FlightRecord

San Francisco International Airport (SFO): Delays & On-Time Performance

Data through July 2026

San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is a tale of two seasons: departures ran 86% on-time in April 2025 but sank to 64% in June 2026. Across the year it averages 78% against a national 78%, over roughly 404 departures a day to 86 destinations.

Departures on-time
78%
left <15 min late
Avg dep delay
16 min
Arrivals on-time
73%
Cancelled
0.9%
Destinations
86
nonstop
Airlines
10

Plan your departure from SFO

The choices most likely to improve your odds, based on this airport’s historical record.

Best departure time
Around 5 a.m.
95% on-time
Best day to fly
Tuesday
83% on-time
Most reliable airline here
Hawaiian Airlines
83% on-time from SFO
Cancellation risk
0.9%
below the US average
Check routes from SFO ↓Compare nearby airports ↓

Monthly on-time trend

Monthly departure on-time percentage at SFO50%75%100%August 2024: 79% on-time (12,036 flights)79Aug 2024September 2024: 83% on-time (11,767 flights)83October 2024: 84% on-time (12,568 flights)84November 2024: 79% on-time (12,171 flights)79Nov 2024December 2024: 78% on-time (12,097 flights)78January 2025: 86% on-time (10,839 flights)86February 2025: 80% on-time (9,936 flights)80Feb 2025March 2025: 81% on-time (11,887 flights)81April 2025: 86% on-time (12,173 flights)86May 2025: 83% on-time (12,885 flights)83May 2025June 2025: 80% on-time (12,622 flights)80July 2025: 77% on-time (12,958 flights)77August 2025: 81% on-time (12,594 flights)81Aug 2025September 2025: 84% on-time (11,830 flights)84October 2025: 80% on-time (12,774 flights)80November 2025: 80% on-time (12,022 flights)80Nov 2025December 2025: 75% on-time (11,975 flights)75January 2026: 82% on-time (11,113 flights)82February 2026: 79% on-time (10,316 flights)79Feb 2026March 2026: 83% on-time (12,171 flights)83April 2026: 73% on-time (12,401 flights)73May 2026: 68% on-time (13,114 flights)68May 2026June 2026: 64% on-time (13,415 flights)64July 2026: 65% on-time (13,841 flights)65

Best time of day to depart from SFO

On-time percentage by scheduled departure hour at SFO5 a.m.: 95% on-time (7,247 flights)56 a.m.: 94% on-time (14,145 flights)67 a.m.: 92% on-time (17,953 flights)78 a.m.: 89% on-time (26,029 flights)89 a.m.: 83% on-time (19,117 flights)910 a.m.: 74% on-time (24,363 flights)1011 a.m.: 74% on-time (18,391 flights)1112 p.m.: 71% on-time (14,895 flights)121 p.m.: 73% on-time (22,793 flights)132 p.m.: 71% on-time (11,817 flights)143 p.m.: 68% on-time (7,989 flights)154 p.m.: 75% on-time (26,521 flights)165 p.m.: 73% on-time (7,457 flights)176 p.m.: 78% on-time (17,027 flights)187 p.m.: 78% on-time (11,528 flights)198 p.m.: 73% on-time (9,612 flights)209 p.m.: 75% on-time (14,609 flights)2110 p.m.: 75% on-time (16,229 flights)2211 p.m.: 75% on-time (13,039 flights)23scheduled departure hour

By day of week

DayOn-timeAvg delay
Monday77%17 min
Tuesdaybest83%12 min
Wednesday80%13 min
Thursday75%18 min
Friday75%17 min
Saturday83%12 min
Sunday76%18 min

