Airport month record
LAXMAR
Los Angeles International in March 2026
- Departures
- 16,088
- Month
- March 2026
- National, same month
- 75.7%
- Carriers
- 9
Historical statistics for March 2026, not live status or a forecast for this year’s March. For today’s conditions at LAX, see live FAA status.
LAX in March lands a B, 2 points better than the national rate of 75.7%. Roughly one flight in four arrives 15 minutes late or worse, and those flights are late by about an hour on average. That rests on 16,088 flights, of which Alaska Airlines flew 860 at 83.8% on time.
Alaska Airlines is the most reliable of the eight carriers covered here at 83.8% on time across 860 flights.
Key figures
On time
77.7%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 15,820 completed departures
Avg delay
65 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
1.29%
Nationally in March: 2.90%
Whole year
79.5%
LAX across all twelve months
These figures cover 16,088 departures from Los Angeles International in March 2026. On time means an arrival less than 15 minutes after the scheduled gate time, the DOT's threshold, and the national comparison uses every US departure in the same month rather than the whole year.
Against the year
March next to LAX's other months
Against LAX's own year, March ran 2 points worse than the twelve-month rate of 79.5%, which makes it number nine of twelve months, best first. Either side of it, February ran 80.9% on time and April 81.5%, so a trip moved by a few weeks would have landed in a better stretch.
| Month | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 2025 | 15,262 | 85.8% | 66 min | 0.28% | A+ |
| October 2025 | 16,122 | 83.5% | 70 min | 0.31% | B+ |
| November 2025 | 15,422 | 79.7% | 67 min | 1.78% | B |
| December 2025 | 16,050 | 77.7% | 71 min | 0.88% | B+ |
| January 2026 | 14,815 | 81.2% | 76 min | 2.17% | B |
| February 2026 | 13,687 | 80.9% | 69 min | 1.42% | B |
| March 2026 (this page) | 16,088 | 77.7% | 65 min | 1.29% | B |
| April 2026 | 15,732 | 81.5% | 62 min | 0.44% | B+ |
| May 2026 | 16,317 | 80.0% | 64 min | 0.54% | B+ |
| June 2026 | 16,664 | 77.0% | 69 min | 0.61% | B+ |
| July 2026 | 17,454 | 73.7% | 67 min | 1.20% | C |
| August 2026 | 16,494 | 76.9% | 62 min | 0.81% | B+ |
Departure window
The best time of day to leave LAX in March
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 12 points, against 20 points between the best and worst carrier.
- 5am–8am1,875 flights86.0%
- 8am–11am3,870 flights78.5%
- 11am–2pm2,645 flights74.9%
- 2pm–5pm2,426 flights76.3%
- 5pm–8pm2,283 flights79.4%
- 8pm–5am2,989 flights73.9%
Scale runs 65% to 90%.
Book the early departure. Flights leaving between 5am–8am arrive on time 86.0% of the time, against 73.9% for the overnight window. That is 12 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 3,870 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Wednesday is the strongest day at 83.7% on time and Saturday the weakest at 72.0%, a spread of 12 points.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at LAX in March
The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. Alaska Airlines arrives on time 83.8% of the time; JetBlue Airways manages 63.8%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 597 flights means less than a ten-point one.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SkyWest Airlines | 3,616 | 83.5% | 77 min | 0.66% | B+ |
| Delta Air Lines | 3,175 | 78.1% | 56 min | 2.27% | B |
| United Airlines | 2,458 | 81.2% | 61 min | 0.77% | B+ |
| American Airlines | 2,456 | 76.0% | 82 min | 1.02% | B |
| Southwest Airlines | 2,195 | 70.9% | 48 min | 0.91% | C+ |
| Alaska Airlines | 860 | 83.8% | 66 min | 1.28% | B |
| JetBlue Airways | 597 | 63.8% | 55 min | 1.17% | D |
| Frontier Airlines | 502 | 69.4% | 87 min | 2.99% | C |
| Spirit Airlinesthin sample | 229 | 60.0% | 66 min | 6.11% | D− |
The spread between Alaska and JetBlue is 20 points, wide enough that it should decide the booking. On a hundred trips that is 20 more arrivals inside the on-time window.
