Airline · WN · United StatesHow reliable is Southwest Airlines?
Southwest Airlines runs 84% on time across 8,027,731 flights of official airline-reported history. Here’s how it really performs — including when it’s late and on which routes.
Reliability score
on-time, cancellations & delays
Network reliability
Southwest Airlines’s on-time record across its whole network
Source: BTS TranStats · data through 2026-06-25. On-time and cancellations are airline-controllable (cause-attributed). Advisory context, not a guarantee for any one flight.
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When flights run late
It’s not just if Southwest Airlines is late — it’s how late
Of every 100 Southwest Airlines flights, how they actually land — on time, or in each lateness band. A short delay is a nuisance; a 2-hour delay misses connections.
Routes
Where Southwest Airlines shines — and where it struggles
Its most and least reliable routes by on-time rate (routes with a meaningful sample). Tap an airport for its full profile.
The read on Southwest Airlines
What the record actually tells you about flying Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines runs about 84% on time across 8,027,731 flights of official airline-controllable history — one of the better on-time records in the data. On cancellations, cancellations are rare here, at roughly 0.4%. Worth noting, its on-time rate has slipped recently — down about 2.3 points versus the prior year.
It's not just whether a flight is late, but how late. When Southwest Airlines runs behind, the typical delay lands around 9 minutes, and only a small slice — about 1.4% — slip two hours or more, so the worst-case tail is relatively contained.
Reliability isn't uniform across Southwest Airlines's map. Its strongest route in the data is MKE–HOU, running around 98% on time, while SEA–STL is among its weakest at about 65%. That gap is the whole point: judge Southwest Airlines on the route you're actually flying, not on its overall average.
A track record is the backdrop, not a verdict on your flight. To put it to work, score your actual Southwest Airlines flight on reliability, weather, and connection safety, see how the PlaneSane Score works, and read are some airlines really more reliable and how to read on-time stats.
Common questions about Southwest Airlines
- How often is Southwest Airlines on time?
- Southwest Airlines (WN) ran about 84% on time across 8,027,731 flights of official airline-reported history — one of the better on-time records in the data. Its cancellation rate is roughly 0.4%.
- Is Southwest Airlines a reliable airline?
- On the numbers, Southwest Airlines has one of the better on-time records in the data. Typical delays run around 9 minutes when flights are late. Reliability varies by route and time of day, so check your specific flight rather than the brand average. It's advisory context, not a guarantee for any one flight.
- Which routes does Southwest Airlines fly most reliably?
- In our data, MKE–HOU is among Southwest Airlines's most reliable routes at about 98% on time, while SEA–STL is among its weakest near 65%. The same airline can perform very differently route to route.
Flying Southwest Airlines?
Score your actual flight on reliability, weather, and connection safety before you book — Southwest Airlines’s track record is just the start.