SAN → SFO: 67% on-time

Historical on-time performance

San Diego to San Francisco

447 miData through May 2026Source: US DOT · BTS

Flights on SAN–SFO arrive on time 67% of the time over the last 12 months.

On-time rate67%arrived within 15 min

p90 delay60 min1 in 10 flights is worse (tail risk)

Cancelled1.0%of scheduled flights

based on 6,265 flights over the last 12 months. On-time means arriving within 15 minutes (BTS standard).

By airline

How each carrier compares

Airline	On-time	Median	p90	Cancel	Flights
United Airlinesbest	72%	on time	50 min	0.7%	2,585
SkyWest Airlines	69%	on time	60 min	1.6%	1,581
Southwest Airlines	61%	on time	70 min	1.0%	1,886
Alaska Airlines⚠ low data	46%	15 min	90 min	0.0%	183
Frontier Airlines⚠ low data	27%	30 min	110 min	6.7%	30

United Airlinesbest
On-time72%
Medianon time
p9050 min
Cancel0.7%
Flights2,585
SkyWest Airlines
On-time69%
Medianon time
p9060 min
Cancel1.6%
Flights1,581
Southwest Airlines
On-time61%
Medianon time
p9070 min
Cancel1.0%
Flights1,886
Alaska Airlines
On-time46%
Median15 min
p9090 min
Cancel0.0%
Flights183
Frontier Airlines
On-time27%
Median30 min
p90110 min
Cancel6.7%
Flights30

Why flights run late

Delay causes

Airline16%
Weather3%
Air traffic (NAS)46%
Late aircraft36%
Security0%

Most delay minutes here are attributed to Air traffic (NAS).

When flights don't go

Why flights were cancelled

Airline27%
Weather26%
Air traffic (NAS)47%
Security0%

Most cancellations here are attributed to Air traffic (NAS). Shares are among 62 cancellations with a reported cause (BTS reports causes from June 2003).

Over time

On-time trend

By season

On-time rate by month

When to fly

Best time to fly SAN → SFO

All airlines · rolling 36 months (2023-06 .. 2026-05).

Best time of day

Mornings are the most reliable time of day to fly this route — 73% on time.

Mornings73% on time · p90 45 min · 5,248 flights
Afternoons70% on time · p90 60 min · 3,228 flights
Middays69% on time · p90 55 min · 4,698 flights
Evenings64% on time · p90 75 min · 4,116 flights
Overnights55% on time · p90 75 min · 2,009 flights

Best day of week

On-time rates are fairly even by day on this route — ranging from 62% to 77% on time.

Tuesdays77% on time · p90 40 min · 2,620 flights
Saturdays75% on time · p90 45 min · 2,228 flights
Wednesdays70% on time · p90 50 min · 2,607 flights
Thursdays65% on time · p90 70 min · 3,008 flights
Mondays64% on time · p90 65 min · 2,976 flights
Sundays64% on time · p90 65 min · 2,848 flights
Fridays62% on time · p90 70 min · 3,012 flights

Keep exploring

Delay predictorfor this route→SAN airportSan Diego→SFO airportSan Francisco→United Airlinesairline profile→Southwest Airlinesairline profile→SkyWest Airlinesairline profile→Seasonal delay patternsguide→