Historical on-time performance
San Francisco to Santa Barbara
262 miData through Dec 2025Source: US DOT · BTS
Flights on SFO–SBA arrive on time 83% of the time over the last 12 months.
On-time rate83%arrived within 15 min
p90 delay30 min1 in 10 flights is worse (tail risk)
Cancelled1.3%of scheduled flights
based on 1,400 flights over the last 12 months. On-time means arriving within 15 minutes (BTS standard).
By airline
How each carrier compares
Too close to call — no single carrier is clearly more on-time here.
- United AirlinesOn-time84%Medianon timep9030 minCancel0.7%Flights840
- SkyWest AirlinesOn-time81%Medianon timep9035 minCancel2.1%Flights560
Why flights run late
Delay causes
- Airline47%
- Weather6%
- Air traffic (NAS)15%
- Late aircraft32%
- Security0%
Most delay minutes here are attributed to Airline.
Over time
On-time trend
By season
On-time rate by month
When to fly
Best time to fly SFO → SBA
All airlines · rolling 36 months (2023-01 .. 2025-12).
Best time of day
On-time rates are fairly even by time of day on this route — ranging from 78% to 86% on time.
- Mornings86% on time · p90 20 min · 529 flights
- Middays85% on time · p90 25 min · 1,188 flights
- Evenings84% on time · p90 30 min · 187 flights · limited
- Overnights81% on time · p90 25 min · 1,160 flights
- Afternoons78% on time · p90 45 min · 933 flights
Best day of week
On-time rates are fairly even by day on this route — ranging from 79% to 86% on time.
- Tuesdays86% on time · p90 15 min · 570 flights
- Saturdays85% on time · p90 20 min · 521 flights
- Thursdays83% on time · p90 25 min · 582 flights
- Fridays82% on time · p90 30 min · 576 flights
- Wednesdays82% on time · p90 35 min · 581 flights
- Mondays80% on time · p90 30 min · 590 flights
- Sundays79% on time · p90 35 min · 577 flights
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