Best time to fly out of Los Angeles (LAX)

The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Los Angeles: departures in the 6–8am band left on time 91.9% of the time, against 76.3% in the 8–10pm band. These are historical odds, not forecasts. The records say what happened on this schedule over three years; they know nothing about tomorrow’s thunderstorm.

Data through June 2026 · Bureau of Transportation Statistics

On-time rate by hour and day

On this page, “on time” means a departure that pushed back less than 15 minutes behind its scheduled time — the Bureau of Transportation Statistics definition, and the one airlines are held to.

Share of departures that left on time, by hour band and day of week.
Departure time MonTueWedThuFriSatSun
Before 6am 89 90 93 92 90 88 92
6–8am 91 93 92 92 91 91 92
8–10am 86 88 88 87 85 86 84
10am–12pm 80 84 83 81 79 82 79
12–2pm 77 83 81 78 77 79 76
2–4pm 76 82 80 76 75 79 72
4–6pm 77 83 81 76 76 81 74
6–8pm 77 83 81 75 75 79 72
8–10pm 76 83 80 74 73 79 71
10pm–12am 79 84 82 77 77 79 75
fewer left on time more left on time

The steadiest stretch at LAX was 6–8am — 91.9% of departures left on time across 64,639 flights. The weakest was 8–10pm at 76.3%. 6–8am departures from LAX left on time 91.9% of the time across 64,639 flights; 6–8pm departures, 77.3% across 60,079. That is a gap of 14.6 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.

The year at LAX

July was the hard month at LAX: 76.6% of departures left on time, across 52,145 flights. September was the easy one at 85.2%. Each month pools three years of that month, so a single bad week does not decide it.

Share of departures that left on time, by calendar month. Best month in green, worst in amber. The hairline sits at the overall rate, 81.6%.
Departure on-time share at LAX by calendar month
Month Share departures that left on time Flights
January 83.4% 45,200
February 82.1% 41,629
March 81.8% 48,217
April 82.8% 47,187
May 80% 49,450
June 76.9% 49,918
July 76.6% 52,145
August 81.4% 51,353
September 85.2% 47,383
October 84.3% 49,801
November 84.6% 46,923
December 80.8% 48,493

Airlines at LAX

Every airline with at least 100 departures from LAX, busiest first. These are that airline’s departures from this airport only — its record across the country sits on its own page.

Airline Left on time Typical delay Cancelled Departures
SkyWest Airlines 86.9% 74 min 0.4% 117,315
Delta Air Lines 82.7% 70 min 0.7% 110,376
American Airlines 79.6% 92 min 0.9% 89,964
United Airlines 85.1% 69 min 1% 83,738
Southwest Airlines 74% 48 min 0.5% 78,261
Alaska Airlines 83.1% 57 min 1.2% 27,133
JetBlue Airways 78.2% 74 min 0.9% 26,617
Spirit Airlines 79.4% 68 min 1.3% 25,910
Frontier Airlines 67.4% 79 min 1.7% 10,255
Hawaiian Airlines 80.1% 80 min 1.1% 5,594
Allegiant Air 79.3% 82 min 0.7% 2,353
Envoy Air 95.6% — 0% 183

A dash under typical delay means fewer than 30 of that airline’s departures ran 15 minutes late or more — too few to average.

What delays out of LAX were put down to

Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 104,990 flights that departed LAX and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 38.8% put down to airline operations and 37.7% to late-arriving aircraft.

Late-arriving aircraft 37.7% Airline operations 38.8% Air traffic & airport volume 20.5% Severe weather 2.8% Security 0.1%
  • Late-arriving aircraft 37.7%
  • Airline operations 38.8%
  • Air traffic & airport volume 20.5%
  • Severe weather 2.8%
  • Security 0.1%

Late-arriving aircraft is the knock-on category: the plane came in late, so it went out late again. It is why a 7am problem in Newark is still a problem in Denver at dinnertime, and why it is usually the biggest slice on the bar.

If you are connecting through LAX

Of 577,720 scheduled arrivals into LAX, 80.2% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 109,171 arrivals that ran late, 57.4% were no more than 45 minutes behind — which is the difference between a tight connection and a new boarding pass.

Work out a specific layover — pick the airport and the minutes you have, and the tool reads the same arrival records back as a share.

Busiest routes out of LAX

Ranked by flights, with the share that arrived on time at the far end. Where a route carries enough flights for a page of its own the chip goes there; otherwise it goes to the destination airport.

LAX in one number

Los Angeles (LAX)

Rank 7 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: 6–8am. Hardest month: July.

July 2023–June 2026 · 573,277 departures flown

81.6% of departures left on time

Questions about LAX

What is the best time of day to fly out of Los Angeles?
6–8am. Departures in that band left on time 91.9% of the time across 64,639 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 8–10pm band was the weakest at 76.3%.
Is the early flight out of LAX really more reliable?
6–8am departures from LAX left on time 91.9% of the time across 64,639 flights; 6–8pm departures, 77.3% across 60,079. That is a gap of 14.6 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
What is the worst month to fly out of LAX?
July: 76.6% of the departures that flew left on time, with 52,145 scheduled. September was the other end of the year at 85.2%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
Which airline is most on time at LAX?
Envoy Air — 95.6% of its 183 departures from LAX left on time. Frontier Airlines sat at the other end at 67.4% over 10,255 flights. Only airlines with at least 100 departures here are ranked.
How often are flights cancelled at LAX?
0.8% of scheduled departures were cancelled over July 2023 through June 2026. Cancellations are counted against everything scheduled, not against everything that flew — a rate that looks small still adds up to real people in a rebooking line.