Route by route
Busiest routes out of LAX in March
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LAX to SFO · San Francisco | 927 | 85.2% | 64 min | 1.73% | A |
| LAX to JFK · New York | 848 | 73.1% | 77 min | 0.71% | C+ |
| LAX to LAS · Las Vegas | 734 | 79.6% | 67 min | 1.09% | B |
| LAX to PHX · Phoenix | 680 | 78.0% | 55 min | 0.74% | B+ |
| LAX to SEA · Seattle | 638 | 84.9% | 71 min | 2.35% | B |
| LAX to DEN · Denver | 630 | 78.5% | 58 min | 0.16% | B+ |
| LAX to ORD · Chicago | 549 | 69.4% | 97 min | 3.10% | C− |
| LAX to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worth | 545 | 73.1% | 58 min | 2.20% | C |
| LAX to HNL · Honolulu | 461 | 79.1% | 81 min | 0.43% | B+ |
| LAX to SMF · Sacramento | 451 | 80.5% | 66 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| LAX to IAH · Houston | 446 | 79.9% | 74 min | 1.12% | B |
| LAX to SLC · Salt Lake City | 423 | 85.2% | 61 min | 0.95% | A+ |
| LAX to BOS · Boston | 389 | 76.7% | 64 min | 0.51% | B+ |
| LAX to AUS · Austin | 387 | 71.4% | 55 min | 0.26% | C+ |
| LAX to EWR · Newark | 368 | 70.2% | 66 min | 1.36% | C |
| LAX to PDX · Portland | 365 | 87.2% | 61 min | 1.37% | A |
| LAX to ATL · Atlantathin sample | 360 | 70.9% | 48 min | 1.67% | C |
| LAX to SJC · San Josethin sample | 357 | 87.6% | 57 min | 2.80% | A |
| LAX to MCO · Orlandothin sample | 308 | 61.3% | 43 min | 1.62% | D |
| LAX to MIA · Miamithin sample | 279 | 66.1% | 55 min | 1.43% | C |
| LAX to FLL · Fort Lauderdalethin sample | 230 | 46.3% | 47 min | 4.78% | F− |
| LAX to TUS · Tucsonthin sample | 229 | 78.6% | 64 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| LAX to RNO · Renothin sample | 222 | 86.9% | 83 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| LAX to DTW · Detroitthin sample | 214 | 76.2% | 67 min | 3.27% | B− |
| LAX to SAN · San Diegothin sample | 202 | 79.7% | 56 min | 0.00% | B+ |
Delay causes
What held LAX up in March
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 228,000 reported delay minutes.
- 41%Carrier
- 34%Late-arriving aircraft
- 23%National Airspace System
- 3%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
34% of delay minutes trace back to a late-arriving aircraft, meaning the plane was already behind before it got here. Across 228,000 reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 13 to one. The split is drawn from 227,886 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations sit at 1.29% against a national 2.90%, which is ordinary. Diversions add another 0.38%.
6.9% of arrivals land an hour or more late, close to the national 9.5%, 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.
What to do with this
Flying from LAX in March
For a March trip through LAX: expect 77.7% on time and 1.29% cancelled, going by March 2026. The 5am–8am window was the strongest part of the day.
Related
Where to go next
- Los Angeles International (LAX), the whole year
- LAX in September85.8%
- LAX in October83.5%
- LAX in November79.7%
- LAX in December77.7%
- LAX in January81.2%
- LAX in February80.9%
- LAX in April81.5%
- LAX in May80.0%
- LAX in June77.0%
- LAX in July73.7%
- LAX in August76.9%
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.