Reno to San Francisco

What the Data Says About RNO to SFO

The Reno to San Francisco corridor (RNO → SFO) covers roughly 192 miles and is served by 3 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 8,239 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 80.5% on-time rate with an average delay of 79.1 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 3,229 flights were recorded on this pairing — 45 cancelled (1.4%) and 5 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 8,239 total flights analyzed, the 80.5% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 79.1-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, Jul 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 87% on-time, while Apr 2024 came in at 52% on-time — a 36-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the RNO to SFO route, the combination of a 80.5% on-time rate, 79.1-minute average delay, 1.4% recent cancellation rate, and 3 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.