Airport month record
SNAMAR
John Wayne Airport in March 2026
- Departures
- 3,821
- 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 SNA, see live FAA status.
SNA in March lands a B, 8 points better than the national rate of 75.7%. About one flight in six arrives 15 minutes late or worse, and those flights are late by about an hour on average. That is a workable record, not a spotless one. That rests on 3,821 flights, of which SkyWest Airlines flew 427 at 89.9% on time.
SkyWest Airlines is the most reliable of the six carriers covered here at 89.9% on time across 427 flights.
Key figures
On time
83.8%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 3,758 completed departures
Avg delay
66 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
1.20%
Nationally in March: 2.90%
Whole year
81.5%
SNA across all twelve months
These figures cover 3,821 departures from John Wayne Airport 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 SNA's other months
Against SNA's own year, March ran 2 points better than the twelve-month rate of 81.5%, which makes it number four of twelve months, best first. Either side of it, February ran 85.7% on time and April 82.5%, 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 (this page) | 3,821 | 83.8% | 66 min | 1.20% | B |
| April 2026 | 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 March
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 11 points, against 11 points between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.
- 5am–8am597 flights87.9%
- 8am–11am730 flights89.6%
- 11am–2pm885 flights80.0%
- 2pm–5pm658 flights78.2%
- 5pm–8pm698 flights84.1%
- 8pm–5am253 flights84.1%
Scale runs 70% to 95%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.
Book the morning departure. Flights leaving between 8am–11am arrive on time 89.6% of the time, against 78.2% for the afternoon window. That is 11 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 885 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Wednesday is the strongest day at 89.9% on time and Sunday the weakest at 80.2%. 10 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at SNA in March
The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. SkyWest Airlines arrives on time 89.9% of the time; United Airlines manages 78.7%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 489 flights means less than a ten-point one.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 1,259 | 84.7% | 49 min | 1.11% | B |
| American Airlines | 576 | 79.6% | 60 min | 0.69% | B+ |
| United Airlines | 489 | 78.7% | 79 min | 0.61% | B+ |
| SkyWest Airlines | 427 | 89.9% | 55 min | 0.47% | A+ |
| Delta Air Lines | 390 | 81.5% | 68 min | 2.56% | B |
| Alaska Airlines | 374 | 87.2% | 76 min | 1.87% | A |
| Allegiant Airthin sample | 113 | 83.2% | 157 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| Frontier Airlinesthin sample | 100 | 84.8% | 120 min | 1.00% | B |
| Spirit Airlinesthin sample | 93 | 90.9% | 61 min | 5.38% | A− |
SkyWest leads United by 11 points. Real, but small enough that a better departure time on the weaker carrier can outweigh it.
Route by route
Busiest routes out of SNA in March
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SNA to PHX · Phoenix | 428 | 82.2% | 62 min | 0.47% | B+ |
| SNA to LAS · Las Vegas | 390 | 85.9% | 47 min | 1.54% | A |
| SNA to SFO · San Franciscothin sample | 345 | 89.5% | 68 min | 0.58% | A+ |
| SNA to SEA · Seattlethin sample | 308 | 85.3% | 77 min | 2.60% | A |
| SNA to DEN · Denverthin sample | 302 | 80.2% | 54 min | 1.32% | B |
| SNA to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample | 240 | 80.9% | 59 min | 0.83% | B+ |
| SNA to SJC · San Josethin sample | 236 | 88.1% | 53 min | 0.42% | A+ |
| SNA to OAK · Oaklandthin sample | 207 | 89.2% | 52 min | 1.45% | A |
| SNA to SMF · Sacramentothin sample | 195 | 90.5% | 60 min | 3.08% | A− |
| SNA to ORD · Chicagothin sample | 181 | 70.8% | 76 min | 1.66% | C |
| SNA to SLC · Salt Lake Citythin sample | 169 | 92.3% | 104 min | 0.59% | A+ |
| SNA to PDX · Portlandthin sample | 124 | 89.4% | 63 min | 0.81% | A+ |
| SNA to IAH · Houstonthin sample | 93 | 84.6% | 117 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| SNA to EWR · Newarkthin sample | 93 | 68.1% | 66 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| SNA to ATL · Atlantathin sample | 80 | 72.7% | 55 min | 2.50% | C |
| SNA to STS · Santa Rosathin sample | 55 | 85.5% | 56 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| SNA to MSP · Minneapolisthin sample | 49 | 77.8% | 77 min | 8.16% | B− |
| SNA to BOI · Boisethin sample | 42 | 90.2% | 24 min | 2.38% | A |
| SNA to PVU · Provothin sample | 40 | 87.5% | 42 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| SNA to AUS · Austinthin sample | 31 | 61.3% | 57 min | 0.00% | D+ |
| SNA to JFK · New Yorkthin sample | 31 | 73.3% | 57 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| SNA to TUS · Tucsonthin sample | 31 | 87.1% | 54 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| SNA to DAL · Dallasthin sample | 31 | 83.9% | 26 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| SNA to CLT · Charlottethin sample | 31 | 80.0% | 71 min | 0.00% | B+ |
Delay causes
What held SNA 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 40,000 reported delay minutes.
- 40%Late-arriving aircraft
- 30%National Airspace System
- 27%Carrier
- 3%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
40% of delay minutes trace back to a late-arriving aircraft, meaning the plane was already behind before it got here. That is a cascade, and cascades start small and grow through the day. Across 40,000 reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 14 to one. It is the strongest argument for booking the first departure of the morning, when the aircraft has been sitting at the gate overnight with nothing to inherit. The split is drawn from 40,254 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations sit at 1.20% against a national 2.90%, which is ordinary. Diversions add another 0.44%.
5.4% of arrivals land an hour or more late, close to the national 9.5%. 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 about an hour, which a normal layover absorbs.
What to do with this
Flying from SNA in March
For a March trip through SNA: expect 83.8% on time and 1.20% cancelled, going by March 2026. The 8am–11am 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 April82.5%
- 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.