San Diego to San Francisco

What the Data Says About SAN to SFO

The San Diego to San Francisco corridor (SAN → SFO) covers roughly 447 miles and is served by 26 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 34,589 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 77.3% on-time rate with an average delay of 62.0 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 13,052 flights were recorded on this pairing — 166 cancelled (1.3%) and 30 diverted (0.2%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 26 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 34,589 total flights analyzed, the 77.3% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 62.0-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 80% on-time, while Apr 2024 came in at 45% on-time — a 36-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the SAN to SFO route, the combination of a 77.3% on-time rate, 62.0-minute average delay, 1.3% recent cancellation rate, and 26 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.