Carrier performance at one airport
DL→LAX
Delta Air Lines at Los Angeles International
- Departures
- 37,561
- Period
- September 2025 to August 2026
- Routes
- 25
- Rank here
- #3 of 10
Delta Air Lines at Los Angeles lands a B, 4 points better than the national rate of 77.3%. About one flight in five arrives 15 minutes late or worse, and those flights are late by a little over an hour on average. That rests on 37,561 flights, of which SkyWest Airlines flew 40,778 at 84.9% on time.
Measured against the airport rather than the country, Delta Air Lines runs about a point ahead of the 79.5% weighted average across all carriers at LAX. That is the comparison worth making: every operator here works the same runways, the same airspace and the same weather.
Key figures
On time
80.9%
37,021 completed departures
Avg delay
68 min
Across delayed flights only
Cancelled
1.16%
At LAX, this carrier only
Rank here
#3
Of 10 carriers clearing the floor at LAX
These figures cover 38,000 flights between September 2025 and August 2026. The median arrival is 8 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.
Against the competition
Every carrier at LAX, ranked
The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. SkyWest Airlines arrives on time 84.9% of the time; Southwest Airlines manages 72.3%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 25,511 flights means less than a ten-point one.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SkyWest Airlines | 40,778 | 84.9% | 70 min | 0.62% | B+ |
| United Airlines | 29,614 | 82.5% | 62 min | 0.50% | B+ |
| Delta Air Lines (this page) | 37,561 | 80.9% | 68 min | 1.16% | B |
| Alaska Airlines | 9,969 | 80.0% | 55 min | 0.82% | B+ |
| Spirit Airlines | 2,730 | 76.4% | 74 min | 2.97% | B |
| American Airlines | 29,810 | 76.0% | 85 min | 1.32% | B |
| JetBlue Airways | 7,733 | 75.7% | 68 min | 2.66% | B |
| Hawaiian Airlines | 643 | 74.0% | 87 min | 1.24% | C |
| Frontier Airlines | 5,699 | 73.6% | 78 min | 1.67% | C |
| Southwest Airlines | 25,511 | 72.3% | 50 min | 0.54% | C+ |
The spread between SkyWest and Southwest is 13 points, wide enough that it should decide the booking. On a hundred trips that is 13 more arrivals inside the on-time window.
Route by route
Where Delta Air Lines flies from LAX
Delta Air Lines operates 25 routes out of LAX 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LAX to ATL · Atlanta | 3,811 | 80.8% | 66 min | 0.84% | B+ |
| LAX to JFK · New York | 3,367 | 79.4% | 87 min | 2.61% | B |
| LAX to SLC · Salt Lake City | 2,457 | 88.4% | 80 min | 0.53% | A+ |
| LAX to SFO · San Francisco | 2,373 | 60.9% | 53 min | 1.56% | D |
| LAX to SEA · Seattle | 2,228 | 85.2% | 71 min | 0.67% | A+ |
| LAX to MSP · Minneapolis | 2,109 | 86.2% | 57 min | 0.95% | A+ |
| LAX to DTW · Detroit | 1,955 | 83.2% | 66 min | 0.92% | B+ |
| LAX to LAS · Las Vegas | 1,731 | 78.5% | 59 min | 0.81% | B+ |
| LAX to PDX · Portland | 1,689 | 86.6% | 75 min | 0.83% | A+ |
| LAX to MCO · Orlando | 1,383 | 75.8% | 61 min | 1.30% | B |
| LAX to AUS · Austin | 1,292 | 80.9% | 66 min | 1.16% | B |
| LAX to BOS · Boston | 1,240 | 75.9% | 89 min | 2.18% | B |
| LAX to HNL · Honolulu | 1,095 | 80.6% | 83 min | 0.27% | B+ |
| LAX to MSY · New Orleans | 949 | 81.5% | 69 min | 0.42% | B+ |
| LAX to BNA · Nashville | 911 | 85.0% | 61 min | 1.32% | A |
| LAX to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worth | 757 | 85.4% | 75 min | 1.45% | A |
| LAX to DEN · Denver | 744 | 80.2% | 95 min | 1.34% | B |
| LAX to SAT · San Antonio | 679 | 85.9% | 74 min | 0.29% | A+ |
| LAX to TPA · Tampa | 660 | 78.6% | 53 min | 1.52% | B |
| LAX to SJC · San Jose | 650 | 86.9% | 59 min | 2.15% | A |
| LAX to IAH · Houston | 648 | 84.8% | 70 min | 0.93% | B+ |
| LAX to MCI · Kansas City | 616 | 89.7% | 78 min | 0.49% | A+ |
| LAX to OGG · Kahului | 506 | 84.7% | 81 min | 0.79% | B+ |
| LAX to MIA · Miami | 495 | 73.8% | 52 min | 1.62% | C |
| LAX to FLL · Fort Lauderdale | 376 | 71.2% | 53 min | 1.06% | C |
Flight by flight
Delta Air Lines flight numbers from LAX
82 Delta Air Lines flight numbers leaving LAX flew their main route often enough to have a record of their own. Grouped by destination.
