Route profile
SLC→HNL
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Salt Lake City to Honolulu, 2,994 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 41% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 2,183 flights. How this is calculated
SLC → HNL arrives on time 78.8% of the time; the return trip, HNL → SLC, arrives on time 85.9% of the time, a 7.1-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
SLC → HNL spends 26.2 minutes on the ground on a 2,994-mile trip: 18.3 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at SLC and 7.8 minutes from touchdown to gate at HNL.
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 95% of 4,023 comparable routes.
80.2% on time for 9 AM–12 PM departures, against 73.3% for 3–6 PM, 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 SLC to HNL differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
SLC to HNL struggles most at 8 AM: 69.7% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 13.3 points behind the 83.0% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 16.2 points.
SLC to HNL is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 11 AM: 81.2% arrive on time, 5.7 points ahead of the 75.5% those routes manage at that hour.
In February, SLC to HNL runs 12.8 points below routes of similar length, 65.7% on time to 78.5%. Against all other routes the gap is 15.8 points.
July is kinder to SLC to HNL than to routes of similar length: 83.7% on time against 71.5%, 12.2 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 14 points.
SLC to HNL against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 8 AM departures | 69.7% | routes of similar length | 83.0% | −13.3 pts | 211 here, 34,143 there |
| Hour: 11 AM departures | 81.2% | routes of similar length | 75.5% | +5.7 pts | 890 here, 13,271 there |
| Month: February | 65.7% | routes of similar length | 78.5% | −12.8 pts | 175 here, 18,993 there |
| Month: July | 83.7% | routes of similar length | 71.5% | +12.2 pts | 209 here, 35,252 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 2,994 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
39 min late
against a median of 5 min early
Percentiles over 2,183 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at HNL after arriving from SLC.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 41% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 20% | High risk |
| 60 min | 12% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 7.4% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 5.3% | Some 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 1.15% of the time and diverts 0.32% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 2,151 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 39 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 2,183 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
SLC → HNL flights departing 9 AM–12 PM arrived on time 80.2% of the time, against 73.3% for 3–6 PM departures, a gap of 6.9 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 6 AM: too few flights to score
- 7 AM: 81.0% on time from 674 flights
- 8 AM: 69.7% on time from 215 flights
- 9 AM: too few flights to score
- 10 AM: 80.8% on time from 122 flights
- 11 AM: 81.2% on time from 906 flights
- 12 PM to 2 PM: too few flights to score
- 3 PM: 73.3% on time from 121 flights
- 4 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Departure windows with fewer than 120 flights are not scored.
Why SLC → HNL 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 SLC → HNL. 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 | 1,374 | 80.3% | 1.46% | -6 min | 7.2% |
| Hawaiian Airlines | 596 | 81.7% | 0.34% | -8 min | 7.8% |
| Alaska Airlines | 213 | 60.8% | 1.41% | 10 min | 7.7% |
Delta Air Lines flew 62.9% of the 2,183 flights listed. Delta Air Lines cancelled 1.46% of its flights here against 0.34% for Hawaiian Airlines.
Hawaiian Airlines arrived on time 20.9 percentage points more often than Alaska Airlines on this route.
Flights on this route
Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.
| Flight | Scheduled | Operations | On time |
|---|---|---|---|
| DL316 Delta Air Lines | 11:45 AM | 691 | 81.0% |
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Saturday the least, a gap of 4.4 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 75.9%
- Feb: 65.7%
- Mar: 77.4%
- Apr: 77.7%
- May: 86.3%
- Jun: 83.7%
- Jul: 83.7%
- Aug: 85.1%
- Sep: 78.2%
- Oct: 86.8%
- Nov: 84.0%
- Dec: 64.9%
December is historically the weakest month and October the strongest, a spread of 21.9 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 75.8% against 79.0% in the 12 months before — declining by 3.2 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 2,183 SLC → HNL 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