DLLAX→SFO

Delta flew 2,373 of the 11,013 flights on LAX to SFO, about 22% of it. Its 65.2% on time is about level with the route as a whole at 64.8%. Ranked by on-time rate it is number three of seven carriers on the route, where the range runs from SkyWest at 72.0% to Alaska at 52.3%. One of those carriers flew fewer than 365 flights here, so treat their positions as rough.

The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. SkyWest Airlines arrives on time 72.0% of the time; Alaska Airlines manages 52.3%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 686 flights means less than a ten-point one.

For anyone connecting, the number to weigh is not the on-time rate but the tail behind it. 10.4% of arrivals land a full hour or more behind schedule, against 8.1% nationally. A 45-minute layover does not survive that, and no amount of walking quickly changes it. Ninety minutes is the honest minimum here, and two hours if the onward flight is on a separate ticket.

At 337 miles this is a short hop, and stage length matters more than it looks. A flight this short spends under two hours in the air, which leaves almost nothing to claw back a late pushback with. Delay here is decided on the ground, in the turn, which is why the 5am–8am window matters as much as it does.

The return leg is a different operation and performs like one: it runs 73.6% on time across 2,373 flights, 8 points above this direction. Departure banks, aircraft rotations and the congestion at each end all differ, so scoring the two directions together would average away a real 8 points of difference.

The sample behind these figures is 2,373 flights, enough that the headline rate is stable to within roughly a point. The hour-block and month splits divide that further, so read the thinner bars with more caution than the headline.