Historical on-time performance
Philadelphia to San Francisco
2,521 miData through Dec 2025Source: US DOT · BTS
Flights on PHL–SFO arrive on time 76% of the time over the last 12 months.
On-time rate76%arrived within 15 min
p90 delay45 min1 in 10 flights is worse (tail risk)
Cancelled0.7%of scheduled flights
based on 1,770 flights over the last 12 months. On-time means arriving within 15 minutes (BTS standard).
By airline
How each carrier compares
- United AirlinesbestOn-time79%Medianon timep9040 minCancel0.2%Flights602
- American AirlinesOn-time74%Medianon timep9050 minCancel1.0%Flights1,168
Why flights run late
Delay causes
- Airline27%
- Weather7%
- Air traffic (NAS)37%
- Late aircraft29%
- 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 PHL → 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 — 85% on time.
- Mornings85% on time · p90 20 min · 2,105 flights
- Afternoons68% on time · p90 70 min · 658 flights
- Overnights67% on time · p90 50 min · 109 flights · limited
- Evenings66% on time · p90 65 min · 1,675 flights
Best day of week
On-time rates are fairly even by day on this route — ranging from 73% to 78% on time.
- Wednesdays78% on time · p90 40 min · 641 flights
- Tuesdays77% on time · p90 35 min · 629 flights
- Saturdays77% on time · p90 40 min · 612 flights
- Sundays75% on time · p90 45 min · 676 flights
- Mondays74% on time · p90 50 min · 681 flights
- Fridays74% on time · p90 45 min · 673 flights
- Thursdays73% on time · p90 50 min · 664 flights
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