Route profile
OAK→SNA
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Oakland to Santa Ana, 371 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 97% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 7,983 flights. How this is calculated
OAK → SNA arrives on time 86.5% of the time; the return trip, SNA → OAK, arrives on time 85.5% of the time.
OAK → SNA spends 15.8 minutes on the ground on a 371-mile trip: 11.2 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at OAK and 4.7 minutes from touchdown to gate at SNA.
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 98% of 3,357 comparable routes.
90.6% on time in its best month (January) against 82.3% in its worst (December).
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 OAK to SNA differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
OAK to SNA is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 8 PM: 89.7% arrive on time, 20.3 points ahead of the 69.4% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 22.3 points.
OAK to SNA holds up on Mondays better than routes of similar length do: 88.8% on time to their 78.0%, a 10.8 points lead. Against all other routes the gap is 11.6 points.
May is kinder to OAK to SNA than to routes of similar length: 88.7% on time against 76.3%, 12.4 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 13.5 points.
Spirit Airlines does better on OAK to SNA than on its routes of similar length: 87.2% on time here, 77.4% there, 9.8 points apart. Against all other routes the gap is 12 points.
OAK to SNA against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 8 PM departures | 89.7% | routes of similar length | 69.4% | +20.3 pts | 631 here, 79,521 there |
| Weekday: Monday | 88.8% | routes of similar length | 78.0% | +10.8 pts | 1,325 here, 231,368 there |
| Month: May | 88.7% | routes of similar length | 76.3% | +12.4 pts | 675 here, 130,529 there |
| Airline: Spirit Airlines | 87.2% | routes of similar length | 77.4% | +9.8 pts | 741 here, 33,427 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 371 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 OAK → SNA flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
OAK → SNA cancelled 57 of 7,983 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 140. The reason filed most often was the airline, 66.7% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 210 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 57 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.
38 cancellations, 66.7% of the total.
Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.
17 cancellations, 29.8% 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, 3.5% 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. With only one or two carriers on the route, the split mostly reflects how they file. Ordinary bad weather is filed under air traffic, so weather’s full share is larger than its bar.
57 coded cancellations were recorded on OAK → SNA; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
22 min late
against a median of 9 min early
Percentiles over 7,983 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at SNA after arriving from OAK.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 27% | High risk |
| 45 min | 13% | Some risk |
| 60 min | 7.0% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 2.7% | Low risk |
| 120 min | 1.1% | 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 0.71% 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 7,917 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 22 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 7,983 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
OAK → SNA flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 94.3% of the time, against 77.3% for 3–6 PM departures, a gap of 17.0 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 5 AM: too few flights to score
- 6 AM: 96.5% on time from 581 flights
- 7 AM: 94.7% on time from 662 flights
- 8 AM: 91.4% on time from 487 flights
- 9 AM: 92.2% on time from 593 flights
- 10 AM: 91.2% on time from 299 flights
- 11 AM: 87.8% on time from 479 flights
- 12 PM: 85.8% on time from 534 flights
- 1 PM: 86.2% on time from 630 flights
- 2 PM: 83.9% on time from 643 flights
- 3 PM: 79.7% on time from 264 flights
- 4 PM: 78.0% on time from 420 flights
- 5 PM: 75.7% on time from 593 flights
- 6 PM: 81.4% on time from 666 flights
- 7 PM: 78.4% on time from 493 flights
- 8 PM: 89.7% on time from 639 flights
- 9 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why OAK → SNA 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 OAK → SNA. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on OAK → SNA, at 57.0%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 94.3% of the time and 3–6 PM departures 77.3%.
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 | 7,226 | 86.4% | 0.72% | -9 min | 2.6% |
| Spirit Airlines | 746 | 87.2% | 0.67% | -10 min | 4.5% |
Southwest Airlines flew 90.6% of the 7,972 flights listed.
Carriers on this route performed within a couple of percentage points of each other.
Other ways to fly San Francisco to Los Angeles
Airport pairs in the same two city markets, as the DOT defines them.
| Route | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SFO→LAX San Francisco to Los Angeles | 34,804 | 77.1% | 0.70% | -5 min | 67 |
| SJC→LAX San Jose to Los Angeles | 15,614 | 86.7% | 0.37% | -10 min | 88 |
| SFO→SNA San Francisco to Santa Ana | 13,715 | 80.2% | 1.13% | -6 min | 72 |
| OAK→SNA this route Oakland to Santa Ana | 7,983 | 86.5% | 0.71% | -9 min | 88 |
OAK → SNA is the most reliable pairing for this journey at 86.5% on time, against 77.1% for SFO → LAX.
Flying to SNA from the San Francisco area? Compare OAK, SFO, SJC for SNA, with the same test for what counts as a real difference.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Friday the least, a gap of 9.2 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 90.6%
- Feb: 88.9%
- Mar: 89.2%
- Apr: 89.3%
- May: 88.7%
- Jun: 83.2%
- Jul: 82.6%
- Aug: 85.2%
- Sep: 83.8%
- Oct: 85.7%
- Nov: 90.3%
- Dec: 82.3%
December is historically the weakest month and January the strongest, a spread of 8.3 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 81.2% from 237 flights
- August 2023: 85.1% from 235 flights
- September 2023: 80.2% from 228 flights
- October 2023: 81.0% from 207 flights
- November 2023: 90.6% from 235 flights
- December 2023: 83.1% from 249 flights
- January 2024: 88.6% from 211 flights
- February 2024: 87.8% from 183 flights
- March 2024: 85.5% from 224 flights
- April 2024: 91.3% from 218 flights
- May 2024: 86.2% from 225 flights
- June 2024: 86.8% from 220 flights
- July 2024: 82.4% from 224 flights
- August 2024: 85.1% from 244 flights
- September 2024: 88.6% from 222 flights
- October 2024: 91.9% from 222 flights
- November 2024: 92.6% from 232 flights
- December 2024: 82.0% from 244 flights
- January 2025: 92.3% from 203 flights
- February 2025: 90.0% from 200 flights
- March 2025: 92.7% from 234 flights
- April 2025: 90.5% from 222 flights
- May 2025: 88.9% from 255 flights
- June 2025: 85.5% from 236 flights
- July 2025: 82.9% from 219 flights
- August 2025: 85.4% from 206 flights
- September 2025: 82.6% from 193 flights
- October 2025: 83.8% from 197 flights
- November 2025: 87.1% from 198 flights
- December 2025: 81.7% from 198 flights
- January 2026: 90.9% from 165 flights
- February 2026: 89.0% from 172 flights
- March 2026: 89.2% from 207 flights
- April 2026: 85.6% from 195 flights
- May 2026: 91.5% from 201 flights
- June 2026: 76.5% from 207 flights
- July 2026: 84.0% from 215 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 85.5% against 88.5% in the 12 months before — declining by 3.0 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 7,983 OAK → SNA 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