Route profile
SNA→CLT
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Santa Ana to Charlotte, 2,099 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 89% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 1,117 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
SNA → CLT arrives on time 88.7% of the time; the return trip, CLT → SNA, arrives on time 73.6% of the time, a 15.1-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
SNA → CLT spends 27.6 minutes on the ground on a 2,099-mile trip: 15.9 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at SNA and 11.8 minutes from touchdown to gate at CLT.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What sets this route apart
Where SNA to CLT differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
SNA to CLT is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 9 PM: 93.1% arrive on time, 16.7 points ahead of the 76.4% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 23.7 points.
SNA to CLT holds up on Thursdays better than routes of similar length do: 93.6% on time to their 77.9%, a 15.7 points lead. Against all other routes the gap is 16.8 points.
July is kinder to SNA to CLT than to routes of similar length: 87.5% on time against 70.8%, 16.7 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 17.8 points.
American Airlines does better on SNA to CLT than on its routes of similar length: 88.7% on time here, 78.0% there, 10.7 points apart. Against all other routes the gap is 13.6 points.
SNA to CLT against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 9 PM departures | 93.1% | routes of similar length | 76.4% | +16.7 pts | 389 here, 40,463 there |
| Weekday: Thursday | 93.6% | routes of similar length | 77.9% | +15.7 pts | 157 here, 143,079 there |
| Month: July | 87.5% | routes of similar length | 70.8% | +16.7 pts | 120 here, 117,136 there |
| Airline: American Airlines | 88.7% | routes of similar length | 78.0% | +10.7 pts | 1,099 here, 234,509 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 2,099 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.
SNA to CLT in context
This route against SNA and CLT as a whole, against similar routes from SNA, and against its own first year, July 2023 – July 2026.
Leaving SNA, SNA to CLT is on time 88.7% of the time, 6.6 points better than the airport’s other departures at SNA (82.1%, from 134,396 flights).
Arriving at CLT, SNA to CLT is on time 88.7% of the time, 9.1 points better than the airport’s other arrivals at CLT (79.6%, from 605,448 flights).
Airport comparisons take this route’s flights out of the airport total. Length means within 15% of this route’s distance, with at least 3 other routes from the same origin. On-time gaps are stated at 2 points and 2 standard errors, cancellation gaps at 0.5 points and 2 standard errors, and every group needs 750 flights. These are differences in the flights counted, not causes.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
17 min late
against a median of 17 min early
Percentiles over 1,117 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at CLT after arriving from SNA.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 21% | High risk |
| 45 min | 11% | Some risk |
| 60 min | 6.6% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 4.0% | Low risk |
| 120 min | 3.5% | 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 0.98% of the time and diverts 0.63% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 1,099 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 17 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 1,117 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Why SNA → CLT 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
Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for SNA → CLT. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Airlines | 1,117 | 88.7% | 0.98% | -17 min | 4.0% |
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Thursday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 10.5 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 90.5% against 82.4% in the 12 months before — improving by 8.1 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 1,117 SNA → CLT 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