA 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
screening or terminal security incidents
weather severe enough to stop this flight specifically
Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for LAX → BNA. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on LAX → BNA, at 43.5%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 92.9% of the time and 6–9 PM departures 67.7%.
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 | 2,724 | 88.5% | 0.88% | -9 min | 3.2% |
| Southwest Airlines | 2,342 | 80.0% | 0.51% | -4 min | 3.6% |
| American Airlines | 1,198 | 74.0% | 0.67% | -4 min | 11.2% |
| Spirit Airlines | 454 | 79.8% | 1.76% | -8 min | 6.1% |
Delta Air Lines flew 40.5% of the 6,718 flights listed. Spirit Airlines cancelled 1.76% of its flights here against 0.51% for Southwest Airlines.
Delta Air Lines arrived on time 14.5 percentage points more often than American Airlines on this route.
Flights on this route
Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.
DL768 (6:50 AM) arrived on time 92.9% of the time, 9.4 points more often than DL449 (12:15 PM) at 83.5%.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Wednesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 6.6 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 85.1%
- Feb: 84.2%
- Mar: 80.3%
- Apr: 80.7%
- May: 78.5%
- Jun: 77.8%
- Jul: 79.2%
- Aug: 84.8%
- Sep: 88.8%
- Oct: 85.4%
- Nov: 85.0%
- Dec: 82.0%
June is historically the weakest month and September the strongest, a spread of 11.0 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 81.6% from 186 flights
- August 2023: 80.6% from 192 flights
- September 2023: 85.9% from 180 flights
- October 2023: 85.5% from 207 flights
- November 2023: 87.0% from 192 flights
- December 2023: 79.6% from 192 flights
- January 2024: 80.0% from 148 flights
- February 2024: 85.2% from 135 flights
- March 2024: 78.4% from 177 flights
- April 2024: 79.1% from 177 flights
- May 2024: 80.3% from 192 flights
- June 2024: 71.2% from 213 flights
- July 2024: 78.5% from 221 flights
- August 2024: 82.5% from 185 flights
- September 2024: 87.7% from 172 flights
- October 2024: 89.1% from 174 flights
- November 2024: 90.7% from 140 flights
- December 2024: 81.9% from 149 flights
- January 2025: 92.6% from 124 flights
- February 2025: 88.0% from 126 flights
- March 2025: 89.5% from 172 flights
- April 2025: 83.9% from 170 flights
- May 2025: 83.5% from 183 flights
- June 2025: 83.5% from 192 flights
- July 2025: 83.9% from 199 flights
- August 2025: 91.4% from 188 flights
- September 2025: 92.5% from 188 flights
- October 2025: 82.2% from 209 flights
- November 2025: 78.3% from 176 flights
- December 2025: 84.5% from 195 flights
- January 2026: 83.8% from 164 flights
- February 2026: 80.1% from 152 flights
- March 2026: 73.8% from 200 flights
- April 2026: 79.5% from 201 flights
- May 2026: 72.6% from 216 flights
- June 2026: 79.1% from 232 flights
- July 2026: 73.1% from 199 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 80.7% against 86.1% in the 12 months before — declining by 5.4 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 6,718 LAX → BNA 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