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Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is often criticized for being too massive, congested, and under constant construction. However, data shows that LAX leads Southern California’s biggest airports in on-time arrivals and ranks second only to Palm Springs International Airport in on-time departures.
LAX handles more than 15,000 incoming and departing flights each month, which is nearly equivalent to the combined number of flights of the other six Southern California airports. San Diego International Airport is SoCal’s second-busiest airport with more than 7,000 flights in each direction, while John Wayne Airport in Orange County completes the big three with over 4,000 flights in each direction. The remaining four smaller airports are Burbank, Ontario, Long Beach, and Palm Springs.
LAX had the highest percentage of on-time departures among the big three in 2022, according to federal data, with 80.8% of flights departing on time. San Diego International Airport averaged 80.4% and John Wayne Airport lagged behind with 76.4%. However, when the big and small airports were combined, Palm Springs, which handles a small fraction of the traffic compared to the others, led everyone with 81.6% on-time departures. All the airports in Southern California routinely exceed national averages for on-time flights.
For on-time arrivals, LAX was the best among all airports, with 79.9% of flights landing on time. Palm Springs, Long Beach, and John Wayne Airport followed closely behind.
Dae Levine, LAX spokesperson, said that LAX is proud of its record of on-time performance for both arrivals and departures. She explained that being the busiest origin and destination airport in the world is only possible because of the exceptional airline partners that they have, providing infrastructure to the airlines to efficiently carry out their business and ensuring a seamless journey for passengers.
The other airports did not respond to requests for comment.