Historical on-time performance
Washington to San Francisco
2,442 miData through Dec 2025Source: US DOT · BTS
Flights on DCA–SFO arrive on time 78% of the time over the last 12 months.
On-time rate78%arrived within 15 min
p90 delay45 min1 in 10 flights is worse (tail risk)
Cancelled0.8%of scheduled flights
based on 963 flights over the last 12 months. On-time means arriving within 15 minutes (BTS standard).
By airline
How each carrier compares
- United AirlinesbestOn-time80%Medianon timep9035 minCancel1.0%Flights686
- Alaska AirlinesOn-time73%Medianon timep9055 minCancel0.4%Flights277
Why flights run late
Delay causes
- Airline25%
- Weather9%
- Air traffic (NAS)35%
- Late aircraft32%
- Security0%
Most delay minutes here are attributed to Air traffic (NAS).
Over time
On-time trend
By season
On-time rate by month
When to fly
Best time to fly DCA → SFO
All airlines · rolling 36 months (2023-01 .. 2025-12).
Best time of day
Mornings are the most reliable time of day to fly this route — 92% on time.
- Mornings92% on time · p90 10 min · 321 flights
- Evenings76% on time · p90 50 min · 2,186 flights
Best day of week
On-time rates are fairly even by day on this route — ranging from 71% to 82% on time.
- Saturdays82% on time · p90 30 min · 357 flights
- Mondays80% on time · p90 40 min · 360 flights
- Tuesdays79% on time · p90 35 min · 360 flights
- Wednesdays79% on time · p90 40 min · 360 flights
- Fridays78% on time · p90 50 min · 358 flights
- Sundays77% on time · p90 60 min · 359 flights
- Thursdays71% on time · p90 60 min · 353 flights
Advertisement
Keep exploring