Burbank, CA · departure reliability
BUR
Hollywood Burbank
- Departures
- 29,916
- Period
- September 2025 to August 2026
- Carriers
- 8
- US rank
- #51 by volume
Burbank
Hollywood Burbank lands a B, 4 points better than the national rate of 77.3%. Roughly one flight in five arrives 15 minutes late or worse, and those flights are late by about an hour on average. That rests on 29,916 flights, of which Alaska Airlines flew 2,733 at 86.9% on time.
Alaska Airlines is the most reliable of the eight carriers covered here at 86.9% on time across 2,733 flights.
Key figures
On time
81.6%
Departures arriving under 15 minutes late at their destination
Avg delay
66 min
Across delayed flights only
Cancelled
1.27%
National rate is 1.89%
Best carrier
Alaska
86.9% on time here
These figures cover 30,000 flights between September 2025 and August 2026. The median arrival is 9 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.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines run best out of BUR
The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. Alaska Airlines arrives on time 86.9% of the time; United Airlines manages 67.6%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 2,487 flights means less than a ten-point one.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 17,406 | 82.4% | 56 min | 1.06% | B |
| SkyWest Airlines | 4,124 | 84.0% | 90 min | 1.33% | B |
| Alaska Airlines | 2,733 | 86.9% | 62 min | 1.72% | A |
| United Airlines | 2,487 | 67.6% | 69 min | 0.48% | C+ |
| Delta Air Lines | 787 | 84.4% | 103 min | 2.80% | B |
| American Airlines | 765 | 81.5% | 79 min | 2.48% | B |
| Spirit Airlines | 670 | 84.0% | 72 min | 3.13% | B− |
| Envoy Air | 365 | 80.7% | 58 min | 0.55% | B+ |
Spirit Airlines cancels 3.1% 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 routes out of BUR
Route-level records vary far more than the airport average. These are the 15 busiest departures from BUR, each with its own on-time rate against the airport-wide 81.6%.
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BUR to LAS · Las Vegas | 4,116 | 80.4% | 62 min | 1.70% | B |
| BUR to PHX · Phoenix | 3,118 | 83.0% | 80 min | 0.96% | B+ |
| BUR to SFO · San Francisco | 3,104 | 59.3% | 69 min | 1.22% | D |
| BUR to OAK · Oakland | 2,694 | 84.8% | 55 min | 0.93% | B+ |
| BUR to SMF · Sacramento | 2,596 | 86.5% | 54 min | 1.50% | A |
| BUR to SJC · San Jose | 2,133 | 86.3% | 53 min | 1.17% | A |
| BUR to DEN · Denver | 2,127 | 84.9% | 68 min | 0.42% | B+ |
| BUR to SEA · Seattle | 1,653 | 84.1% | 61 min | 2.36% | B |
| BUR to SLC · Salt Lake City | 1,457 | 90.8% | 88 min | 0.55% | A+ |
| BUR to PDX · Portland | 1,002 | 90.7% | 69 min | 0.80% | A+ |
| BUR to STS · Santa Rosa | 741 | 84.1% | 57 min | 2.02% | B |
| BUR to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worth | 728 | 81.9% | 81 min | 2.61% | B |
| BUR to BOI · Boise | 440 | 86.0% | 65 min | 0.68% | A+ |
| BUR to RNO · Reno | 424 | 83.9% | 63 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| BUR to DAL · Dallas | 384 | 84.3% | 47 min | 1.04% | B |
Departure window
The best time of day to leave BUR
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 20 points, against 19 points between the best and worst carrier.
- 5am–8am4,204 flights91.8%
- 8am–11am6,386 flights86.7%
- 11am–2pm6,330 flights80.4%
- 2pm–5pm5,763 flights77.6%
- 5pm–8pm5,048 flights77.2%
- 8pm–5am2,185 flights71.9%
Scale runs 65% to 95%.
Book the early departure. Flights leaving between 5am–8am arrive on time 91.8% of the time, against 71.9% for the overnight window. That is 20 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 6,386 flights scheduled in it.
Explore
Filter BUR departures by airline, time, month and day
Pick a breakdown and a carrier. The dashed mark on each row is the same slice for every US flight.
On departures from Burbank (BUR), the best departure window is 5am–8am at 91.8% on time and the worst is 8pm–5am at 71.9%, a wide gap of 19.9 points. All US flights leaving 5am–8am ran 89.3%.
- 5–8am91.8%
- 8–11am86.7%
- 11am–2pm80.4%
- 2–5pm77.6%
- 5–8pm77.2%
- 8pm–5am71.9%
best all US flightsScale 60% to 95%.
Across the year
When BUR runs late
Twelve months, one bar each, drawn from the same 29,916 flights. The strip shows how much of BUR's record is set by the calendar rather than by the operation.
June is the worst month at 76.9% on time, 11 points below January, the best at 88.0%. 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 2,626 flights.
Across the week, Saturday is the strongest day at 87.1% on time and Friday the weakest at 77.5%, a spread of 10 points.
BUR month by month
Delay causes
Why BUR gets delayed
Late-arriving aircraft accounts for 46% of the 356,000 delay minutes carriers reported here, and the remaining four split what is left.
- 46%Late-arriving aircraft
- 27%National Airspace System
- 22%Carrier
- 4%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
46% of delay minutes trace back to a late-arriving aircraft, meaning the plane was already behind before it got here. Across 356,000 reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 11 to one. The split is drawn from 356,059 reported delay minutes.
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 91.8% on time here.
Cancellations sit at 1.27% against a national 1.89%, which is ordinary. Diversions add another 0.30%.
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 about an hour, which a normal layover absorbs.
29,916 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
Flying out of BUR
Put together: avoid the 8pm–5am departure. It runs 71.9% on time against 91.8% for the 5am–8am slot, and that 20 points is the largest single thing you control here. Alaska Airlines is the strongest operator if the fares are close. 29,446 completed flights over 12 months sit behind that.
Common questions
BUR delay questions
How often is Burbank (BUR) delayed?
Roughly 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 18.4% of the 29,916 flights in this analysis, against 22.7% nationally. Delayed flights are late by about an hour on average.
Which airline is most reliable on Burbank (BUR)?
Alaska Airlines leads at 86.9% on time across 2,733 flights. United Airlines is at the other end on 67.6%, a gap of 19 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 Burbank (BUR)?
The 5am–8am departure window is the strongest at 91.8% on time. The 8pm–5am window is the weakest at 71.9%, 20 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 June delays on Burbank (BUR)?
June is the weakest month at 76.9% on time, compared with 88.0% in January. 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
- BUR to LAS — Las Vegas80.4%
- BUR to PHX — Phoenix83.0%
- BUR to SFO — San Francisco59.3%
- BUR to OAK — Oakland84.8%
- BUR to SMF — Sacramento86.5%
- BUR to SJC — San Jose86.3%
- Southwest Airlines on-time record82.4%
- SkyWest Airlines on-time record84.0%
- Alaska Airlines on-time record86.9%
- United Airlines on-time record67.6%
- Why the first flight of the morning is statistically safest
- The best time of day to fly, according to 7.05 million flight records
Embed BUR’s on-time badge on your site
Paste this into a web page. The badge shows the current on-time rate, cancellation rate and grade, and updates every month. Preview it, or build a badge for another route or airport.
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.