Route profile
SNA→SLC
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Santa Ana to Salt Lake City, 588 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 86% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 5,423 flights. How this is calculated
SNA → SLC arrives on time 86.6% of the time; the return trip, SLC → SNA, arrives on time 84.3% of the time, a 2.3-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
SNA → SLC spends 23.2 minutes on the ground on a 588-mile trip: 15.7 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at SNA and 7.4 minutes from touchdown to gate at SLC.
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 95% of 3,357 comparable routes.
90.8% on time in its best month (March) against 81.1% 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.
What sets this route apart
Where SNA to SLC differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
SNA to SLC is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 7 PM: 85.9% arrive on time, 17.6 points ahead of the 68.3% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 18.1 points.
SNA to SLC holds up on Fridays better than routes of similar length do: 86.2% on time to their 76.7%, a 9.5 points lead. Against all other routes the gap is 10 points.
June is kinder to SNA to SLC than to routes of similar length: 87.0% on time against 73.3%, 13.7 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 14.3 points.
Delta Air Lines does better on SNA to SLC than on its routes of similar length: 86.6% on time here, 81.8% there, 4.8 points apart. Against all other routes the gap is 5.1 points.
SNA to SLC against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 7 PM departures | 85.9% | routes of similar length | 68.3% | +17.6 pts | 794 here, 115,149 there |
| Weekday: Friday | 86.2% | routes of similar length | 76.7% | +9.5 pts | 803 here, 293,852 there |
| Month: June | 87.0% | routes of similar length | 73.3% | +13.7 pts | 430 here, 160,962 there |
| Airline: Delta Air Lines | 86.6% | routes of similar length | 81.8% | +4.8 pts | 5,070 here, 414,018 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 588 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
28 min late
against a median of 11 min early
Percentiles over 5,423 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at SLC after arriving from SNA.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 24% | High risk |
| 45 min | 13% | Some risk |
| 60 min | 9.5% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 5.5% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 3.8% | 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 0.39% of the time and diverts 0.09% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 5,397 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 28 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 5,423 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
SNA → SLC flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 92.2% of the time, against 82.5% for 12–3 PM departures, a gap of 9.7 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 6 AM: too few flights to score
- 7 AM: 92.4% on time from 983 flights
- 8 AM: 90.1% on time from 121 flights
- 9 AM: 90.5% on time from 631 flights
- 10 AM: 88.5% on time from 548 flights
- 11 AM to 12 PM: too few flights to score
- 1 PM: 83.1% on time from 1,046 flights
- 2 PM to 4 PM: too few flights to score
- 5 PM: 82.6% on time from 1,106 flights
- 6 PM: too few flights to score
- 7 PM: 85.9% on time from 798 flights
- 8 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why SNA → SLC 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 SNA → SLC. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on SNA → SLC, at 48.8%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 92.2% of the time and 12–3 PM departures 82.5%.
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 | 5,094 | 86.6% | 0.37% | -11 min | 5.7% |
| SkyWest Airlines | 221 | 87.7% | 0.45% | -11 min | 4.5% |
Delta Air Lines flew 95.8% of the 5,315 flights listed.
Carriers on this route performed within a couple of percentage points of each other.
Other ways to fly Los Angeles to Salt Lake City
Airport pairs in the same two city markets, as the DOT defines them.
| Route | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LAX→SLC Los Angeles to Salt Lake City | 13,286 | 88.2% | 0.32% | -10 min | 87 |
| SNA→SLC this route Santa Ana to Salt Lake City | 5,423 | 86.6% | 0.39% | -11 min | 79 |
LAX → SLC is the most reliable pairing for this journey at 88.2% on time, against 86.6% for SNA → SLC.
Flying to SLC from the Los Angeles area? Compare SNA, LAX, BUR, ONT for SLC, with the same test for what counts as a real difference.
Flights on this route
Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.
| Flight | Scheduled | Operations | On time |
|---|---|---|---|
| DL1185 Delta Air Lines | 7:00 AM | 785 | 90.9% |
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Wednesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 7.2 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 82.2%
- Feb: 88.4%
- Mar: 90.8%
- Apr: 88.1%
- May: 88.2%
- Jun: 87.0%
- Jul: 81.1%
- Aug: 88.1%
- Sep: 86.1%
- Oct: 90.1%
- Nov: 86.8%
- Dec: 84.4%
July is historically the weakest month and March the strongest, a spread of 9.7 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 76.5% from 150 flights
- August 2023: 90.6% from 151 flights
- September 2023: 87.5% from 144 flights
- October 2023: 92.7% from 150 flights
- November 2023: 85.5% from 145 flights
- December 2023: 92.1% from 152 flights
- January 2024: 84.6% from 130 flights
- February 2024: too few flights to score (116)
- March 2024: 89.5% from 143 flights
- April 2024: 84.2% from 146 flights
- May 2024: 86.7% from 150 flights
- June 2024: 88.2% from 144 flights
- July 2024: 78.3% from 147 flights
- August 2024: 83.8% from 149 flights
- September 2024: 86.6% from 143 flights
- October 2024: 89.9% from 148 flights
- November 2024: 88.5% from 139 flights
- December 2024: 82.0% from 150 flights
- January 2025: 82.7% from 128 flights
- February 2025: too few flights to score (112)
- March 2025: 90.3% from 144 flights
- April 2025: 86.2% from 146 flights
- May 2025: 87.2% from 149 flights
- June 2025: 86.0% from 144 flights
- July 2025: 85.7% from 147 flights
- August 2025: 89.8% from 147 flights
- September 2025: 84.2% from 146 flights
- October 2025: 87.8% from 157 flights
- November 2025: 86.4% from 152 flights
- December 2025: 79.2% from 160 flights
- January 2026: 79.9% from 168 flights
- February 2026: 86.2% from 153 flights
- March 2026: 92.3% from 169 flights
- April 2026: 93.2% from 161 flights
- May 2026: 90.7% from 151 flights
- June 2026: 86.7% from 144 flights
- July 2026: 83.8% from 148 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 86.7% against 86.3% in the 12 months before — broadly unchanged.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 5,423 SNA → SLC 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