San Francisco to Palm Springs

What the Data Says About SFO to PSP

The San Francisco to Palm Springs corridor (SFO → PSP) covers roughly 421 miles and is served by 9 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 14,352 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 83.5% on-time rate with an average delay of 71.7 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 4,793 flights were recorded on this pairing — 39 cancelled (0.8%) and 11 diverted (0.2%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 9 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 14,352 total flights analyzed, the 83.5% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 71.7-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, Sep 2025 posted the best performance on this corridor at 87% on-time, while Apr 2024 came in at 68% on-time — a 19-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the SFO to PSP route, the combination of a 83.5% on-time rate, 71.7-minute average delay, 0.8% recent cancellation rate, and 9 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.