Route profile
SNA→LAS
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Santa Ana to Las Vegas, 226 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 68% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 12,675 flights. How this is calculated
SNA → LAS arrives on time 81.3% of the time; the return trip, LAS → SNA, arrives on time 81.0% of the time.
SNA → LAS spends 23.1 minutes on the ground on a 226-mile trip: 15.6 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at SNA and 7.5 minutes from touchdown to gate at LAS.
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 97% of 3,357 comparable routes.
85.4% on time in its best month (December) against 76.5% in its worst (July).
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.
Why SNA → LAS flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
SNA → LAS cancelled 133 of 12,675 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 95. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 45.9% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 208 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 133 cancelled departures carrying a reason code.
What each reason means
Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.
61 cancellations, 45.9% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
49 cancellations, 36.8% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
23 cancellations, 17.3% 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. Ordinary bad weather is filed under air traffic, so weather’s full share is larger than its bar.
133 coded cancellations were recorded on SNA → LAS; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
37 min late
against a median of 6 min early
Percentiles over 12,675 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at LAS after arriving from SNA.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 34% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 18% | High risk |
| 60 min | 12% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 6.0% | Some 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 1.05% of the time and diverts 0.02% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 12,539 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 37 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 12,675 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
SNA → LAS flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 94.6% of the time, against 73.8% for 3–6 PM departures, a gap of 20.8 percentage points.
By day and hour
On-time arrival rate for each weekday and scheduled departure hour, in local time at the departure airport (SNA).
Hour of departure and day of the week matter about equally: hourly averages sit a typical 8.1 points from the route-wide rate, weekday averages 5.8 points.
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On-time rate, % · stronger color, fewer on time
- 50–59
- 60–69
- 70–79
- 80–89
- 90–99
- Fewer than 120 flights, not scored
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · On time is arrival within 15 minutes of schedule. Cells round to whole percentages; the table shows one decimal.
No slot is named best or worst: too few reach 500 flights. Departures after 9 PM (184 flights) are not drawn: no slot in those hours has enough flights to score.
View as tableHide table
| Hour | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 AM–7 AM | 95.4% on time265 flights | 94.1% on time223 flights | 93.6% on time218 flights | 96.5% on time258 flights | 95.3% on time259 flights | 96.3% on time248 flights | 0 flights, too few to score |
| 7 AM–8 AM | 73 flights, too few to score | 87 flights, too few to score | 89 flights, too few to score | 76 flights, too few to score | 78 flights, too few to score | 40 flights, too few to score | 93.7% on time224 flights |
| 8 AM–9 AM | 99 flights, too few to score | 75 flights, too few to score | 71 flights, too few to score | 92 flights, too few to score | 96 flights, too few to score | 71 flights, too few to score | 111 flights, too few to score |
| 9 AM–10 AM | 85.7% on time127 flights | 115 flights, too few to score | 117 flights, too few to score | 87.2% on time125 flights | 82.0% on time129 flights | 66 flights, too few to score | 94.1% on time171 flights |
| 10 AM–11 AM | 100 flights, too few to score | 49 flights, too few to score | 51 flights, too few to score | 104 flights, too few to score | 103 flights, too few to score | 78 flights, too few to score | 86 flights, too few to score |
| 11 AM–12 PM | 77.0% on time140 flights | 85.7% on time141 flights | 84.4% on time154 flights | 79.3% on time136 flights | 77.9% on time136 flights | 93 flights, too few to score | 74.6% on time140 flights |
| 12 PM–1 PM | 59 flights, too few to score | 75 flights, too few to score | 78 flights, too few to score | 58 flights, too few to score | 68 flights, too few to score | 46 flights, too few to score | 65 flights, too few to score |
| 1 PM–2 PM | 75.6% on time120 flights | 60 flights, too few to score | 57 flights, too few to score | 114 flights, too few to score | 62.0% on time122 flights | 107 flights, too few to score | 76.3% on time132 flights |
| 2 PM–3 PM | 74.8% on time140 flights | 98 flights, too few to score | 100 flights, too few to score | 66.2% on time147 flights | 57.0% on time136 flights | 93 flights, too few to score | 65.9% on time126 flights |
| 3 PM–4 PM | 70.7% on time192 flights | 82.7% on time168 flights | 80.3% on time158 flights | 62.2% on time203 flights | 57.9% on time196 flights | 97 flights, too few to score | 70.3% on time200 flights |
| 4 PM–5 PM | 110 flights, too few to score | 98 flights, too few to score | 99 flights, too few to score | 105 flights, too few to score | 112 flights, too few to score | 97 flights, too few to score | 112 flights, too few to score |
| 5 PM–6 PM | 80.9% on time162 flights | 106 flights, too few to score | 106 flights, too few to score | 66.0% on time163 flights | 68.6% on time172 flights | 74 flights, too few to score | 72.8% on time176 flights |
| 6 PM–7 PM | 81.8% on time133 flights | 73 flights, too few to score | 72 flights, too few to score | 64.1% on time132 flights | 62.3% on time135 flights | 81 flights, too few to score | 108 flights, too few to score |
| 7 PM–8 PM | 76.1% on time145 flights | 89.6% on time126 flights | 86.7% on time129 flights | 69.2% on time136 flights | 65.4% on time132 flights | 84 flights, too few to score | 70.3% on time148 flights |
| 8 PM–9 PM | 84.2% on time147 flights | 89 flights, too few to score | 79 flights, too few to score | 70.7% on time149 flights | 71.8% on time154 flights | 87 flights, too few to score | 71.7% on time131 flights |
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 5 AM: too few flights to score
- 6 AM: 95.3% on time from 1,471 flights
- 7 AM: 94.6% on time from 667 flights
- 8 AM: 93.1% on time from 615 flights
- 9 AM: 87.1% on time from 850 flights
- 10 AM: 85.0% on time from 571 flights
- 11 AM: 80.6% on time from 940 flights
- 12 PM: 76.2% on time from 449 flights
- 1 PM: 77.0% on time from 712 flights
- 2 PM: 73.4% on time from 840 flights
- 3 PM: 71.3% on time from 1,214 flights
- 4 PM: 74.2% on time from 733 flights
- 5 PM: 76.7% on time from 959 flights
- 6 PM: 74.9% on time from 734 flights
- 7 PM: 77.5% on time from 900 flights
- 8 PM: 78.0% on time from 836 flights
- 9 PM: 87.4% on time from 184 flights
- 10 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why SNA → LAS runs late
July 2023 – July 2026
the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late
airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control
crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s 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 SNA → LAS. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on SNA → LAS, at 40.0%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 94.6% of the time and 3–6 PM departures 73.8%.
