San Luis Obispo, CA

What the Data Says About SBP

San Luis Obispo, CA in San Luis Obispo, California handled 56,561 flights in the Bureau of Transportation Statistics dataset between 2020 and 2025, posting a 83.2% on-time departure rate. Of those flights, 9,530 experienced delays, 421 were cancelled, and 75 were diverted. The cancellation rate works out to 0.74%, the diversion rate to 0.13%, and the average delay when departures run late is 88.2 minutes. These figures are the baseline for comparing SBP against other airports in the same state and nationally.

Breaking down what drives delays at SBP, Carrier leads the pack. Carrier accounts for 46.8% of total delay minutes, followed by Late Aircraft at 31.9% and NAS (National Aviation System) at 13.0%. Weather contributes 7.9% of delay minutes at this airport, while security holds the smallest share at 0.4%. Travelers often overestimate the weather share; the BTS categorization shows late-arriving aircraft and carrier operations as the larger contributors.

Seasonally, April runs the cleanest at SBP with a 93.1% on-time rate, while December is the roughest at 89.8% — a 3-point swing between best and worst month. Volume peaks in October, when average flights hit 853. The busiest route from SBP is to SBP (San Luis Obispo), with 6,372 flights at a 85.6% on-time rate. Combine these numbers — 83.2% on-time, 88.2-minute average delay, 0.74% cancellation rate — and you have a concrete picture of departure reliability at San Luis Obispo, CA.