Airline on-time record
AS
Alaska Airlines
- Flights
- 286,057
- Period
- June 2025 to May 2026
- Airports
- 25
- US rank
- #8 by volume
Alaska Airlines lands a B, about a point better than the national rate of 77.4%. Roughly one flight in five arrive 15 minutes late or worse, and those flights are late by roughly 50 minutes on average. That is a workable record, not a spotless one. That rests on 286,057 flights, of which Santa Ana (SNA) flew 4,393 at 88.9% on time.
Santa Ana (SNA) is the most reliable of the 25 airports covered here at 88.9% on time across 4,393 flights.
Key figures
On time
78.2%
National average is 77.4%
Avg delay
52 min
Across delayed flights only
Cancelled
1.30%
National rate is 1.80%
Largest base
SEA
76,709 departures, 75.8% on time
These figures cover 286,000 flights between June 2025 and May 2026. The median arrival is 4 minutes early, which is the part an average hides: most flights here are fine, and the on-time rate is decided by a tail of badly late ones. On-time means under 15 minutes late, the DOT's own threshold.
Airport by airport
Where Alaska Airlines runs well, and where it does not
The choice of airport is not cosmetic here. Santa Ana (SNA) arrives on time 88.9% of the time; New York (JFK) manages 68.5%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 3,934 flights means less than a ten-point one.
| Airport | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEA · Seattle | 76,709 | 75.8% | 47 min | 1.06% | B |
| PDX · Portland | 22,840 | 82.8% | 47 min | 0.74% | B+ |
| HNL · Honolulu | 15,362 | 75.9% | 48 min | 1.59% | B |
| ANC · Anchorage | 14,656 | 84.9% | 56 min | 1.38% | B |
| SAN · San Diego | 12,447 | 78.4% | 58 min | 1.46% | B |
| SFO · San Francisco | 10,622 | 76.1% | 55 min | 1.13% | B |
| LAX · Los Angeles | 8,948 | 82.4% | 55 min | 1.03% | B |
| OGG · Kahului | 7,848 | 74.4% | 48 min | 1.36% | C |
| LAS · Las Vegas | 6,643 | 79.3% | 59 min | 1.05% | B |
| PHX · Phoenix | 5,615 | 85.1% | 56 min | 0.68% | A+ |
| KOA · Kailua-Kona | 5,558 | 77.9% | 52 min | 1.46% | B |
| LIH · Lihue | 4,977 | 75.9% | 51 min | 1.99% | B |
| JNU · Juneau | 4,568 | 81.4% | 64 min | 2.23% | B |
| SNA · Santa Ana | 4,393 | 88.9% | 48 min | 1.39% | A |
| JFK · New York | 3,934 | 68.5% | 63 min | 2.77% | C |
| FAI · Fairbanks | 3,213 | 83.7% | 55 min | 0.96% | B+ |
| ORD · Chicago | 3,210 | 68.9% | 62 min | 1.56% | C |
| EWR · Newark | 3,109 | 72.5% | 69 min | 2.38% | C |
| GEG · Spokane | 2,952 | 84.1% | 43 min | 1.15% | B |
| DEN · Denver | 2,642 | 74.3% | 58 min | 0.87% | C+ |
| SJC · San Jose | 2,637 | 85.4% | 53 min | 1.40% | A |
| BUR · Burbank | 2,548 | 85.1% | 60 min | 2.00% | A |
| BOS · Boston | 2,546 | 70.2% | 54 min | 1.10% | C |
| MCO · Orlando | 2,492 | 75.1% | 60 min | 0.72% | B+ |
| KTN · Ketchikan | 2,390 | 79.7% | 66 min | 3.05% | B− |
Ketchikan (KTN) cancels 3.0% of what it schedules here, the highest in the table. A cancelled flight never appears in an on-time rate, so read that column alongside the punctuality one rather than after it.
Route by route
Busiest Alaska Airlines routes
These are the 25 routes Alaska Airlines flies most often, each against its network-wide 78.2%. Route-level variation inside a single airline is routinely wider than the gap between two airlines nationally.
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEA to ANC | 4,913 | 73.3% | 47 min | 1.14% | C |
| ANC to SEA | 4,911 | 85.0% | 53 min | 1.20% | A |
| SEA to LAX | 3,285 | 79.9% | 44 min | 1.10% | B |
| LAX to SEA | 3,280 | 84.8% | 50 min | 1.22% | B |
| OGG to HNL | 2,984 | 73.9% | 44 min | 1.98% | C |
| HNL to OGG | 2,981 | 75.9% | 40 min | 1.88% | B |
| SEA to PHX | 2,930 | 77.9% | 44 min | 0.61% | B+ |
| PHX to SEA | 2,926 | 84.4% | 55 min | 0.72% | B+ |
| SEA to SAN | 2,788 | 75.3% | 44 min | 1.47% | B |
| SAN to SEA | 2,786 | 77.0% | 61 min | 2.15% | B |
| SFO to SEA | 2,747 | 67.7% | 53 min | 1.64% | C |
| SEA to SFO | 2,744 | 62.1% | 52 min | 1.38% | D |
| SEA to LAS | 2,661 | 76.1% | 45 min | 0.98% | B+ |
| LAS to SEA | 2,660 | 82.0% | 60 min | 1.28% | B |
| SEA to SNA | 2,627 | 85.6% | 39 min | 1.18% | A |
| SNA to SEA | 2,625 | 86.4% | 49 min | 1.45% | A |
| LIH to HNL | 2,452 | 74.9% | 48 min | 2.98% | C |
| HNL to LIH | 2,448 | 76.4% | 42 min | 2.66% | B |
| KOA to HNL | 2,343 | 76.4% | 47 min | 1.92% | B |
| HNL to KOA | 2,341 | 80.7% | 40 min | 1.84% | B |
| LAX to PDX | 1,942 | 89.6% | 52 min | 1.08% | A |
| PDX to LAX | 1,940 | 85.8% | 48 min | 1.03% | A |
| HNL to ITO | 1,896 | 78.6% | 40 min | 2.00% | B |
| ITO to HNL | 1,893 | 73.3% | 44 min | 2.01% | C |
| SEA to SJC | 1,891 | 79.9% | 44 min | 1.80% | B |
Departure window
The best time of day to fly Alaska Airlines
Departure time matters more here than the choice of airport. The gap between the best and worst window is 13 points, against 20 points between the best and worst airport. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.
