Washington to San Francisco

What the Data Says About IAD to SFO

The Washington to San Francisco corridor (IAD → SFO) covers roughly 2,419 miles and is served by 3 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 13,283 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 81.5% on-time rate with an average delay of 73.1 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 5,629 flights were recorded on this pairing — 54 cancelled (1.0%) and 9 diverted (0.2%). 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 13,283 total flights analyzed, the 81.5% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 73.1-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, Oct 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 94% on-time, while Feb 2025 came in at 67% on-time — a 27-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the IAD to SFO route, the combination of a 81.5% on-time rate, 73.1-minute average delay, 1.0% recent cancellation rate, and 3 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.