Is Southwest Airlines on time? WN
Landing within 15 minutes of schedule, over the last 12 months.
Source: US Department of Transportation on-time records, which cover this airline's US flights. Last refreshed: 2026-10-07.
Year by year
Arrival punctuality, whole calendar years| Year | On time | Change | Cancelled |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 82% | 2.5% | |
| 2020 | 94% | +11 pts | 8.1% |
| 2021 | 78% | -16 pts | 2.2% |
| 2022 | 76% | -2 pts | 3.3% |
| 2023 | 78% | +2 pts | 1.0% |
| 2024 | 79% | +1 pt | 0.8% |
| 2025 | 79% | -1 pt | 0.8% |
| 2026part year | 75% | -4 pts | 1.1% |
2020 looks like the best year here, and it was the worst year to fly. Empty aeroplanes run to time, and the flights that would have been late were cancelled instead: cancellations across the industry ran about three times their normal rate that year.
Month by month
| Month | On time | Cancelled |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-07 | 69% | 1.1% |
| 2026-06 | 66% | 0.6% |
| 2026-05 | 72% | 0.4% |
| 2026-04 | 78% | 0.3% |
| 2026-03 | 74% | 1.6% |
| 2026-02 | 82% | 1.0% |
| 2026-01 | 85% | 2.6% |
| 2025-12 | 75% | 0.6% |
| 2025-11 | 80% | 1.7% |
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Busiest routes
| Route | On time | Worst 1 in 10 |
|---|---|---|
| DEN to PHX | 72% | about 54 min |
| PHX to DEN | 73% | about 51 min |
| DAL to HOU | 73% | about 50 min |
| HOU to DAL | 81% | about 40 min |
| SAN to SMF | 73% | about 43 min |
| SMF to SAN | 68% | about 49 min |
| SAN to SJC | 74% | about 45 min |
| LAS to SAN | 59% | about 61 min |
| MCO to BWI | 76% | about 45 min |
| SJC to SAN | 68% | about 50 min |
| BWI to MCO | 76% | about 44 min |
| SAN to LAS | 73% | about 49 min |
How these numbers are made
On time means the aircraft arrived less than 15 minutes after its scheduled time. Cancelled flights are not counted as on time, and they are not counted as late either. They have their own figure.
Worst 1 in 10 is the delay that one arrival in ten exceeds. An average hides the days that ruin a trip; this does not.
A route or an airline appears only once we hold enough measured arrivals for it. Below that the number moves too much on a single bad week to be worth printing.
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