SAT → LAX Flight Reliability

Right now

Origin · SATNo disruption reported

Aviation weather is not currently a factor.

Updated 12:51 UTC

San Antonio airport profile →

Destination · LAXNo disruption reported

Aviation weather is not currently a factor.

Updated 12:53 UTC

Los Angeles airport profile →

Route reliability

July 2023 – July 2026

Route Reliability Score

80/ 100Strong

Better than 88% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)

Calculated from 6,298 flights. How this is calculated

On-time arrivals

86.0%

5,393 of 6,269

Cancellation rate

0.32%

20 cancelled

Median arrival delay

-9 min

Average 1.8 min

Severe delays

4.9%

60+ minutes late

Delay when late

83 min

Average, when 15+ min late

Flights analyzed

6,298

5 carriers

SAT → LAX arrives on time 86.0% of the time; the return trip, LAX → SAT, arrives on time 81.8% of the time, a 4.2-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.

SAT → LAX spends 23.8 minutes on the ground on a 1,211-mile trip: 13.6 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at SAT and 10.2 minutes from touchdown to gate at LAX.

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

What stands out

Every day of the week performs about the same on this route, steadier than 99% of 4,467 comparable routes.

87.4% on time on the best day (Wednesday) against 84.9% on the worst (Thursday).

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 4,467 in the comparison.

What sets this route apart

Where SAT to LAX differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.

SAT to LAX is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 4 PM: 86.0% arrive on time, 17.3 points ahead of the 68.7% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 15.3 points.

SAT to LAX holds up on Sundays better than routes of similar length do: 86.5% on time to their 73.4%, a 13.1 points lead. Against all other routes the gap is 11.7 points.

July is kinder to SAT to LAX than to routes of similar length: 85.1% on time against 68.7%, 16.4 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 15.4 points.

Delta Air Lines does better on SAT to LAX than on its routes of similar length: 89.0% on time here, 80.6% there, 8.4 points apart. Against all other routes the gap is 7.5 points.

SAT to LAX against comparable routes

July 2023 – July 2026

Where SAT to LAX differs most from comparable routes, with the group each figure is compared with and the flights behind it
Measure	This route	Compared with	Them	Gap	Flights behind it
Hour: 4 PM departures	86.0%	routes of similar length	68.7%	+17.3 pts	898 here, 116,110 there
Weekday: Sunday	86.5%	routes of similar length	73.4%	+13.1 pts	901 here, 290,784 there
Month: July	85.1%	routes of similar length	68.7%	+16.4 pts	730 here, 213,255 there
Airline: Delta Air Lines	89.0%	routes of similar length	80.6%	+8.4 pts	2,114 here, 354,813 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 1,211 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

One arrival in ten is worse than

24 min late

against a median of 9 min early

Arrived an hour or more late4.9%

Typical delay when late83 min

Cancelled0.32%

Landed somewhere else0.14%

Percentiles over 6,298 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.

Will your connection be tight enough?

Layovers at LAX after arriving from SAT.

Connection buffer and chance of missing by layover length, SAT → LAX arrivals
Connection time	Chance of missing	Reads as
30 min	29%	High risk
45 min	13%	Some risk
60 min	8.3%	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 0.32% of the time and diverts 0.14% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.

Chance of missing is the share of 6,269 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 24 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 6,298 operations.

Any other layover length: connection checker.

Best time to fly

SAT → LAX flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 91.4% of the time, against 71.6% for 6–9 PM departures, a gap of 19.8 percentage points.

By departure window

5–9 AM91.4%

9 AM–12 PM86.4%

12–3 PM82.5%

3–6 PM85.2%

6–9 PM71.6%

9 PM–5 AM77.0%

By departure hour

12 AM

3 AM

6 AM

9 AM

12 PM

3 PM

6 PM

9 PM

Why SAT → LAX runs late

July 2023 – July 2026

The airline50.2%

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

Late-arriving aircraft35.5%

the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late

Air traffic control8.8%

airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control

Weather5.5%

weather severe enough to stop this flight specifically

Security0.1%

screening or terminal security incidents

Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for SAT → LAX. 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.

Airlines on this route
Carrier	Flights	On time	Cancelled	Median delay	Severe
Delta Air Lines	2,124	89.0%	0.38%	-12 min	4.2%
SkyWest Airlines	1,626	89.8%	0.25%	-8 min	3.6%
Southwest Airlines	1,281	77.8%	0.00%	-2 min	5.9%
Spirit Airlines	840	82.2%	0.83%	-10 min	6.6%
American Airlines	427	89.4%	0.23%	-14 min	7.3%

Delta Air Lines flew 33.7% of the 6,298 flights listed.

SkyWest Airlines arrived on time 12.0 percentage points more often than Southwest 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
DL2534 Delta Air Lines	6:00 AM	754	91.3%

Weekly and seasonal patterns

By day of week

Mon86.0%

Tue85.8%

Wed87.4%

Thu84.9%

Fri85.1%

Sat86.6%

Sun86.5%

Wednesday is historically the most reliable day and Thursday the least, a gap of 2.5 percentage points.

By month

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

May is historically the weakest month and November the strongest, a spread of 11.1 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 86.5% against 87.2% in the 12 months before — broadly unchanged.

Data and methodology

Calculated by FlyerIntel from 6,298 SAT → 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

SAT airport LAX airport Return direction LAX → SAT

SAT→LAX

Right now

Route reliability

What stands out

What sets this route apart

SAT to LAX against comparable routes

When it goes wrong

Will your connection be tight enough?

Best time to fly

By departure window

By departure hour

Why SAT → LAX runs late

Airlines on this route

Flights on this route

Weekly and seasonal patterns

By day of week

By month

Reliability over time

Data and methodology