Routes › Des Moines (DSM) › DSM to LAX
Route · 12 months to July 2026
Des Moines to Los Angeles: on-time record
Des Moines International to Los Angeles International
BTS: A flight is counted as on time if it arrived less than 15 minutes after its scheduled time. Only carriers with at least 0.5 percent of domestic scheduled passenger revenue report. Data through July 2026; this is a monthly history, not live flight status.
71.0% of scheduled DSM to LAX flights arrived on time in the 12 months to July 2026. The figure covers 303 flights between Des Moines and Los Angeles by carriers that report to BTS, a distance of 1,447 miles.
That is 5.0 points below the national on-time share of 76.0% for the same period and 6.3 points below the 77.3% recorded for all departures from DSM. Flights that did arrive were 27.6 min late on average, and 0.3% of scheduled flights were cancelled (national: 1.8%).
SkyWest Airlines is the only reporting carrier on the route, with 303 flights in the period.
Of the delay minutes that carriers assigned to a BTS cause category on this route, air carrier 80%, national aviation system 11% and late-arriving aircraft 9%.
- On time 71.0%
- Arrived 15+ minutes late 28.7%
- Cancelled 0.3%
- Diverted 0.0%
Airlines on the route compared
| Reporting carrier | Flights | Share | On time | Avg arrival delay | Cancelled |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OO SkyWest Airlines | 303 | 100% | 71.0% | 27.6 min | 0.3% |
Carriers with at least 24 flights in the 12 months to July 2026. The on-time pill is green when a carrier is at or above the route's overall share. Regional carriers operate flights sold under larger airlines' brands; BTS lists the carrier that operated the flight.
Compared with the airports and the nation
| Measure | DSM to LAX | All departures from DSM | All arrivals at LAX | All reported flights |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arrived on time | 71.0% | 77.3% | 79.2% | 76.0% |
| Arrived 15+ minutes late | 28.7% | 20.0% | 19.7% | 21.9% |
| Cancelled | 0.3% | 2.5% | 1.0% | 1.8% |
| Diverted | 0.0% | 0.3% | 0.1% | 0.3% |
| Average arrival delay | 27.6 min | 10.3 min | 4.5 min | 8.1 min |
| Delay minutes per 100 flights | 3,752 | 2,069 | 1,431 | 1,684 |
| Scheduled flights | 303 | 15,584 | 190,125 | 7,043,858 |
12 months to July 2026. Delay minutes count late arrivals only (an early arrival is zero), so the per-100-flights row is a normalised total rather than an average of early and late.
The return direction, LAX to DSM, recorded 86.0% on time across 300 flights in the same period.
Month by month
By scheduled departure hour
Delay causes
Seasonality
| Calendar month | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Avg arrival delay | Years in sample |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 31 | 71.0% | 0.0% | 43.5 min | 1 |
| Feb | 28 | 71.4% | 0.0% | 11.7 min | 1 |
| Mar | 31 | 83.9% | 0.0% | 1.9 min | 1 |
| Apr | 30 | 63.3% | 0.0% | 14.6 min | 1 |
| May | 33 | 81.8% | 0.0% | -6.5 min | 2 |
| Jun | 38 | 71.1% | 0.0% | 9.3 min | 2 |
| Jul | 40 | 60.0% | 0.0% | 17.5 min | 2 |
| Aug | 8 | 62.5% | 0.0% | 9.3 min | 2 |
| Oct | 27 | 81.5% | 0.0% | 6.7 min | 1 |
| Nov | 33 | 69.7% | 0.0% | 73.5 min | 2 |
| Dec | 31 | 61.3% | 3.2% | 99.7 min | 1 |
Each calendar month summed across the 36 months on file, so most rows combine three years. The pill compares the month with the route's own 12-month share.
Other routes from Des Moines (DSM)
| Route | Cities | Flights | On time | Avg arrival delay | Cancelled |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DSM–ORD | Des Moines to Chicago | 3,411 | 70.7% | 17.5 min | 4.1% |
| DSM–DEN | Des Moines to Denver | 2,330 | 82.8% | 3.7 min | 0.6% |
| DSM–DFW | Des Moines to Dallas/Fort Worth | 1,438 | 70.2% | 18.0 min | 3.8% |
| DSM–ATL | Des Moines to Atlanta | 1,252 | 86.6% | -6.3 min | 2.4% |
| DSM–PHX | Des Moines to Phoenix | 1,064 | 78.9% | 16.0 min | 1.5% |
| DSM–CLT | Des Moines to Charlotte | 809 | 80.3% | 9.0 min | 3.0% |
| DSM–DCA | Des Moines to Washington | 702 | 73.2% | 11.0 min | 5.3% |
| DSM–LAS | Des Moines to Las Vegas | 595 | 80.7% | 9.9 min | 0.2% |
All 37 routes and the airport record for DSM · airport record for LAX
Questions and answers
How often are flights from Des Moines to Los Angeles on time?
71.0% of the 303 flights scheduled from DSM to LAX in the 12 months to July 2026 arrived less than 15 minutes after their scheduled time. The national share for the same period was 76.0%. Cancelled and diverted flights count as not on time.
Which airline has the highest on-time share from DSM to LAX?
SkyWest Airlines is the only reporting carrier with at least 60 flights on the route in the period, so there is no comparison to make.
What causes delays between Des Moines and Los Angeles?
For flights that arrived 15 or more minutes late, carriers attributed the delay minutes as follows: air carrier 80%, national aviation system 11%, late-arriving aircraft 9%, extreme weather 1%, security 0%. The categories are the carriers' own reports to BTS; weather that slows the wider system is usually recorded under the National Aviation System rather than extreme weather.
What time of day has the highest on-time share from DSM?
Too few departure hours carry enough flights on this route to compare them.
Is it getting better?
The route does not have enough flights in the previous 12 months for a year-on-year comparison. The monthly chart on this page shows the months that are available.
Where does this data come from?
Every figure is computed from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance files, which list each scheduled domestic flight by the carriers required to report. This page covers August 2023 to July 2026. It shows totals and averages only; it is not a live flight-status service.
Provenance
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance (1987 to present), monthly files August 2023 to July 2026, a US government work in the public domain. Figures are totals and averages over all scheduled flights by reporting carriers on the route; no individual flight or aircraft is identified. Times are local to the departure airport. The load factor and passenger counts from the BTS T-100 series are not included in this edition. See the methodology; report processing errors through corrections.