Best time to fly out of Long Beach (LGB)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Long Beach: departures in the 6–8am band left on time 94.7% of the time, against 70.8% 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.
| Departure time | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before 6am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 6–8am | 95 | 94 | 96 | 95 | 93 | 95 | 95 |
| 8–10am | 92 | 93 | 95 | 92 | 90 | 90 | 91 |
| 10am–12pm | 82 | 86 | 89 | 85 | 82 | 81 | 83 |
| 12–2pm | 77 | 84 | 85 | 82 | 77 | 82 | 78 |
| 2–4pm | 71 | 83 | 79 | 72 | 69 | 77 | 67 |
| 4–6pm | 75 | 82 | 80 | 74 | 70 | 82 | 73 |
| 6–8pm | 77 | 84 | 82 | 68 | 71 | 73 | 66 |
| 8–10pm | 77 | 78 | – | 70 | 73 | – | 61 |
| 10pm–12am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
The steadiest stretch at LGB was 6–8am — 94.7% of departures left on time across 8,303 flights. The weakest was 8–10pm at 70.8%. 6–8am departures from LGB left on time 94.7% of the time across 8,303 flights; 6–8pm departures, 74% across 5,527. That is a gap of 20.7 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
The year at LGB
July was the hard month at LGB: 78.7% of departures left on time, across 4,434 flights. January was the easy one at 87%. Each month pools three years of that month, so a single bad week does not decide it.
| Month | Share departures that left on time | Flights |
|---|---|---|
| January | 87% | 4,049 |
| February | 84.8% | 3,796 |
| March | 84% | 4,176 |
| April | 83.9% | 4,039 |
| May | 82.1% | 4,154 |
| June | 81% | 4,075 |
| July | 78.7% | 4,434 |
| August | 84% | 4,328 |
| September | 84.5% | 4,196 |
| October | 81.6% | 4,369 |
| November | 85.6% | 4,230 |
| December | 81.9% | 4,340 |
Airlines at LGB
Every airline with at least 100 departures from LGB, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 82.3% | 50 min | 0.5% | 44,823 |
| SkyWest Airlines | 92.8% | 86 min | 0% | 2,125 |
| Hawaiian Airlines | 92.4% | 65 min | 1.4% | 1,744 |
| Delta Air Lines | 86% | 101 min | 0.8% | 1,132 |
| Alaska Airlines | 90.9% | 104 min | 0% | 362 |
Hawaiian Airlines (through December 2025) stopped filing before June 2026. Its row covers a shorter run of months than the rest of the table, so its figure is not set against the others anywhere on this page.
What delays out of LGB were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 7,203 flights that departed LGB and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 53.5% put down to late-arriving aircraft and 26.6% to airline operations.
- Late-arriving aircraft 53.5%
- Airline operations 26.6%
- Air traffic & airport volume 16.8%
- Severe weather 2.9%
- 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 LGB
Of 50,188 scheduled arrivals into LGB, 82.7% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 8,350 arrivals that ran late, 66.8% 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 LGB
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.
- LAS 80.5% on time · 6,708 flights
- SMF 87.9% on time · 5,765 flights
- OAK 88.5% on time · 5,176 flights
- SLC 88.7% on time · 4,699 flights
- PHX 83.7% on time · 4,339 flights
- SJC 87.4% on time · 3,899 flights
- DEN 82.9% on time · 3,177 flights
- HNL 85.7% on time · 2,192 flights
- RNO 83.2% on time · 2,146 flights
- DAL 84.9% on time · 1,844 flights
LGB in one number
Long Beach (LGB)
Rank 78 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: 6–8am. Hardest month: July.
Questions about LGB
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Long Beach?
- 6–8am. Departures in that band left on time 94.7% of the time across 8,303 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 8–10pm band was the weakest at 70.8%.
- Is the early flight out of LGB really more reliable?
- 6–8am departures from LGB left on time 94.7% of the time across 8,303 flights; 6–8pm departures, 74% across 5,527. That is a gap of 20.7 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
- What is the worst month to fly out of LGB?
- July: 78.7% of the departures that flew left on time, with 4,434 scheduled. January was the other end of the year at 87%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- Which airline is most on time at LGB?
- SkyWest Airlines — 92.8% of its 2,125 departures from LGB left on time. Southwest Airlines sat at the other end at 82.3% over 44,823 flights. Only airlines with at least 100 departures here are ranked. Airlines that stopped filing before June 2026 are left out of the ranking — their figures cover a shorter run of months than the rest of the table.
- How often are flights cancelled at LGB?
- 0.5% 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.