Next: compare the busiest routes from SFO ↓

Busiest routes from SFO

RouteFlights/12moOn-timeAvg delay
SFO → LAX (Los Angeles)11,23577%15 min
SFO → SEA (Seattle)6,79775%15 min
SFO → JFK (New York)6,76980%17 min
SFO → SAN (San Diego)6,62169%19 min
SFO → LAS (Las Vegas)6,11875%17 min
SFO → ORD (Chicago)5,61778%18 min
SFO → DEN (Denver)5,46177%15 min
SFO → BOS (Boston)4,73378%16 min
SFO → SNA (Santa Ana)4,71680%13 min
SFO → PHX (Phoenix)4,69077%19 min
SFO → EWR (Newark)4,37175%21 min
SFO → DFW (Dallas/Fort Worth)4,18075%22 min
SFO → IAH (Houston)3,59884%10 min
SFO → PDX (Portland)3,49381%12 min
SFO → SLC (Salt Lake City)3,45379%17 min
SFO → ATL (Atlanta)3,34980%15 min
SFO → BUR (Burbank)3,06279%14 min
SFO → AUS (Austin)2,80279%14 min
SFO → IAD (Washington)2,73083%12 min
SFO → PSP (Palm Springs)2,54777%17 min
SFO → HNL (Honolulu)2,46682%12 min
SFO → PHL (Philadelphia)2,04484%13 min
SFO → RNO (Reno)1,92878%16 min
SFO → MSP (Minneapolis)1,91384%11 min
SFO → DTW (Detroit)1,79480%12 min
SFO → MIA (Miami)1,74680%16 min
SFO → BOI (Boise)1,71379%15 min
SFO → OGG (Kahului)1,70288%7 min
SFO → SBA (Santa Barbara)1,63982%14 min
SFO → CLT (Charlotte)1,49983%19 min
SFO → MCO (Orlando)1,40784%10 min
SFO → SMF (Sacramento)1,35580%16 min
SFO → ONT (Ontario)1,31079%15 min
SFO → RDM (Bend/Redmond)1,30479%13 min
SFO → ACV (Arcata/Eureka)1,29475%22 min
SFO → FAT (Fresno)1,25078%20 min
SFO → FLL (Fort Lauderdale)1,25082%13 min
SFO → BNA (Nashville)1,15875%15 min
SFO → KOA (Kona)1,15187%8 min
SFO → SBP (San Luis Obispo)1,14478%21 min
SFO → DCA (Washington)1,09079%12 min
SFO → BWI (Baltimore)1,05382%9 min
SFO → MFR (Medford)1,02981%12 min
SFO → EUG (Eugene)99479%15 min
SFO → TUS (Tucson)94582%13 min
SFO → LIH (Lihue)89790%5 min
SFO → GEG (Spokane)89079%15 min
SFO → RDU (Raleigh/Durham)88789%7 min
SFO → RDD (Redding)87778%27 min
SFO → STL (St. Louis)76069%20 min

Compare airlines departing SFO ↓

Where flights into SFO come from

RouteFlights/12moOn-timeAvg delay
LAX (Los Angeles) → SFO11,23570%19 min
SEA (Seattle) → SFO6,79169%19 min
JFK (New York) → SFO6,77077%18 min
SAN (San Diego) → SFO6,66066%21 min
LAS (Las Vegas) → SFO6,11567%21 min
ORD (Chicago) → SFO5,61672%21 min
DEN (Denver) → SFO5,46569%20 min
SNA (Santa Ana) → SFO4,77772%19 min

Most reliable routes

  1. SFO → LIH90%
  2. SFO → RDU89%
  3. SFO → OGG88%
  4. SFO → CLE87%
  5. SFO → KOA87%

Most delay-prone routes

  1. SFO → DAL24%
  2. SFO → ASE66%
  3. SFO → STL69%
  4. SFO → SAN69%
  5. SFO → OTH72%

What causes delays at SFO

Share of total delay minutes by cause, as reported by carriers to the US DOT, weighted across routes departing SFO.

  • Late-arriving aircraft44%
  • Airline operations31%
  • National airspace system22%
  • Weather3%

Alternative airports near San Francisco

Other airports within 120 miles, compared on departure reliability.

AirportDistanceOn-time departuresAvg delay
OAK — Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport11 mi79%12 min
SJC — Mineta San Jose International Airport30 mi83%11 min
SCK — Stockton Metropolitan Airport65 mi66%36 min
STS — Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport66 mi81%14 min
MRY — Monterey Regional Airport77 mi84%16 min

Compare the airport-level record first, then check the exact route you plan to book.

Airline performance at SFO

AirlineOn-time departuresAvg delayFlights
Hawaiian Airlines83%14 min1,357
United Airlines82%13 min122,007
JetBlue Airways81%17 min9,003
Alaska Airlines79%13 min22,983
Delta Air Lines79%16 min28,242
SkyWest Airlines79%17 min68,375
American Airlines78%23 min24,636
Frontier Airlines65%29 min8,641
Southwest Airlines62%24 min18,088

Frequently asked questions

How often are flights delayed at SFO?
22% of departures from San Francisco International Airport left 15+ minutes late between 2024-07 and 2026-07, with an average departure delay of 16 minutes. The national on-time average over the same period was 78%.
What is the best time of day to depart from SFO?
Flights scheduled around 5 a.m. depart on time 95% of the time at SFO, versus 68% around 3 p.m.. Booking before noon is the usual rule of thumb here.
What is the worst month for delays at SFO?
In this dataset, June 2026 was the weakest month at SFO, with 64% of departures on time.
How often are flights cancelled at SFO?
0.9% of scheduled departures from SFO were cancelled in this period, compared with a national rate of 1.6%.

Popular route pages from this airport

Related guides

Based on 303,333 flights, 2024-07–2026-07. Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Updated 2026-09-28.