Route · LAX → SFO · 2020–2025 BTS data
Los Angeles to San Francisco
According to PlainFlights' route traffic ranking (BTS On-Time Performance total flights), LAX to SFO (Los Angeles to San Francisco) ranks #1 of 4927 tracked domestic routes by total flights (most flights = #1).
Data updated 2026-06-13
- 78.7%
- On-time
- -0.3 pts
- vs US avg
- 63 min
- Delay when late
- 63,553
- Flights
- #1 of 4927
- Corpus placement
Cancelled
0.7%
Best Month
Jan 2025 85%
Worst Month
Mar 2024 48%
Distance
337 mi
Carriers
53
Monthly Performance
Recent 24 months of route data.
| Period | Flights | Delayed | Cancelled | Diverted | Carriers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 2025 | 842 | 290 | 4 | 0 | DL,WN,F9,AS,AA,UA,OO |
| Nov 2025 | 903 | 318 | 23 | 1 | OO,UA,DL,F9,AA,AS,WN |
| Oct 2025 | 990 | 347 | 1 | 0 | AA,AS,DL,OO,UA,WN,F9 |
| Sep 2025 | 916 | 275 | 0 | 0 | UA,WN,OO,DL,F9,AA |
| Aug 2025 | 930 | 226 | 5 | 2 | AA,OO,WN,F9,UA,DL |
| Jul 2025 | 896 | 256 | 2 | 0 | AA,DL,OO,UA,WN,F9 |
| Jun 2025 | 898 | 184 | 0 | 0 | AA,DL,OO,UA,WN,F9 |
| May 2025 | 961 | 196 | 1 | 1 | AA,DL,OO,UA,WN,F9 |
| Apr 2025 | 918 | 173 | 2 | 1 | DL,F9,OO,UA,WN,AA,AS |
| Mar 2025 | 915 | 229 | 3 | 2 | AA,AS,DL,OO,UA,WN,F9 |
| Feb 2025 | 819 | 235 | 4 | 0 | AA,AS,DL,OO,UA,WN,F9 |
| Jan 2025 | 852 | 132 | 1 | 0 | AA,AS,DL,OO,UA,WN,F9 |
| Dec 2024 | 974 | 262 | 1 | 3 | AA,AS,DL,F9,OO,UA,WN |
| Nov 2024 | 1,045 | 295 | 8 | 1 | OO,UA,WN,AS,DL,F9,AA |
| Oct 2024 | 1,062 | 255 | 0 | 0 | UA,AS,OO,WN,DL,F9,AA |
| Sep 2024 | 1,016 | 236 | 1 | 0 | WN,OO,UA,AA,DL,F9 |
| Aug 2024 | 1,005 | 229 | 2 | 0 | AA,AS,DL,F9,WN,OO,UA |
| Jul 2024 | 942 | 165 | 22 | 0 | AS,DL,F9,OO,UA,WN |
| Jun 2024 | 860 | 279 | 4 | 3 | AA,AS,B6,DL,F9,OO,UA,WN |
| May 2024 | 1,004 | 432 | 1 | 8 | AA,AS,B6,DL,F9,OO,UA,WN |
| Apr 2024 | 1,001 | 475 | 3 | 7 | AA,B6,DL,F9,OO,UA,WN |
| Mar 2024 | 938 | 484 | 3 | 3 | B6,DL,OO,UA,WN |
| Feb 2024 | 821 | 363 | 16 | 7 | AA,B6,DL,OO,UA,WN |
| Jan 2024 | 858 | 269 | 43 | 0 | B6,DL,WN,OO,UA |
LAX–SFO seasonal on-time pattern
Best: September (81.3%) · weakest: December (75.4%)
Strongest calendar month
September
81.3% on-time · ~918 flights/mo
Busiest calendar month
October
~958 flights/mo avg
Weakest calendar month
December
75.4% on-time · ~832 flights/mo
Cancellation Rate
0.7%
150 of 22,366 flights
Diversion Rate
0.2%
39 of 22,366 flights
Explore origin & destination
On-time and delay data for the airports this route connects.
LAX - Los Angeles
Full on-time, delay-cause, and seasonal performance for Los Angeles, CA.
LAX on-time profileSFO - San Francisco
Full on-time, delay-cause, and seasonal performance for San Francisco, CA.
SFO on-time profileCompare the two airports
See LAX and SFO side by side on delays, cancellations, and reliability.
Compare LAX vs SFOOrigin-hub reliability standing
Mid-pack among LAX departures
From LAX, this corridor sits with 39 other 75–85% on-time routes out of 80 tracked departures, not the hub's reliability leaders (40 at ≥85%) and not the softest ( 1 below 75%). Destination: San Francisco · fleet on-time rank #3607 of 4927.
Similar routes
Other BTS-tracked routes with comparable performance or trip length to LAX–SFO.
Routes with a similar on-time rate
What the Data Says About LAX to SFO
63,553 tracked flights put the LAX to SFO pairing (Los Angeles to San Francisco) at a 78.7% on-time rate, squarely in line with the wider network. Delays that do occur run 62.8 minutes on average. Across the 337-mile route and its 53 carriers, the trailing 24 months show 0.7% cancelled and 0.2% diverted (22,366 flights sampled).
The monthly split is wide on this route: Jan 2025 posted the strongest performance at 85% on-time, while Mar 2024 came in at just 48% - a 36-point swing worth factoring into travel timing.
On the multi-year calendar, LAX–SFO peaks in September at 81.3% on-time while October carries the heaviest traffic (~958 flights per month) ; the softest month is December at 75.4%, a 5.9-point swing that repeats because the corridor's weather and holiday mix stays stable year to year.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where does LAX to SFO rank among US routes by traffic? ▼
How often are flights delayed from LAX to SFO? ▼
What is the cancellation rate for LAX to SFO? ▼
How far is the flight from LAX to SFO? ▼
When is the best time to fly from LAX to SFO? ▼
Airports on this route
Data source
Data Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), On-Time Performance Data. Statistics reflect cumulative performance across all available reporting periods.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Using LAX–SFO data
LAX–SFO is mid-pack at 78.7% on-time; month and carrier mix move more than the corridor headline.
- Compare LAX and SFO airport profiles: delay causes and top routes differ even on the same corridor. LAX airport
- If your dates flex, September (81.3% on-time) beats December (75.4%) on this corridor. Seasonal chart
- 4 other routes post a similar 78.7% on-time rate; compare before you commit to this pairing. Similar routes
On-time rate reflects the BTS historical average across all reporting carriers on this origin–destination pair, not any single flight or booking recommendation.
Every figure on PlainFlights is rendered directly from BTS On-Time Performance data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page aggregates this specific route's on-time performance and monthly trend, live from the dataset. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.