Route profile
SJC→SNA
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from San Jose to Santa Ana, 342 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 8,369 flights. How this is calculated
SJC → SNA arrives on time 87.2% of the time; the return trip, SNA → SJC, arrives on time 86.6% of the time.
SJC → SNA spends 15.7 minutes on the ground on a 342-mile trip: 11.2 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at SJC and 4.6 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.
91.8% on time in its best month (January) against 83.7% 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 SJC to SNA differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
SJC to SNA is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 8 PM: 88.7% arrive on time, 17.7 points ahead of the 71.0% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 21.3 points.
SJC to SNA holds up on Mondays better than routes of similar length do: 88.1% on time to their 79.1%, a 9 points lead. Against all other routes the gap is 10.9 points.
July is kinder to SJC to SNA than to routes of similar length: 85.5% on time against 73.3%, 12.2 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 15.8 points.
Southwest Airlines does better on SJC to SNA than on its routes of similar length: 87.4% on time here, 80.9% there, 6.5 points apart. Against all other routes the gap is 10 points.
SJC to SNA against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 8 PM departures | 88.7% | routes of similar length | 71.0% | +17.7 pts | 665 here, 64,005 there |
| Weekday: Monday | 88.1% | routes of similar length | 79.1% | +9.0 pts | 1,395 here, 173,480 there |
| Month: July | 85.5% | routes of similar length | 73.3% | +12.2 pts | 889 here, 125,409 there |
| Airline: Southwest Airlines | 87.4% | routes of similar length | 80.9% | +6.5 pts | 8,210 here, 391,591 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 342 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 SJC → SNA flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
SJC → SNA cancelled 80 of 8,369 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 105. The reason filed most often was the airline, 67.5% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 155 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 80 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.
54 cancellations, 67.5% of the total.
Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.
20 cancellations, 25.0% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
5 cancellations, 6.3% of the total.
A terminal evacuation, a security breach, screening equipment failure, or screening queues over 29 minutes.
1 cancellation, 1.3% 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.
80 coded cancellations were recorded on SJC → SNA; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
21 min late
against a median of 9 min early
Percentiles over 8,369 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at SNA after arriving from SJC.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 25% | High risk |
| 45 min | 12% | Some risk |
| 60 min | 6.9% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 2.3% | Low risk |
| 120 min | 0.9% | 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 0.96% of the time and diverts 0.13% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 8,278 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 21 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 8,369 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
SJC → SNA flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 96.5% of the time, against 79.2% for 3–6 PM departures, a gap of 17.3 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 5 AM: too few flights to score
- 6 AM: 95.8% on time from 369 flights
- 7 AM: 96.7% on time from 589 flights
- 8 AM: 96.6% on time from 750 flights
- 9 AM: 92.3% on time from 572 flights
- 10 AM: 93.6% on time from 539 flights
- 11 AM: 88.8% on time from 541 flights
- 12 PM: 89.1% on time from 522 flights
- 1 PM: 87.1% on time from 466 flights
- 2 PM: 83.7% on time from 370 flights
- 3 PM: 79.6% on time from 632 flights
- 4 PM: 79.5% on time from 506 flights
- 5 PM: 78.5% on time from 498 flights
- 6 PM: 80.3% on time from 601 flights
- 7 PM: 79.1% on time from 744 flights
- 8 PM: 88.7% on time from 670 flights
- 9 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why SJC → 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
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 SJC → SNA. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on SJC → SNA, at 68.0%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 96.5% of the time and 3–6 PM departures 79.2%.
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 | 8,301 | 87.4% | 0.96% | -9 min | 2.3% |
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 |
| SJC→SNA this route San Jose to Santa Ana | 8,369 | 87.2% | 0.96% | -9 min | 88 |
SJC → SNA is the most reliable pairing for this journey at 87.2% on time, against 77.1% for SFO → LAX.
Flying to SNA from the San Francisco area? Compare SJC, SFO, OAK for SNA, with the same test for what counts as a real difference.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Saturday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 8.0 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 91.8%
- Feb: 89.3%
- Mar: 88.6%
- Apr: 85.9%
- May: 89.4%
- Jun: 83.7%
- Jul: 85.5%
- Aug: 86.9%
- Sep: 86.7%
- Oct: 86.6%
- Nov: 87.4%
- Dec: 85.8%
June is historically the weakest month and January the strongest, a spread of 8.1 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 83.6% from 227 flights
- August 2023: 81.9% from 229 flights
- September 2023: 89.1% from 221 flights
- October 2023: 86.1% from 231 flights
- November 2023: 83.2% from 239 flights
- December 2023: 89.9% from 249 flights
- January 2024: 91.1% from 239 flights
- February 2024: 87.3% from 221 flights
- March 2024: 87.7% from 236 flights
- April 2024: 86.8% from 221 flights
- May 2024: 85.0% from 227 flights
- June 2024: 84.5% from 214 flights
- July 2024: 84.2% from 215 flights
- August 2024: 91.8% from 222 flights
- September 2024: 87.4% from 215 flights
- October 2024: 86.5% from 225 flights
- November 2024: 92.1% from 242 flights
- December 2024: 88.9% from 241 flights
- January 2025: 90.8% from 214 flights
- February 2025: 90.1% from 207 flights
- March 2025: 87.0% from 234 flights
- April 2025: 86.5% from 215 flights
- May 2025: 91.9% from 222 flights
- June 2025: 87.2% from 216 flights
- July 2025: 89.2% from 217 flights
- August 2025: 87.1% from 219 flights
- September 2025: 83.6% from 215 flights
- October 2025: 87.1% from 228 flights
- November 2025: 86.8% from 221 flights
- December 2025: 78.1% from 229 flights
- January 2026: 93.4% from 212 flights
- February 2026: 90.5% from 212 flights
- March 2026: 91.0% from 236 flights
- April 2026: 84.3% from 233 flights
- May 2026: 91.3% from 241 flights
- June 2026: 79.9% from 236 flights
- July 2026: 85.1% from 248 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 86.5% against 89.1% in the 12 months before — declining by 2.6 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 8,369 SJC → 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