Los Angeles, CA

What the Data Says About LAX

Los Angeles, CA in Los Angeles, California handled 2,137,032 flights in the Bureau of Transportation Statistics dataset between 2020 and 2025, posting a 82.8% on-time departure rate. Of those flights, 366,815 experienced delays, 15,795 were cancelled, and 2,773 were diverted. The cancellation rate works out to 0.74%, the diversion rate to 0.13%, and the average delay when departures run late is 72.9 minutes. These figures are the baseline for comparing LAX against other airports in the same state and nationally.

Breaking down what drives delays at LAX, Carrier leads the pack. Carrier accounts for 41.7% of total delay minutes, followed by Late Aircraft at 36.3% and NAS (National Aviation System) at 18.5%. Weather contributes 3.3% of delay minutes at this airport, while security holds the smallest share at 0.2%. Travelers often overestimate the weather share; the BTS categorization shows late-arriving aircraft and carrier operations as the larger contributors.

Seasonally, September runs the cleanest at LAX with a 93.2% on-time rate, while June is the roughest at 89.3% — a 4-point swing between best and worst month. Volume peaks in July, when average flights hit 31,847. The busiest route from LAX is to SFO (San Francisco), with 63,553 flights at a 78.7% on-time rate. Combine these numbers — 82.8% on-time, 72.9-minute average delay, 0.74% cancellation rate — and you have a concrete picture of departure reliability at Los Angeles, CA.