Airport month record
SNAAPR
John Wayne Airport in April 2026
- Departures
- 3,686
- Month
- April 2026
- National, same month
- 79.8%
- Carriers
- 9
Historical statistics for April 2026, not live status or a forecast for this year’s April. For today’s conditions at SNA, see live FAA status.
SNA in April lands a B+, 3 points better than the national rate of 79.8%. About one flight in six arrives 15 minutes late or worse, and those flights are late by a little over an hour on average. That is a workable record, not a spotless one. That rests on 3,686 flights, of which Delta Air Lines flew 382 at 88.2% on time.
Delta Air Lines is the most reliable of the five carriers covered here at 88.2% on time across 382 flights.
Key figures
On time
82.5%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 3,643 completed departures
Avg delay
69 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
0.81%
Nationally in April: 0.90%
Whole year
81.5%
SNA across all twelve months
These figures cover 3,686 departures from John Wayne Airport in April 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
April next to SNA's other months
Against SNA's own year, April ran about a point better than the twelve-month rate of 81.5%, which makes it number six of twelve months, best first. Either side of it, March ran 83.8% on time and May 81.3%, so this month sits in line with its neighbours.
| Month | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2025 | 4,002 | 75.7% | 72 min | 1.42% | B |
| August 2025 | 3,918 | 80.6% | 74 min | 1.02% | B |
| September 2025 | 3,751 | 84.7% | 64 min | 0.59% | B+ |
| October 2025 | 3,871 | 82.9% | 74 min | 0.59% | B+ |
| November 2025 | 3,756 | 80.8% | 77 min | 1.46% | B |
| December 2025 | 3,825 | 79.4% | 74 min | 1.15% | B |
| January 2026 | 3,611 | 86.5% | 77 min | 2.13% | A |
| February 2026 | 3,343 | 85.7% | 73 min | 0.93% | A+ |
| March 2026 | 3,821 | 83.8% | 66 min | 1.20% | B |
| April 2026 (this page) | 3,686 | 82.5% | 69 min | 0.81% | B+ |
| May 2026 | 3,835 | 81.3% | 67 min | 0.78% | B+ |
| June 2026 | 3,822 | 75.1% | 75 min | 1.05% | B |
Departure window
The best time of day to leave SNA in April
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 19 points, against 25 points between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.
- 5am–8am597 flights92.2%
- 8am–11am684 flights88.6%
- 11am–2pm826 flights85.8%
- 2pm–5pm670 flights74.8%
- 5pm–8pm663 flights73.5%
- 8pm–5am246 flights76.1%
Scale runs 65% to 100%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.
Book the early departure. Flights leaving between 5am–8am arrive on time 92.2% of the time, against 73.5% for the evening window. That is 19 points of difference for no extra money, and it comes from the same aircraft having had no earlier flight to fall behind on. The 11am–2pm window is the busiest, with 826 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Tuesday is the strongest day at 90.0% on time and Sunday the weakest at 75.4%. 15 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at SNA in April
The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. Delta Air Lines arrives on time 88.2% of the time; SkyWest Airlines manages 63.4%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 427 flights means less than a ten-point one.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 1,195 | 85.6% | 43 min | 0.25% | A+ |
| American Airlines | 556 | 83.4% | 84 min | 0.90% | B+ |
| United Airlines | 502 | 80.3% | 57 min | 0.40% | B+ |
| SkyWest Airlines | 427 | 63.4% | 67 min | 1.87% | D |
| Delta Air Lines | 382 | 88.2% | 87 min | 0.26% | A+ |
| Alaska Airlinesthin sample | 347 | 95.3% | 45 min | 1.15% | A |
| Allegiant Airthin sample | 110 | 81.3% | 248 min | 1.82% | B |
| Frontier Airlinesthin sample | 91 | 67.4% | 83 min | 5.49% | C− |
| Spirit Airlinesthin sample | 76 | 80.3% | 63 min | 0.00% | B+ |
The spread between Delta and SkyWest is 25 points, wide enough that it should decide the booking. On a hundred trips that is 25 more arrivals inside the on-time window.
Route by route
Busiest routes out of SNA in April
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SNA to SFO · San Francisco | 377 | 48.5% | 66 min | 2.65% | F |
| SNA to PHX · Phoenix | 377 | 85.8% | 58 min | 0.80% | A+ |
| SNA to LAS · Las Vegas | 365 | 82.7% | 48 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| SNA to SEA · Seattlethin sample | 301 | 90.3% | 48 min | 0.33% | A+ |
| SNA to DEN · Denverthin sample | 297 | 90.5% | 41 min | 0.34% | A+ |
| SNA to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample | 236 | 83.6% | 93 min | 1.27% | B |
| SNA to SJC · San Josethin sample | 225 | 86.5% | 41 min | 0.89% | A+ |
| SNA to OAK · Oaklandthin sample | 194 | 86.0% | 38 min | 0.52% | A+ |
| SNA to SMF · Sacramentothin sample | 189 | 81.0% | 52 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| SNA to ORD · Chicagothin sample | 176 | 78.9% | 81 min | 1.14% | B |
| SNA to SLC · Salt Lake Citythin sample | 161 | 93.2% | 50 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| SNA to PDX · Portlandthin sample | 120 | 97.5% | 51 min | 1.67% | A |
| SNA to EWR · Newarkthin sample | 90 | 91.0% | 136 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| SNA to IAH · Houstonthin sample | 90 | 90.0% | 92 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| SNA to ATL · Atlantathin sample | 77 | 88.3% | 121 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| SNA to STS · Santa Rosathin sample | 60 | 75.0% | 69 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| SNA to MSP · Minneapolisthin sample | 47 | 84.8% | 61 min | 2.13% | B |
| SNA to BOI · Boisethin sample | 39 | 86.8% | 73 min | 2.56% | A |
| SNA to PVU · Provothin sample | 39 | 84.6% | 169 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| SNA to DAL · Dallasthin sample | 30 | 90.0% | 21 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| SNA to CLT · Charlottethin sample | 30 | 86.7% | 21 min | 0.00% | A+ |
Delay causes
What held SNA up in April
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 44,000 reported delay minutes.
- 38%Carrier
- 31%Late-arriving aircraft
- 27%National Airspace System
- 4%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
The largest share of delay minutes, 38%, 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 16,000 of the 44,000 delay minutes reported here. The split is drawn from 43,706 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations are rare at 0.81%, below the national 0.90% and low enough to earn the plus on the grade. Roughly one flight in 100 is called off; the risk here is arriving late, not not arriving.
5.5% of arrivals land an hour or more late, close to the national 6.4%. 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 last a little over an hour, which a normal layover absorbs.
What to do with this
Flying from SNA in April
For a April trip through SNA: expect 82.5% on time and 0.81% cancelled, going by April 2026. The 5am–8am window was the strongest part of the day.
Related
Where to go next
- John Wayne Airport (SNA), the whole year
- SNA in July75.7%
- SNA in August80.6%
- SNA in September84.7%
- SNA in October82.9%
- SNA in November80.8%
- SNA in December79.4%
- SNA in January86.5%
- SNA in February85.7%
- SNA in March83.8%
- SNA in May81.3%
- SNA in June75.1%
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, on-time performance data, July 2025 to June 2026. Last updated 15 September 2026; recomputed monthly. How this data is collected.