- 5am–8am43,709 flights86.4%
- 8am–11am58,704 flights80.6%
- 11am–2pm46,352 flights76.4%
- 2pm–5pm46,127 flights75.8%
- 5pm–8pm52,515 flights73.5%
- 8pm–5am38,650 flights76.5%
Scale runs 65% to 90%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.
Book the early departure. Flights leaving between 5am–8am arrive on time 86.4% of the time, against 73.5% for the evening window. That is 13 points of difference for no extra money, and it comes from the same aircraft having had no earlier flight to fall behind on.
Across the year
Alaska Airlines through the calendar
Alaska's year swings by 15 points from best month to worst, which is wide. An annual average tells you very little about the week you are actually flying, so read the strip rather than the headline if your dates are fixed.
July is the worst month at 69.4% on time, 15 points below April, the best at 84.2%. Summer afternoon convection and peak-season schedules land on the same weeks every year, so this is a pattern you can book around rather than a run of bad luck.
Across the week, Tuesday is the strongest day at 81.2% on time and Friday the weakest at 75.4%. 6 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.
Delay causes
What holds Alaska Airlines up
Carriers report a reason for every delay minute they cause, in five DOT categories. The split below is by minutes, not by number of flights, so a handful of very long weather delays weighs as much as many short ones. It covers 3.19 million reported delay minutes.
- 39%Late-arriving aircraft
- 32%Carrier
- 24%National Airspace System
- 4%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
39% of delay minutes trace back to a late-arriving aircraft, meaning the plane was already behind before it got here. That is a cascade, and cascades start small and grow through the day. Across 3.19 million reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 9 to one. It is the strongest argument for booking the first departure of the morning, when the aircraft has been sitting at the gate overnight with nothing to inherit.
The practical consequence: the 5am–8am departure is the one that starts clean. Its aircraft has no earlier leg to be late from, which is exactly why that window shows 86.4% on time here.
Cancellations sit at 1.30% against a national 1.80%, which is ordinary. Diversions add another 0.29%.
5.3% of arrivals land an hour or more late, close to the national 8.2%. That is the figure that decides a connection, and it says a 60 to 75 minute layover is reasonable here while anything under 45 minutes is a bet. Most delays on this route are the roughly 50 minutes kind, which a normal layover absorbs.
286,057 flights sit behind these numbers, which is a large enough sample that the headline rate is not moving on noise. Where a sub-group falls below 30 flights the site shows a dash instead of a percentage.
What to do with this
Booking Alaska Airlines
Put together: the calendar is the biggest lever here, not the carrier or the hour. April runs 84.2% on time and July 69.4%, a swing of 15 points. If the dates move at all, move them out of July before you think about anything else.
Common questions
Alaska Airlines reliability questions
How often is Alaska Airlines delayed?
Roughly one flight in five arrive at least 15 minutes late, which is the Department of Transportation's definition of a delayed arrival. That works out to 21.8% of the 286,057 flights in this analysis, against 22.6% nationally. Delayed flights are late by roughly 50 minutes on average.
Which airport does Alaska Airlines run best from?
Santa Ana (SNA) leads at 88.9% on time across 4,393 flights. New York (JFK) is at the other end on 68.5%, a gap of 20 points. Sample size matters as much as the percentage: a rate built from a few hundred flights moves around far more than one built from ten thousand.
What time of day has the fewest delays on Alaska Airlines?
The 5am–8am departure window is the strongest at 86.4% on time. The 5pm–8pm window is the weakest at 73.5%, 13 points behind. Later departures inherit delays from earlier flights the same aircraft has already flown, which is why the curve slopes the way it does.
How bad are July delays on Alaska Airlines?
July is the weakest month at 69.4% on time, compared with 84.2% in April. Across the year that is 15 points between the best and worst months. Moving flexible dates out of that month is one of the few things that reliably helps.
Related
Where to go next
- Alaska Airlines at SEA — Seattle75.8%
- Alaska Airlines at PDX — Portland82.8%
- Alaska Airlines at HNL — Honolulu75.9%
- Alaska Airlines at ANC — Anchorage84.9%
- Alaska Airlines at SAN — San Diego78.4%
- SEA to ANC route record73.3%
- ANC to SEA route record85.0%
- SEA to LAX route record79.9%
- LAX to SEA route record84.8%
- Why the first flight of the morning is statistically safest
- The best time of day to fly, according to 7.05 million flight records
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, on-time performance data, June 2025 to May 2026. Updated monthly. How this data is collected.