American Airlines, Japan Airlines, and Southwest Hit San Diego International with 38 Flight Delays, Disrupting Routes to Los Angeles, New York, Tokyo, San Francisco, and More

Published on May 13, 2026

San Diego's sun-drenched California dream is running on an unexpected delay today. San Diego International Airport (SAN) — the gateway to one of America's most beloved coastal destinations — has been gripped by a significant operational disruption, recording 38 flight delays across seven airlines including American Airlines, Japan Airlines, Southwest Airlines, SkyWest, Horizon Air (ASA), Alaska Airlines, and United Airlines. Not a single flight has been cancelled — which is genuinely good news — but 38 simultaneous delays rippling through a single airport create the kind of cascading passenger frustration, missed connections, and compressed itineraries that no traveler plans for. Most strikingly, Japan Airlines has recorded a 100% delay rate on its San Diego operations today — every Japan Airlines departure from SAN is running behind schedule. For anyone flying to or from San Diego today, this is the complete, airline-by-airline update you need to act on right now.

Quick Summary:

• 38 total flight delays at San Diego International Airport (SAN) on May 13, 2026. Zero cancellations.
• Airlines affected: Southwest Airlines (15 delays), SkyWest (6), American Airlines (7), Horizon Air/ASA (5), Alaska Airlines (2), Japan Airlines (2), United Airlines (1).
• Most alarming stat: Japan Airlines records a 100% delay rate — every JAL operation at SAN today is delayed, impacting transpacific travelers heading between San Diego and Tokyo.
• Highest volume: Southwest Airlines' 15 delays represent 7% of their total SAN operations — the largest single-carrier delay count.
• American Airlines records 7 delays at a 14% disruption rate — among the highest proportional impacts of any US carrier today.
• Tourism impact: San Diego's hospitality, attractions, and business event sectors all absorb delayed arrivals during a busy leisure travel period.
• Travelers advised to monitor airline apps closely; no Ground Stop or Ground Delay Program currently reported, suggesting volume and operational cascade as primary causes.

The 38-Delay Picture: Why Zero Cancellations Still Means Significant Disruption

Zero cancellations sounds reassuring. But 38 delays across one airport in a single operational window is a different kind of aviation stress — one that is, in many ways, harder to navigate than a smaller number of outright cancellations.

A cancelled flight has a definitive resolution: rebooking. A delayed flight exists in a perpetual state of uncertainty — the departure board keeps updating, the gate time keeps shifting, and passengers are caught in the exhausting limbo of not knowing whether to get coffee, find a power outlet, or stay glued to the gate.

Multiply that experience across 38 separate flights and seven different airlines simultaneously at San Diego International, and the operational challenge becomes clear: gate congestion, ground crew scheduling disruption, baggage handling delays, and the cascading effect of late-arriving aircraft pushing back subsequent departures across the entire airport's schedule.

Airline-by-Airline Breakdown: Who Is Bearing the Brunt?

Complete San Diego Delay Table

Airline	Delayed Flights	Delay as % of Operations
Southwest Airlines	15	7%
SkyWest	6	7%
American Airlines	7	14%
Horizon Air (ASA)	5	14%
Alaska Airlines	2	2%
Japan Airlines	2	100%
United Airlines	1	1%
TOTAL	38	—

Japan Airlines at 100%: The Transpacific Story Nobody Saw Coming

The single most striking data point in today's San Diego disruption is not the volume — it is the percentage.

Japan Airlines recording a 100% delay rate means that every single JAL departure from San Diego International Airport today is running behind schedule. With only two JAL operations at SAN in a typical daily schedule, the raw number is modest — but the proportional impact is complete.

For passengers booked on Japan Airlines between San Diego and Tokyo Narita or Haneda — one of the most important transpacific corridors in US-Japan aviation — a delayed SAN departure carries consequences that extend far beyond the California coast.

Transpacific passengers connecting onward from Tokyo to Osaka, Seoul, Singapore, Bangkok, or other Asian destinations face a compressed or collapsed connection window at Narita or Haneda if the San Diego departure arrives late. Tokyo's major airports operate tight international transfer schedules, and a delayed JAL arrival from San Diego can cascade into missed onward connections measured in hours — and, for unlucky passengers, overnight stays in Japan while airlines manage the recovery.

For business travelers timing arrivals around Tokyo meetings, and for leisure travelers with carefully constructed Japan itineraries — temple visits in Kyoto, bullet train journeys to Hiroshima, ryokan stays in the Japanese Alps — a delayed San Diego departure is the kind of disruption that echoes painfully across the entire journey.

American Airlines and Horizon Air: The 14% Problem

The proportional disruption story at SAN extends well beyond Japan Airlines.

American Airlines recorded 7 delays today — but at a 14% disruption rate of its San Diego operations, it is operating well above the threshold that triggers passenger frustration and missed connection concerns. American's SAN network includes high-frequency services to Los Angeles, Phoenix, Dallas/Fort Worth, New York JFK, and Chicago O'Hare — all major connecting hubs through which American's passengers fan out across its domestic and international network. Seven delayed SAN departures on American create ripple effects across every one of those hubs.

