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 |
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.
- 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.