Oakland to San Diego

What the Data Says About OAK to SAN

The Oakland to San Diego corridor (OAK → SAN) covers roughly 446 miles and is served by 6 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 18,394 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 80.5% on-time rate with an average delay of 54.7 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 6,699 flights were recorded on this pairing — 89 cancelled (1.3%) and 12 diverted (0.2%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 6 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 18,394 total flights analyzed, the 80.5% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 54.7-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 87% on-time, while Dec 2025 came in at 59% on-time — a 28-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the OAK to SAN route, the combination of a 80.5% on-time rate, 54.7-minute average delay, 1.3% recent cancellation rate, and 6 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.