OnTimeStats

Airport on-time performance

San Francisco

Data through May 2026Source: US DOT · BTS
On-time rate77%flights departing here that arrived on time
p90 delay45 min1 in 10 departures is worse (tail risk)
Cancelled1.0%of scheduled departures
Left the gate on time79%departures that pushed back within 15 min of schedule (DepDel15)

based on 145,890 flights over the last 12 months. On-time means arriving within 15 minutes (BTS standard).

As a connection hub

Arriving here (inbound performance)

These figures reflect inbound flights arriving at this airport — relevant for connections and layovers.

71%arrived on time here
(within 15 min, inbound flights)
  • On time71%
  • 15–59 min late18%
  • 1–2 hr late6%
  • 2 hr+ late4%
  • Cancelled or diverted1%

Arrival outcomes for inbound flights. Last segment = cancelled or diverted.

Bad day: 1 in 10 flights arrives more than 55 min late.

By airline

Carriers departing here (last 12 months)

Delay = arrival delay (ArrDel15-based)

  • United Airlinesbest
    On-time81%
    Medianon time
    p9030 min
    Cancel0.6%
    Flights58,851
  • Delta Air Lines
    On-time79%
    Medianon time
    p9040 min
    Cancel1.2%
    Flights13,687
  • JetBlue Airways
    On-time78%
    Medianon time
    p9045 min
    Cancel1.6%
    Flights4,339
  • SkyWest Airlines
    On-time77%
    Medianon time
    p9045 min
    Cancel1.2%
    Flights30,666
  • American Airlines
    On-time77%
    Medianon time
    p9045 min
    Cancel1.9%
    Flights11,594
  • Alaska Airlines
    On-time74%
    Medianon time
    p9040 min
    Cancel1.2%
    Flights9,748
  • Hawaiian Airlines
    On-time74%
    Medianon time
    p9035 min
    Cancel1.9%
    Flights593
  • Frontier Airlines
    On-time67%
    Medianon time
    p9075 min
    Cancel1.7%
    Flights1,961
  • Southwest Airlines
    On-time62%
    Median5 min
    p9070 min
    Cancel0.8%
    Flights8,589

Over time

On-time trend

By season

On-time rate by month

When it gets busy

Busiest times at SFO

Historically, departures at SFO peak 5–10 a.m. — 28% of scheduled flights leave in that block.

  • Midnight–5 a.m.1%
  • 5–10 a.m.28%
  • 10 a.m.–2 p.m.27%
  • 2–5 p.m.15%
  • 5–8 p.m.12%
  • 8 p.m.–midnight17%

Share of 420,259 scheduled departures by planned departure time, 2023-06 .. 2026-05. Historical averages from BTS data — not live airport status.

When flights don't go

Why flights were cancelled

  • Airline33%
  • Weather46%
  • Air traffic (NAS)22%
  • Security0%

Most cancellations here are attributed to Weather. Shares are among 1,446 cancellations with a reported cause (BTS reports causes from June 2003).

Where flights go

Busiest routes

SFO → LAX→SFO → SEA→SFO → JFK→SFO → LAS→SFO → ORD→SFO → SAN→SFO → DEN→SFO → PHX→SFO → DFW→SFO → SNA→

Side by side

Compare this airport

Compare with Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airporthead-to-head on-time→Compare with Chicago O'Hare International Airporthead-to-head on-time→Compare with Dallas Fort Worth International Airporthead-to-head on-time→Compare with Denver International Airporthead-to-head on-time→

Will you make a connection at SFO? →

Keep exploring

Related guides

When to arrive at the airportguide→Worst airports for delaysguide→

Methodology

A flight is on time when it arrives within 15 minutes of schedule — the US DOT / BTS standard. Median and p90(the “1-in-10 bad day”) are read from the full arrival-delay distribution, never averaged across periods.

Figures cover a carrier’s own BTS-coded flights. Cells below ~200 flights are flagged as limited data. All numbers are pre-computed from public BTS On-Time Performance data.