- DL 390to ATL 06:0088.5%
- DL 446to ATL 12:2084.7%
- DL 471to ATL 17:3084.2%
- DL 515to ATL 07:0082.9%
- DL 528to ATL 11:0584.7%
- DL 782to ATL 08:2579.8%
- DL 783to ATL 21:5580.2%
- DL 899to ATL 22:5579.5%
- DL 622to AUS 13:1078.0%
- DL 946to AUS 07:3587.7%
- DL 986to AUS 12:2587.1%
- DL 768to BNA 06:5091.6%
- DL 858to BNA 17:5982.8%
- DL 437to BOS 13:0067.5%
- DL 507to BOS 21:0084.0%
- DL 639to BOS 07:5581.6%
- DL 458to CVG 22:0084.5%
- DL 392to DCA 07:3580.4%
- DL 420to DFW 18:5981.2%
- DL 521to DFW 07:3589.3%
- DL 407to DTW 22:2076.9%
- DL 494to DTW 09:4589.8%
- DL 708to DTW 15:5081.8%
- DL 802to DTW 11:5575.3%
- DL 477to FLL 23:4571.3%
- DL 443to HNL 17:2582.1%
- DL 465to HNL 13:5577.4%
- DL 480to HNL 08:3082.2%
- DL 1143to IAH 09:4085.6%
- DL 1287to IAH 18:4083.9%
- DL 915to JFK 23:5583.6%
- DL 934to JFK 06:0086.7%
- DL 938to JFK 15:1076.9%
- DL 939to JFK 11:5569.0%
- DL 951to JFK 11:4572.9%
- DL 958to JFK 09:0582.4%
- DL 960to JFK 21:4583.1%
- DL 979to JFK 07:0086.6%
- DL 991to JFK 13:1576.5%
- DL 311to KOA 16:4481.1%
- DL 2120to LAS 15:3265.4%
- DL 2253to LAS 07:3595.3%
- DL 2653to LAS 21:3078.2%
- DL 428to LIH 15:4582.0%
- DL 1517to MCI 09:3093.1%
- DL 482to MCO 07:5582.0%
- DL 547to MCO 22:1578.2%
- DL 718to MCO 16:1075.2%
- DL 867to MCO 11:0068.1%
- DL 1080to MEM 18:3067.1%
- DL 811to MIA 09:0576.1%
- DL 413to MSP 11:1587.9%
- DL 792to MSP 06:0092.5%
- DL 799to MSP 08:0089.7%
- DL 914to MSP 12:4080.3%
- DL 2198to MSP 15:2083.7%
- DL 2457to PDX 20:0080.9%
- DL 2459to PDX 16:3086.3%
- DL 2551to PDX 14:1987.1%
- DL 2766to PDX 10:0088.7%
- DL 2975to PDX 07:3589.5%
- DL 2568to SAT 09:5588.9%
- DL 2686to SAT 18:5982.8%
- DL 1045to SEA 11:5086.9%
- DL 1551to SEA 19:5977.9%
- DL 1714to SEA 09:4591.7%
- DL 2606to SEA 14:0083.1%
- DL 2640to SEA 17:4581.8%
- DL 2980to SEA 07:0092.2%
- DL 1559to SFO 16:0065.7%
- DL 2267to SFO 13:4044.3%
- DL 2272to SFO 10:0061.1%
- DL 2986to SFO 21:2057.1%
- DL 1194to SLC 11:3588.5%
- DL 1318to SLC 07:1591.7%
- DL 1434to SLC 09:5592.0%
- DL 1483to SLC 19:2086.6%
- DL 1647to SLC 13:2585.4%
- DL 2311to SLC 17:0578.7%
- DL 2906to SLC 05:4595.4%
- DL 749to TPA 10:4079.1%
- DL 910to TPA 22:2077.9%
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 13 points, against 13 points between the best and worst carrier.
