San Francisco to Tucson

What the Data Says About SFO to TUS

The San Francisco to Tucson corridor (SFO → TUS) covers roughly 751 miles and is served by 3 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 5,341 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 85.8% on-time rate with an average delay of 74.0 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 1,905 flights were recorded on this pairing — 12 cancelled (0.6%) and 2 diverted (0.1%). 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 5,341 total flights analyzed, the 85.8% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 74.0-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, Apr 2025 posted the best performance on this corridor at 92% on-time, while Feb 2024 came in at 69% on-time — a 23-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the SFO to TUS route, the combination of a 85.8% on-time rate, 74.0-minute average delay, 0.6% recent cancellation rate, and 3 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.