Burbank to San Francisco

What the Data Says About BUR to SFO

The Burbank to San Francisco corridor (BUR → SFO) covers roughly 326 miles and is served by 11 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 15,189 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 77.2% on-time rate with an average delay of 68.5 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 6,165 flights were recorded on this pairing — 88 cancelled (1.4%) and 20 diverted (0.3%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 11 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 15,189 total flights analyzed, the 77.2% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 68.5-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, Jan 2025 posted the best performance on this corridor at 86% on-time, while Apr 2024 came in at 46% on-time — a 40-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the BUR to SFO route, the combination of a 77.2% on-time rate, 68.5-minute average delay, 1.4% recent cancellation rate, and 11 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.