San Luis Obispo to San Francisco

What the Data Says About SBP to SFO

The San Luis Obispo to San Francisco corridor (SBP → SFO) covers roughly 190 miles and is served by 2 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 5,760 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 79.2% on-time rate with an average delay of 86.4 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 2,117 flights were recorded on this pairing — 28 cancelled (1.3%) and 2 diverted (0.1%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 2 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 5,760 total flights analyzed, the 79.2% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 86.4-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 Feb 2024 came in at 59% on-time — a 28-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the SBP to SFO route, the combination of a 79.2% on-time rate, 86.4-minute average delay, 1.3% recent cancellation rate, and 2 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.