Honolulu to San Francisco

What the Data Says About HNL to SFO

The Honolulu to San Francisco corridor (HNL → SFO) covers roughly 2,398 miles and is served by 7 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 13,308 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 83.6% on-time rate with an average delay of 71.9 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 4,893 flights were recorded on this pairing — 60 cancelled (1.2%) and 7 diverted (0.1%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 7 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 13,308 total flights analyzed, the 83.6% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 71.9-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 2025 posted the best performance on this corridor at 90% on-time, while May 2024 came in at 74% on-time — a 17-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the HNL to SFO route, the combination of a 83.6% on-time rate, 71.9-minute average delay, 1.2% recent cancellation rate, and 7 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.