According to PlainFlights' airport traffic ranking (BTS On-Time Performance total flights), Oakland, CA (OAK) ranks #43 of 382 tracked US airports by total flights (most flights = #1). Oakland, CA posts below-median on-time performance among the 382 tracked U.S. airports, as a high-volume U.S. airport.
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OAK on-time rate vs. the national average
Ahead of the U.S. average across all 382 tracked airports.
Volume vs. on-time rate
Where Oakland, CA sits on volume vs. on-time rate
Among the 382 U.S. airports in the BTS corpus, Oakland, CA handles more flight
volume than 89% of them, and has a higher on-time rate than
30% of them, placing it in the quadrant for busy and delay-prone.
Flight volume and on-time rate are independent figures: a busy airport can still run
reliably, and a quiet one can still run late.
Oakland, CA vs. a 29-airport national peer sample, volume percentile vs. on-time-rate percentile.
Total flights (2020-2025): 472,036 ·
On-time rate: 81.7%
Delay Cause Breakdown
Top delay cause: Late Aircraft.
Total delay minutes1,967,196 min
Late Aircraft895,100 min · 46%
Carrier749,685 min · 38%
NAS (National Aviation System)285,712 min · 15%
Weather30,367 min · 2%
Security6,332 min · 0%
Source: U.S. DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, On-Time Performance
OAK - seasonal on-time pattern
Best: February (92.4%) · worst: December (88.1%)
OAK - on-time rate by year
2020–2025, year-over-year trend.
OAK - taxi-out and taxi-in (monthly)
Average taxi-out 12.7 min · taxi-in 5.7 min over the last 24 reported months (U.S. airport mean taxi-out ≈ 16.4 min).
OAK's average taxi-out (12.7 min) stays shorter than the recent U.S. airport mean (~16.4 min). Even the heaviest month (February 2024, 13.6 min) is milder than many hubs' typical book.
Two PlainFlights-derived comparison paths for Oakland, CA, both outside California so the neighborhoods are not same-state geography. Axes stay disjoint: volume peers exclude the on-time peer set. Same-state compare stays below.
The standout signal at Oakland, CA is the delay mix: Late Aircraft owns 45.5% of 1,967,196 delay minutes across 472,036 BTS flights. The on-time headline is 81.7% (2.7 pts above the 79% national average), with 86,156 delayed and 4,908 cancelled (1.04%).
Delay minutes concentrate in Late Aircraft (45.5% late-aircraft, 38.1% carrier, 14.5% NAS, 1.5% weather, 0.3% security). As a busy airport, that mix matters more for connection planning than for a thin schedule.
On the multi-year calendar, OAK is strongest in February (92.4% on-time) and weakest in December (88.1%), a 4.3-point swing. Volume peaks in July (~7,075 flights/month). The busiest connecting route is to LAS (Las Vegas) at 79.3% on-time. Field definitions: on-time performance explained.
Oakland, CA vs. the national on-time distribution
On-time rate among all 382 tracked U.S. airports
81.7%Top 70%higher than 30% of 382 airports
Oakland, CA
60%95%
U.S. airports by on-time rate, bucketed by value
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more airports. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Data Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), On-Time Performance Data (2020–2025).
Statistics reflect cumulative performance across all available reporting periods. On-time rates exclude cancelled and diverted flights.
OAK's on-time book sits in the slower half of the BTS set; check the delay mix and the worst month before treating the headline as typical.
Check the busiest route from OAK before you book a connection. See top routes →
Travel in February rather than December if your dates are flexible. Seasonal patterns →
Gate-to-wheels taxi-out averages 12.7 min here; check the monthly series before a tight connection. Taxi times →
On-time rate reflects the BTS historical average across all reporting carriers at this airport, not any single flight or airline.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Oakland, CA's on-time rate?
Oakland, CA (OAK) has a 81.7% on-time rate across 472,036 BTS-tracked flights (2020-2025), 2.7 pts above the 79% national flight-weighted average; that places it in roughly the below-median on-time performance.
How does OAK rank among U.S. airports by traffic volume?
Oakland, CA ranks #43 of 382 tracked US airports by total BTS flights (most flights = #1), making it a high-volume U.S. airport.
What's the most common cause of delays at Oakland, CA?
Late Aircraft is the leading delay cause at OAK, accounting for 45.5% of delay minutes. The full breakdown: 45.5% late-aircraft, 38.1% carrier, 14.5% NAS/air-traffic-control, 1.5% weather, and 0.3% security.
When is the best time to fly through Oakland, CA?
February is historically OAK's strongest month at 92.4% on-time, while December is the weakest at 88.1%, a 4.3-point swing across the BTS historical record.