BWI to LAX flight delays
Baltimore, MD (BWI) Los Angeles, CA (LAX) · 2,329 miles
1,727 flights · January 2025 – August 2026 · US Bureau of Transportation Statistics
74.4%
Arrived on time
Within 15 minutes of schedule
1.27%
Cancelled
Share of scheduled flights
59 min
When late, late by
Average across delayed arrivals
16 min
Delay per flight
Averaged over every flight flown
What the record says about this route
Which airline you fly changes the odds here. Spirit Airlines arrived on time 20.3 points more often than Southwest Airlines over the same period on the same route — same airports, same weather, same air traffic control. A gap that survives all of that is about how the two airlines are run.
The season swings this route hard. In November it ran 32.5 points more punctual than in June — a difference bigger than the one between the best and worst airlines on most routes. If the date is flexible, it is worth more than the carrier.
The two directions do not behave alike. LAX to BWI arrives on time 8.8 points more often than the outbound. Delay accumulates through the flying day, so whichever direction is scheduled later tends to carry the worse record — which is an argument for booking the morning departure if the choice exists.
Flights from Baltimore to Los Angeles run late more often than the average route, though not severely.
Which airline should you fly on this route?
Over January 2025 – August 2026, Spirit Airlines arrived on time most often on BWI to LAX. Southwest Airlines was late most often. Flights ran closest to schedule in November and worst in June.
Every airline on BWI to LAX
Ranked by how many flights each one operated. A carrier with fewer than 100 flights in the period is listed but not graded.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Avg delay | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 1,045 | 67.22% | 1.24% | 49 min | D |
| United Airlines | 576 | 85.04% | 1.22% | 89 min | B |
| Spirit Airlines | 106 | 87.5% | 1.89% | 103 min | B |
Month by month
Share of flights that arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, by month flown.
The return leg
LAX to BWI Los Angeles back to Baltimore 83.18% on time BCommon questions
Are flights from Baltimore to Los Angeles usually delayed?
74.4% of flights on the BWI to LAX route arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, so roughly 3 in every ten arrived late. That is about the same as the average route in this record.
Which airline is most on time from Baltimore to Los Angeles?
Spirit Airlines, at 87.5% on time across 106 flights. The least punctual on the route was Southwest Airlines at 67.22%.
How often are BWI to LAX flights cancelled?
1.27% of scheduled flights did not operate — about 13 in every thousand. That is in the normal range.
What is the best month to fly Baltimore to Los Angeles?
November, when 82.8% of flights arrived on time. The worst was June at 50.3%.
When BWI to LAX flights are late, how late are they?
About 59 minutes on average across the flights that arrived more than 15 minutes behind schedule.
What these figures do and do not tell you
Everything on this page is counted from the flights that actually operated on BWI to LAX during January 2025 – August 2026, as reported by the airlines to the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics. "On time" is the federal definition: arriving at the gate within 15 minutes of the scheduled time.
A route's record is a description of the past, not a forecast. Weather, air traffic control and the aircraft's earlier flights that day drive most delays, and none of them are predictable from a historical rate. What the record does tell you is whether this route runs late more often than others, and which carrier on it has the better history — which is the part you can actually act on when you book.
Cancellations are counted separately from delays because they are a different problem for a traveller: a late flight still gets you there. How the grade is calculated →