San Francisco to Lihue

What the Data Says About SFO to LIH

The San Francisco to Lihue corridor (SFO → LIH) covers roughly 2,447 miles and is served by 3 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 3,157 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 89.7% on-time rate with an average delay of 67.1 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 1,222 flights were recorded on this pairing — 2 cancelled (0.2%) and 3 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 3,157 total flights analyzed, the 89.7% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 67.1-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, May 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 96% on-time, while Dec 2025 came in at 81% on-time — a 15-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the SFO to LIH route, the combination of a 89.7% on-time rate, 67.1-minute average delay, 0.2% recent cancellation rate, and 3 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.