Horizon Air (ASA) — Alaska Airlines' regional subsidiary, which operates as Alaska's primary feeder carrier connecting San Diego to Seattle, Portland, and other West Coast hubs — recorded 5 delays at a matching 14% disruption rate. Regional feeder disruption is particularly consequential for passengers connecting from SAN onto Alaska Airlines or partner carrier long-haul services at Seattle-Tacoma or Portland.

Southwest Airlines: 15 Delays and the Point-to-Point Cascade

Southwest Airlines recorded today's highest raw delay count — 15 flights representing 7% of its San Diego operations.

Southwest's point-to-point network model means that every San Diego delay directly affects a specific passenger's journey rather than simply backing up a hub. Travelers heading from SAN to Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Denver, Phoenix, Sacramento, San Jose, and dozens of other Southwest destinations across the West and Midwest are all directly impacted — with no connecting hub to absorb the disruption before it reaches them.

With Southwest's open-seating policy and the carrier's generally efficient same-day recovery record, affected passengers are advised to use the Southwest app for real-time updates and to board as early as possible once their delayed flight begins boarding, to secure preferred seating.

San Diego's Tourism Economy: Why Every Delay Is a Luxury Lost

San Diego's identity as a destination is built on time-sensitive pleasures that flight delays compress in uniquely painful ways.

Balboa Park — the extraordinary cultural campus housing 17 world-class museums, the San Diego Zoo, and immaculate botanical gardens — operates on daylight schedules that a delayed morning arrival can significantly curtail.

The USS Midway Museum, the Gaslamp Quarter, the Cabrillo National Monument, and the Pacific Beach coastline all reward visitors with the most time possible — and every delayed arrival is time that San Diego cannot give back.

For convention travelers arriving for San Diego's busy year-round conference calendar — the city's convention center regularly hosts national and international events — a delayed arrival can mean missing keynotes, registration windows, and critical networking sessions that were the entire reason for the trip.

The San Diego Zoo — consistently ranked among the world's finest wildlife parks — operates on timed entry systems for its most popular exhibits. A delayed arrival can close access to Safari Park tram tours or specific animal habitats entirely.

Guide for Travelers:

• Check your flight status immediately via your airline's app — FlightAware and FlightRadar24 also provide SAN-specific real-time data that often precedes airport board updates.
• Japan Airlines passengers: Contact JAL US customer service at 1-800-525-3663 immediately. For transpacific connections at Narita or Haneda, JAL's rebooking team can proactively protect your onward connection — but you must call before the delay creates a missed connection.
• American Airlines passengers: Use the AA app or call 1-800-433-7300. AA's hub connections at Phoenix, Dallas, and LAX may offer alternative routing if the SAN delay creates a missed connection.
• Southwest passengers: Call 1-800-435-9792 or use the Southwest app. Southwest's open boarding policy means arriving early to a delayed gate is always advantageous.
• SkyWest/Alaska Regional passengers: Contact Alaska Airlines at 1-800-252-7522 — SkyWest operates under Alaska's customer service umbrella for rebooking purposes.
• Horizon Air passengers: Same as Alaska Airlines contact — Horizon is Alaska's regional subsidiary.
• Best San Diego time-recovery activities near the airport: SAN sits just 3 miles from downtown. The Embarcadero waterfront, the USS Midway, and the Gaslamp Quarter are all within 10 minutes — a delayed departure can become an unexpected bonus coastal afternoon.
• Best time to visit San Diego: May–October delivers San Diego's legendary Mediterranean climate — warm, dry, and consistently sunny, with ocean temperatures rising through summer for comfortable beach swimming.

Related Travel Guides

• Southwest, Delta, and Hawaiian Airlines Hit Las Vegas with 55 Flight Delays at Harry Reid International
• US Flight Chaos: United, Delta, Southwest, and Alaska Cancel 44 Flights and Delay 1,400 More Across America
• Emirates, British Airways, KLM, and Ryanair Cancel 12 Flights Across Heathrow, Gatwick, and Manchester

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San Diego deserves its reputation as one of America's most perfectly calibrated cities — a place where the weather is extraordinary, the Pacific is majestic, the food is world-class, and the cultural depth far exceeds what the sunshine and surf might suggest. Today's 38 delays at San Diego International Airport are an inconvenience, not a catastrophe. Japan Airlines, American Airlines, Southwest, and every other carrier caught in today's disruption will move their passengers onward — and the San Diego that awaits at the end of the delay is absolutely worth every extra minute spent at the gate. The Zoo, the bay, the Balboa Park museums, the Pacific Beach sunsets — none of that has changed. Pack your patience, stay connected to your airline app, and trust that one of America's most breathtaking coastal cities will make the wait completely worthwhile.

Disclaimer: All flight delay data is sourced from FlightAware's official operational records for San Diego International Airport (SAN) on May 13, 2026. All flight status information is subject to real-time change. Travelers must verify current delay status directly with their operating airline before departing for the airport.