- 5am–8am6,292 flights89.9%
- 8am–11am8,653 flights81.5%
- 11am–2pm5,771 flights78.2%
- 2pm–5pm5,500 flights77.4%
- 5pm–8pm4,971 flights79.0%
- 8pm–5am6,374 flights78.1%
Scale runs 70% to 95%.
Book the early departure. Flights leaving between 5am–8am arrive on time 89.9% of the time, against 77.4% for the afternoon 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. The 8am–11am window is the busiest, with 8,653 flights scheduled in it.
Across the year
Seasonal pattern
July is the worst month at 76.7% on time, 11 points below September, the best at 87.5%. 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. July was the busiest month here, with 3,497 flights.
Delay causes
What holds this operation up
- 55%Carrier
- 23%Late-arriving aircraft
- 21%National Airspace System
- 1%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
The largest share of delay minutes, 55%, falls under carrier control: crew scheduling, maintenance, fuelling, baggage. It accounts for 265,000 of the 482,000 delay minutes reported here. The split is drawn from 482,365 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations sit at 1.16% against a national 1.89%, which is ordinary. Diversions add another 0.28%.
6.4% of arrivals land an hour or more late, close to the national 8.3%, so a 60 to 75 minute layover is reasonable here while anything under 45 minutes is a bet. Most delays on this route last a little over an hour, which a normal layover absorbs.
37,561 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: take the 5am–8am departure, avoid July if the dates are flexible, and if two carriers are within a few dollars of each other, SkyWest is the one with the record behind it. None of that guarantees an on-time arrival; it moves the odds by 13 points, which is the most any booking decision can do. 37,021 completed flights over 12 months sit behind that.
Common questions
Delta Air Lines at LAX
How often is Delta Air Lines at LAX delayed?
About one flight in five arrives at least 15 minutes late, which is the Department of Transportation's definition of a delayed arrival. That works out to 19.1% of the 37,561 flights in this analysis, against 22.7% nationally. Delayed flights are late by a little over an hour on average.
Which airline is most reliable on Delta Air Lines at LAX?
SkyWest Airlines leads at 84.9% on time across 40,778 flights. Southwest Airlines is at the other end on 72.3%, a gap of 13 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 Delta Air Lines at LAX?
The 5am–8am departure window is the strongest at 89.9% on time. The 2pm–5pm window is the weakest at 77.4%, 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 Delta Air Lines at LAX?
July is the weakest month at 76.7% on time, compared with 87.5% in September. Across the year that is 11 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
- Delta Air Lines network-wide record
- Los Angeles International (LAX) all carriers
- LAX to ATL route record80.8%
- LAX to JFK route record79.4%
- LAX to SLC route record88.4%
- LAX to SFO route record60.9%
- Do airlines run better at their own hubs?
- 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, September 2025 to August 2026. Last updated ; recomputed monthly. How this data is collected.