San Antonio to Los Angeles

What the Data Says About SAT to LAX

The San Antonio to Los Angeles corridor (SAT → LAX) covers roughly 1,211 miles and is served by 30 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 9,720 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 86% on-time rate with an average delay of 90.1 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 4,209 flights were recorded on this pairing — 15 cancelled (0.4%) and 9 diverted (0.2%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 30 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 9,720 total flights analyzed, the 86% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 90.1-minute average delay applies only to flights that actually ran late, so it is not the average wait across all departures — the majority of flights on this route depart on time under the BTS definition of a delay (15+ minutes past schedule).

Looking at recent months, Oct 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 94% on-time, while May 2024 came in at 78% on-time — a 16-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the SAT to LAX route, the combination of a 86% on-time rate, 90.1-minute average delay, 0.4% recent cancellation rate, and 30 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.