LAX to SAN flight delays

LAX SAN Los Angeles to San Diego · 109 miles

6,837 flights were scheduled from LAX to SAN over July 2023 through June 2026. Of the 6,794 that made the trip, 86.3% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. These are arrival figures: “on time” means the flight reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Arrivals are what decide whether you make the connection, so route and airline pages are scored on them rather than on pushback.

Data through June 2026 · Bureau of Transportation Statistics

The route in brief

Flights in the window
6,837
Arrived on time
86.3%
Cancelled
0.5%
Scheduled distance
109 miles

Cancellations are counted against everything scheduled. Diverted flights are counted with them rather than as very late arrivals, which is why the on-time share and the cancellation rate do not add up to everything that happened.

Airline by airline

Airlines with at least 100 flights on LAX–SAN, busiest first. Same route, same weather, same air traffic — which makes this the fairest comparison on the site.

Airline Arrived on time Typical delay Cancelled Flights
SkyWest Airlines 86.1% 67 min 0.5% 6,614
United Airlines 90.1% 0.4% 223

A dash under typical delay means fewer than 30 of that airline’s flights arrived 15 minutes late or more — too few to average.

Month by month

December was the month to avoid on LAX–SAN: 81.6% of flights arrived on time, against 90.3% in April. Each bar pools three years of that calendar month.

Share of flights that arrived on time, by calendar month. Best month in green, worst in amber. The hairline sits at the overall rate, 86.3%.
Arrival on-time share, LAX to SAN, by calendar month
Month Share flights that arrived on time Flights
January 87.2% 556
February 85.1% 518
March 83.8% 563
April 90.3% 590
May 89.2% 639
June 82.5% 594
July 84.7% 581
August 90% 582
September 88.9% 562
October 82.4% 580
November 88.6% 545
December 81.6% 527

Both ends of the route

A route’s record is built out of two airports’ habits. The hour-by-hour grid for each is on its own page.

LAX to SAN in one number

LAX → SAN

When a flight on this route was late, it was late by about 66 min.

July 2023–June 2026 · 6,837 flights

86.3% of flights arrived on time

Questions about LAX to SAN

Which airline is most reliable from LAX to SAN?
United Airlines — its flights on this pairing arrived on time 90.1% of the time, with 223 scheduled. SkyWest Airlines came in at 86.1% over 6,614 scheduled. Airlines with fewer than 100 flights on the route are not rated.
What is the worst month to fly LAX to SAN?
December, at 81.6% of arrivals on time, with 527 flights scheduled. April was the best of the year at 90.3%.
How late are LAX–SAN flights when they are late?
66 min on average, counting only the flights that arrived 15 minutes or more behind schedule. The on-time flights are left out of that average on purpose — mixing them in would flatter it.
How often is the LAX to SAN flight cancelled?
0.5% of scheduled flights on this route were cancelled, July 2023 through June 2026. Diverted flights are counted with the cancellations rather than as late arrivals.
Are these departure or arrival numbers?
Arrival. A flight counts as on time here if it reached the gate at SAN less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Airport pages score departures instead, because that is the number you can act on when you pick a booking time.