Bellingham to Oakland

What the Data Says About BLI to OAK

The Bellingham to Oakland corridor (BLI → OAK) covers roughly 764 miles and is served by 3 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 1,964 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 83.2% on-time rate with an average delay of 67.9 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 1,413 flights were recorded on this pairing — 17 cancelled (1.2%) and 0 diverted (0.0%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 3 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 1,964 total flights analyzed, the 83.2% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 67.9-minute average delay applies only to flights that actually ran late, so it is not the average wait across all departures — the majority of flights on this route depart on time under the BTS definition of a delay (15+ minutes past schedule).

Looking at recent months, Sep 2023 posted the best performance on this corridor at 89% on-time, while Nov 2022 came in at 69% on-time — a 20-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the BLI to OAK route, the combination of a 83.2% on-time rate, 67.9-minute average delay, 1.2% recent cancellation rate, and 3 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.