Los Angeles to San Francisco

What the Data Says About LAX to SFO

The Los Angeles to San Francisco corridor (LAX → SFO) covers roughly 337 miles and is served by 53 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 63,553 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 78.7% on-time rate with an average delay of 62.8 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 22,366 flights were recorded on this pairing — 150 cancelled (0.7%) and 39 diverted (0.2%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 53 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 63,553 total flights analyzed, the 78.7% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 62.8-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 85% on-time, while Mar 2024 came in at 48% on-time — a 36-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the LAX to SFO route, the combination of a 78.7% on-time rate, 62.8-minute average delay, 0.7% recent cancellation rate, and 53 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.