Route profile
LAX→TPA
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Los Angeles to Tampa, 2,158 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 80% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 3,374 flights. How this is calculated
LAX → TPA arrives on time 82.9% of the time; the return trip, TPA → LAX, arrives on time 82.9% of the time.
LAX → TPA spends 25.3 minutes on the ground on a 2,158-mile trip: 18.6 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at LAX and 6.6 minutes from touchdown to gate at TPA.
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 98% of 4,023 comparable routes.
87.3% on time for 5–9 AM departures, against 82.8% for 9 PM–5 AM, 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 LAX to TPA differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
LAX to TPA is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 9 AM: 90.8% arrive on time, 9.3 points ahead of the 81.5% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 6.5 points.
LAX to TPA struggles most at 11 AM: 71.7% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 7 points behind the 78.7% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 9.3 points.
LAX to TPA holds up on Saturdays better than routes of similar length do: 84.7% on time to their 79.1%, a 5.6 points lead. Against all other routes the gap is 5.6 points.
August is kinder to LAX to TPA than to routes of similar length: 89.8% on time against 77.1%, 12.7 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 13.3 points.
United Airlines does better on LAX to TPA than on its routes of similar length: 90.2% on time here, 81.5% there, 8.7 points apart. Against all other routes the gap is 10.3 points.
LAX to TPA against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 9 AM departures | 90.8% | routes of similar length | 81.5% | +9.3 pts | 357 here, 77,887 there |
| Hour: 11 AM departures | 71.7% | routes of similar length | 78.7% | −7.0 pts | 145 here, 59,812 there |
| Weekday: Saturday | 84.7% | routes of similar length | 79.1% | +5.6 pts | 405 here, 154,557 there |
| Month: August | 89.8% | routes of similar length | 77.1% | +12.7 pts | 246 here, 97,876 there |
| Airline: United Airlines | 90.2% | routes of similar length | 81.5% | +8.7 pts | 1,123 here, 235,753 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 2,158 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
27 min late
against a median of 6 min early
Percentiles over 3,374 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at TPA after arriving from LAX.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 36% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 16% | High risk |
| 60 min | 9.0% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 4.9% | 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 1.10% of the time and diverts 0.39% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 3,324 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 27 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 3,374 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
LAX → TPA flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 87.3% of the time, against 82.8% for 9 PM–5 AM departures, a gap of 4.5 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 7 AM: too few flights to score
- 8 AM: 89.8% on time from 295 flights
- 9 AM: 90.8% on time from 364 flights
- 10 AM: 82.7% on time from 1,252 flights
- 11 AM: 71.7% on time from 146 flights
- 12 PM to 9 PM: too few flights to score
- 10 PM: 81.7% on time from 828 flights
- 11 PM: 82.9% on time from 243 flights
Departure windows with fewer than 120 flights are not scored.
Why LAX → TPA 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 LAX → TPA. 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 | 1,842 | 80.7% | 1.41% | -3 min | 5.6% |
| United Airlines | 1,136 | 90.2% | 0.88% | -13 min | 3.8% |
Delta Air Lines flew 61.9% of the 2,978 flights listed.
United Airlines arrived on time 9.5 percentage points more often than Delta Air Lines on this route.
Flights on this route
Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Wednesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 5.7 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 84.6%
- Feb: 90.2%
- Mar: 74.5%
- Apr: 85.5%
- May: 81.0%
- Jun: 73.0%
- Jul: 80.0%
- Aug: 89.8%
- Sep: 94.0%
- Oct: 88.3%
- Nov: 84.5%
- Dec: 74.8%
June is historically the weakest month and September the strongest, a spread of 21.0 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: too few flights to score (90)
- August 2023: too few flights to score (89)
- September 2023: too few flights to score (74)
- October 2023: too few flights to score (75)
- November 2023: too few flights to score (79)
- December 2023: too few flights to score (115)
- January 2024: too few flights to score (105)
- February 2024: too few flights to score (94)
- March 2024: too few flights to score (111)
- April 2024: too few flights to score (107)
- May 2024: too few flights to score (110)
- June 2024: too few flights to score (85)
- July 2024: too few flights to score (82)
- August 2024: too few flights to score (82)
- September 2024: too few flights to score (78)
- October 2024: too few flights to score (80)
- November 2024: too few flights to score (81)
- December 2024: too few flights to score (89)
- January 2025: too few flights to score (65)
- February 2025: too few flights to score (63)
- March 2025: too few flights to score (80)
- April 2025: too few flights to score (76)
- May 2025: too few flights to score (102)
- June 2025: too few flights to score (85)
- July 2025: too few flights to score (85)
- August 2025: too few flights to score (87)
- September 2025: too few flights to score (84)
- October 2025: too few flights to score (92)
- November 2025: too few flights to score (105)
- December 2025: too few flights to score (107)
- January 2026: too few flights to score (104)
- February 2026: too few flights to score (99)
- March 2026: too few flights to score (118)
- April 2026: 84.2% from 120 flights
- May 2026: too few flights to score (107)
- June 2026: too few flights to score (83)
- July 2026: too few flights to score (86)
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 79.3% against 85.1% in the 12 months before — declining by 5.8 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 3,374 LAX → TPA 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