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Airport · SNA · Santa Ana, California

Santa Ana, CA

According to PlainFlights' airport traffic ranking (BTS On-Time Performance total flights), Santa Ana, CA (SNA) ranks #42 of 382 tracked US airports by total flights (most flights = #1). Santa Ana, CA posts below-median on-time performance among the 382 tracked U.S. airports, as a high-volume U.S. airport.

Data updated 2026-06-13

82.5%
On-time
Top 61%
on-time, US airports
65 min
Delay when late
1.05%
Cancelled
#42 of 382
Corpus placement
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SNA on-time rate vs. the national average

Ahead of the U.S. average across all 382 tracked airports.

0%100%U.S. average79%82.5%

Delay Cause Breakdown

Top delay cause: Late Aircraft. Total delay minutes: 2,706,889.

Late Aircraft 44.5% (1,205,619 min)
Carrier 32.3% (873,979 min)
NAS (National Aviation System) 19.9% (539,152 min)
Weather 3.1% (83,865 min)
Security 0.2% (4,274 min)

SNA - seasonal on-time pattern

Best: January (92.4%) · worst: June (89.2%)

89%90%91%92%93% JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec 89.6%

SNA - on-time rate by year

2020–2025, year-over-year trend.

85%90%95%100% 202020212022202320242025 96.7% 90.5% ▼ -6.4%

SNA - taxi-out and taxi-in (monthly)

Average taxi-out 15.7 min · taxi-in 6.6 min over the last 24 reported months (U.S. airport mean taxi-out ≈ 16.4 min).

14 min15 min16 min17 min Jan 24Dec 25 15.4 min 15.6 min ▲ +1.3%

SNA's average taxi-out (15.7 min) sits near the recent U.S. airport mean (~16.4 min). Month-to-month, it swings from 14.9 min (May 2024) to 16.6 min (September 2025).

Cancellation & Diversion Analysis

Flight disruption statistics for Santa Ana, CA.

Cancellation Rate

1.05%

5,040 of 482,186 flights

Diversion Rate

0.14%

656 of 482,186 flights

Delay Rate

17.5%

84,472 of 482,186 flights

Top Routes from SNA

Busiest routes to and from Santa Ana, CA.

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Route Flights On-Time Distance
SNA (Santa Ana) → PHX (Phoenix) 23,628 83.2% 338 mi
PHX (Phoenix) → SNA (Santa Ana) 23,622 83.1% 338 mi
SNA (Santa Ana) → LAS (Las Vegas) 23,140 79.7% 226 mi
LAS (Las Vegas) → SNA (Santa Ana) 23,131 79.3% 226 mi
SNA (Santa Ana) → SFO (San Francisco) 22,074 81% 372 mi
SFO (San Francisco) → SNA (Santa Ana) 22,048 84.4% 372 mi
DEN (Denver) → SNA (Santa Ana) 21,019 80.5% 846 mi
SNA (Santa Ana) → DEN (Denver) 20,983 83.5% 846 mi
SNA (Santa Ana) → SEA (Seattle) 20,946 86.2% 978 mi
SEA (Seattle) → SNA (Santa Ana) 20,942 85.4% 978 mi
DFW (Dallas/Fort Worth) → SNA (Santa Ana) 16,814 81.2% 1,205 mi
SNA (Santa Ana) → DFW (Dallas/Fort Worth) 16,809 83.4% 1,205 mi
SJC (San Jose) → SNA (Santa Ana) 15,424 86.6% 342 mi
SNA (Santa Ana) → SJC (San Jose) 15,403 85.6% 342 mi
SNA (Santa Ana) → OAK (Oakland) 15,102 84.4% 371 mi
OAK (Oakland) → SNA (Santa Ana) 15,066 85.9% 371 mi
SMF (Sacramento) → SNA (Santa Ana) 13,446 85.2% 404 mi
SNA (Santa Ana) → SMF (Sacramento) 13,434 83.2% 404 mi
SNA (Santa Ana) → ORD (Chicago) 11,656 85.7% 1,726 mi
ORD (Chicago) → SNA (Santa Ana) 11,655 83.2% 1,726 mi

Nationwide peers by on-time rate & flight volume

Two PlainFlights-derived comparison paths for Santa Ana, CA, both outside California so the neighborhoods are not same-state geography. Axes stay disjoint: volume peers exclude the on-time peer set. Same-state compare stays below.

Similar on-time rate

Nearest out-of-state BTS on-time rate (this airport: 82.5%).

Omaha, NE

Omaha, NE

82.5% on-time 260,747 flights

Reno, NV

Reno, NV

82.5% on-time 229,410 flights

Prescott, AZ

Prescott, AZ

82.5% on-time 9,056 flights

Anchorage, AK

Anchorage, AK

82.6% on-time 214,443 flights

Similar flight volume

Nearest out-of-state total flights (this airport: 482,186).

Indianapolis, IN

Indianapolis, IN

495,575 flights 82.7% on-time

Pittsburgh, PA

Pittsburgh, PA

462,554 flights 83.3% on-time

Columbus, OH

Columbus, OH

450,603 flights 82.8% on-time

Cleveland, OH

Cleveland, OH

446,498 flights 82% on-time

Other Airports in California

Compare performance with other California airports.

LAX 82.8%

Los Angeles, CA

Los Angeles · 2,137,032 flights
SFO 81%

San Francisco, CA

San Francisco · 1,466,784 flights
SAN 80.8%

San Diego, CA

San Diego · 973,807 flights
SMF 82.7%

Sacramento, CA

Sacramento · 592,833 flights
SJC 84.2%

San Jose, CA

San Jose · 546,547 flights
OAK 81.7%

Oakland, CA

Oakland · 472,036 flights
BUR 82.4%

Burbank, CA

Burbank · 319,148 flights
ONT 82.3%

Ontario, CA

Ontario · 272,856 flights

SNA delay-share reading

The standout signal at Santa Ana, CA is the delay mix: Late Aircraft owns 44.5% of 2,706,889 delay minutes across 482,186 BTS flights. The on-time headline is 82.5% (3.5 pts above the 79% national average), with 84,472 delayed and 5,040 cancelled (1.05%).

Delay minutes concentrate in Late Aircraft (44.5% late-aircraft, 32.3% carrier, 19.9% NAS, 3.1% weather, 0.2% security). As a busy airport, that mix matters more for connection planning than for a thin schedule.

On the multi-year calendar, SNA is strongest in January (92.4% on-time) and weakest in June (89.2%), a 3.2-point swing. Volume peaks in August (~7,062 flights/month). The busiest connecting route is to PHX (Phoenix) at 83.2% on-time. Field definitions: on-time performance explained.

Statewide aggregates for California: California flight data.

Data Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), On-Time Performance Data (2020–2025). Statistics reflect cumulative performance across all available reporting periods. On-time rates exclude cancelled and diverted flights.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Using SNA's data

SNA's on-time book is mid-pack; month and delay-cause mix move more than the headline rate.

  • Check the busiest route from SNA before you book a connection. See top routes
  • Travel in January rather than June if your dates are flexible. Seasonal patterns
  • Gate-to-wheels taxi-out averages 15.7 min here; check the monthly series before a tight connection. Taxi times

On-time rate reflects the BTS historical average across all reporting carriers at this airport, not any single flight or airline.

Data sourced from U.S. Department of Transportation Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) On-Time Performance data. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainFlights

Source: U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) Airline on-time performance and operational reliability · 2025

Every figure on PlainFlights is rendered directly from BTS On-Time Performance data, no number is typed in by an editor. Airport figures are computed directly from BTS On-Time Performance data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.