SBA to LAX flight delays
Santa Barbara, CA (SBA) Los Angeles, CA (LAX) · 89 miles
687 flights · January 2025 – August 2026 · US Bureau of Transportation Statistics
89.07%
Arrived on time
Within 15 minutes of schedule
1.31%
Cancelled
Share of scheduled flights
79 min
When late, late by
Average across delayed arrivals
10 min
Delay per flight
Averaged over every flight flown
What the record says about this route
The season swings this route hard. In February it ran 29.9 points more punctual than in December — 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 shape of the lateness matters here. Flights on this route are not late often, but when they are late they are late by about 79 minutes — long enough to lose a connection or an evening. The on-time percentage looks reassuring and understates the consequence of being on the wrong flight.
The route has been getting better. The later months in the record run 9.6 points more punctual than the earlier ones, which usually means a schedule that was too tight has been given more room.
Flights from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles are among the most dependable in the record. A route this punctual is usually a short hop between airports with slots to spare.
Which airline should you fly on this route?
Over January 2025 – August 2026, SkyWest Airlines arrived on time most often on SBA to LAX. Flights ran closest to schedule in February and worst in December.
Every airline on SBA 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SkyWest Airlines | 687 | 89.07% | 1.31% | 79 min | A |
Month by month
Share of flights that arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, by month flown.
Other routes from Santa Barbara
Common questions
Are flights from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles usually delayed?
89.07% of flights on the SBA to LAX route arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, so roughly 1 in every ten arrived late. That is better than the average route in this record.
Which airlines fly from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles?
Only SkyWest Airlines appears in the published record on this route, with 687 flights and 89.07% arriving on time.
How often are SBA to LAX flights cancelled?
1.31% of scheduled flights did not operate — about 13 in every thousand. That is in the normal range.
What is the best month to fly Santa Barbara to Los Angeles?
February, when 98.1% of flights arrived on time. The worst was December at 68.2%.
When SBA to LAX flights are late, how late are they?
About 79 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 SBA 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 →