Santa Ana, CA

What the Data Says About SNA

Santa Ana, CA in Santa Ana, California handled 482,186 flights in the Bureau of Transportation Statistics dataset between 2020 and 2025, posting a 82.5% on-time departure rate. Of those flights, 84,472 experienced delays, 5,040 were cancelled, and 656 were diverted. The cancellation rate works out to 1.05%, the diversion rate to 0.14%, and the average delay when departures run late is 65.2 minutes. These figures are the baseline for comparing SNA against other airports in the same state and nationally.

Breaking down what drives delays at SNA, Late Aircraft leads the pack. Late Aircraft accounts for 44.5% of total delay minutes, followed by Carrier at 32.3% and NAS (National Aviation System) at 19.9%. Weather contributes 3.1% 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, January runs the cleanest at SNA with a 92.4% on-time rate, while June is the roughest at 89.2% — a 3-point swing between best and worst month. Volume peaks in August, when average flights hit 7,062. The busiest route from SNA is to PHX (Phoenix), with 23,628 flights at a 83.2% on-time rate. Combine these numbers — 82.5% on-time, 65.2-minute average delay, 1.05% cancellation rate — and you have a concrete picture of departure reliability at Santa Ana, CA.