Carrier performance at one airport
AS→HNL
Alaska Airlines at Daniel K. Inouye International
- Departures
- 15,362
- Period
- June 2025 to May 2026
- Routes
- 19
- Rank here
- #6 of 6
Alaska Airlines at Honolulu sits in the middle of the pack with a B. Close to three flights in four arrive on time by the DOT's definition, 2 points worse than the national rate of 77.4%. The late ones land roughly 50 minutes behind schedule. That rests on 15,362 flights, of which Southwest Airlines flew 12,302 at 90.7% on time.
Measured against the airport rather than the country, Alaska Airlines runs 7 points behind the 83.2% weighted average across all carriers at HNL. That is the comparison worth making: every operator here works the same runways, the same airspace and the same weather.
Key figures
On time
75.9%
15,101 completed departures
Avg delay
48 min
Across delayed flights only
Cancelled
1.59%
At HNL, this carrier only
Rank here
#6
Of 6 carriers clearing the floor at HNL
These figures cover 15,000 flights between June 2025 and May 2026. On-time means an arrival less than 15 minutes after the scheduled gate time, the same threshold the Department of Transportation uses in its own reports. Cancelled and diverted flights are excluded from the on-time rate and counted separately, which is why the cancellation column matters on its own.
Against the competition
Every carrier at HNL, ranked
The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. Southwest Airlines arrives on time 90.7% of the time; Alaska Airlines manages 75.9%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 15,362 flights means less than a ten-point one.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 12,302 | 90.7% | 46 min | 0.60% | A+ |
| Delta Air Lines | 3,711 | 86.7% | 72 min | 1.08% | A |
| United Airlines | 4,957 | 86.4% | 78 min | 0.87% | A+ |
| Hawaiian Airlines | 19,339 | 82.9% | 49 min | 0.60% | B+ |
| American Airlines | 2,552 | 82.7% | 120 min | 0.86% | B+ |
| Alaska Airlines (this page) | 15,362 | 75.9% | 48 min | 1.59% | B |
The spread between Southwest and Alaska is 15 points, wide enough that it should decide the booking. On a hundred trips that is 15 more arrivals inside the on-time window.
Route by route
Where Alaska Airlines flies from HNL
Alaska Airlines operates 19 routes out of HNL with enough volume to report. Route records inside one carrier at one airport still spread widely, because a short shuttle and a transcontinental have very different exposure to a late inbound.
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HNL to OGG · Kahului | 2,981 | 75.9% | 40 min | 1.88% | B |
| HNL to LIH · Lihue | 2,448 | 76.4% | 42 min | 2.66% | B |
| HNL to KOA · Kailua-Kona | 2,341 | 80.7% | 40 min | 1.84% | B |
| HNL to ITO · Hilo | 1,896 | 78.6% | 40 min | 2.00% | B |
| HNL to SEA · Seattle | 1,309 | 72.3% | 62 min | 0.84% | C+ |
| HNL to LAX · Los Angeles | 643 | 63.8% | 50 min | 0.47% | D+ |
| HNL to LAS · Las Vegas | 544 | 72.2% | 50 min | 0.55% | C+ |
| HNL to SAN · San Diego | 476 | 74.9% | 45 min | 1.47% | C |
| HNL to ANC · Anchorage | 440 | 68.6% | 56 min | 0.91% | C+ |
| HNL to PDX · Portland | 387 | 76.9% | 71 min | 1.55% | B |
| HNL to ONT · Ontariothin sample | 354 | 77.3% | 64 min | 0.28% | B+ |
| HNL to SFO · San Franciscothin sample | 299 | 70.3% | 60 min | 1.00% | C |
| HNL to OAK · Oaklandthin sample | 151 | 74.0% | 41 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| HNL to SMF · Sacramentothin sample | 151 | 70.7% | 86 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| HNL to PHX · Phoenixthin sample | 151 | 79.5% | 68 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| HNL to LGB · Long Beachthin sample | 151 | 81.5% | 44 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| HNL to SLC · Salt Lake Citythin sample | 151 | 78.0% | 61 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| HNL to SJC · San Josethin sample | 150 | 75.3% | 63 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| HNL to JFK · New Yorkthin sample | 148 | 70.3% | 57 min | 2.03% | C |
Departure window
Best time of day for this operation
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 23 points, against 15 points between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.
- 5am–8am1,837 flights90.4%
- 8am–11am2,557 flights84.6%
- 11am–2pm4,027 flights69.8%
- 2pm–5pm3,041 flights67.2%
- 5pm–8pm1,827 flights74.8%
- 8pm–5am2,073 flights77.4%
Scale runs 60% to 95%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.
Book the early departure. Flights leaving between 5am–8am arrive on time 90.4% of the time, against 67.2% for the afternoon window. That is 23 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
Seasonal pattern
July is the worst month at 63.3% on time, 17 points below September, the best at 80.7%. 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.
Delay causes
What holds this operation up
- 53%Carrier
- 34%Late-arriving aircraft
- 7%National Airspace System
- 5%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
The largest share of delay minutes, 53%, falls under carrier control: crew scheduling, maintenance, fuelling, baggage. Unlike weather, that is a management outcome, and it is the category where the gap between two carriers on the same schedule is genuinely earned. It accounts for 92,000 of the 174,000 delay minutes reported here.
Cancellations sit at 1.59% against a national 1.80%, which is ordinary. Diversions add another 0.10%.
5.2% 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.
15,362 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.
Put together: the calendar is the biggest lever here, not the carrier or the hour. September runs 80.7% on time and July 63.3%, a swing of 17 points. If the dates move at all, move them out of July before you think about anything else.
Common questions
Alaska Airlines at HNL
How often is Alaska Airlines at HNL delayed?
About one flight in four arrive at least 15 minutes late, which is the Department of Transportation's definition of a delayed arrival. That works out to 24.1% of the 15,362 flights in this analysis, against 22.6% nationally. Delayed flights are late by roughly 50 minutes on average.
Which airline is most reliable on Alaska Airlines at HNL?
Southwest Airlines leads at 90.7% on time across 12,302 flights. Alaska Airlines is at the other end on 75.9%, a gap of 15 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 at HNL?
The 5am–8am departure window is the strongest at 90.4% on time. The 2pm–5pm window is the weakest at 67.2%, 23 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 at HNL?
July is the weakest month at 63.3% on time, compared with 80.7% in September. Across the year that is 17 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 network-wide record
- Daniel K. Inouye International (HNL) all carriers
- HNL to OGG route record75.9%
- HNL to LIH route record76.4%
- HNL to KOA route record80.7%
- HNL to ITO route record78.6%
- 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.