How this route holds up in bad weather
July 2023 – July 2026
Bad weather raises cancellations by a similar amount at both ends of SNA to LAS: 2.0 times the normal rate at SNA and 2.4 times at LAS. Cancelled in bad weather against normal hours: SNA 1.9% against 1.0%, LAS 2.0% against 0.8%. Flights that did leave LAS in bad weather arrived on time 58.5% of the time, against 78.5% in normal hours.
Bad weather and normal hours at the airports
Scheduled departures, July 2023 – July 2026| Departures from | SNA | LAS |
|---|---|---|
| Cancelled in bad weather | 1.9% | 2.0% |
| Cancelled in normal hours | 1.0% | 0.8% |
| Arrived on time, bad weather | 83.6% | 58.5% |
| Arrived on time, normal hours | 81.3% | 78.5% |
| Departures in bad weather | 7,919 | 14,522 |
These are airport figures, not route figures: every scheduled departure from SNA and LAS, to any destination, in hours the weather report called bad.
Weather source and limits. In full: SNA, LAS, What Weather Costs Each Airport, Who Cancels More When the Weather Turns, Airports That Change Places When Weather Turns.
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 | 7,954 | 80.2% | 0.89% | -6 min | 5.6% |
| Spirit Airlines | 2,646 | 85.1% | 1.47% | -6 min | 6.0% |
| SkyWest Airlines | 1,279 | 84.5% | 0.94% | -10 min | 6.8% |
| Frontier Airlines | 796 | 73.8% | 1.38% | -6 min | 11.1% |
Southwest Airlines flew 62.8% of the 12,675 flights listed.
Spirit Airlines arrived on time 11.3 percentage points more often than Frontier Airlines on this route.
Other ways to fly Los Angeles to Las Vegas
Airport pairs in the same two city markets, as the DOT defines them.
SNA → LAS is the most reliable pairing for this journey at 81.3% on time, against 76.7% for LAX → LAS.
Flying to LAS from the Los Angeles area? Compare SNA, LAX, BUR, ONT for LAS, 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 Friday the least, a gap of 16.0 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 84.2%
- Feb: 82.1%
- Mar: 79.5%
- Apr: 82.0%
- May: 83.2%
- Jun: 80.8%
- Jul: 76.5%
- Aug: 78.4%
- Sep: 80.1%
- Oct: 79.8%
- Nov: 85.0%
- Dec: 85.4%
July is historically the weakest month and December the strongest, a spread of 8.9 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 71.9% from 372 flights
- August 2023: 74.3% from 376 flights
- September 2023: 80.7% from 356 flights
- October 2023: 76.0% from 357 flights
- November 2023: 83.8% from 353 flights
- December 2023: 86.1% from 362 flights
- January 2024: 82.5% from 341 flights
- February 2024: 76.3% from 310 flights
- March 2024: 70.6% from 328 flights
- April 2024: 82.6% from 293 flights
- May 2024: 82.7% from 292 flights
- June 2024: 79.8% from 296 flights
- July 2024: 75.6% from 308 flights
- August 2024: 77.8% from 315 flights
- September 2024: 82.2% from 286 flights
- October 2024: 82.7% from 300 flights
- November 2024: 88.9% from 308 flights
- December 2024: 86.9% from 317 flights
- January 2025: 80.6% from 339 flights
- February 2025: 81.7% from 317 flights
- March 2025: 80.6% from 383 flights
- April 2025: 80.9% from 374 flights
- May 2025: 82.5% from 412 flights
- June 2025: 83.2% from 420 flights
- July 2025: 78.9% from 414 flights
- August 2025: 82.8% from 372 flights
- September 2025: 77.7% from 347 flights
- October 2025: 81.3% from 354 flights
- November 2025: 82.9% from 358 flights
- December 2025: 83.2% from 365 flights
- January 2026: 89.0% from 357 flights
- February 2026: 87.8% from 340 flights
- March 2026: 85.9% from 390 flights
- April 2026: 82.7% from 365 flights
- May 2026: 84.7% from 304 flights
- June 2026: 78.4% from 286 flights
- July 2026: 79.9% from 308 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 83.1% against 82.1% in the 12 months before — broadly unchanged.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 12,675 SNA → LAS 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