Santa Ana to San Francisco

What the Data Says About SNA to SFO

The Santa Ana to San Francisco corridor (SNA → SFO) covers roughly 372 miles and is served by 14 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 22,074 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 81% on-time rate with an average delay of 69.0 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 8,905 flights were recorded on this pairing — 122 cancelled (1.4%) and 24 diverted (0.3%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 14 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 22,074 total flights analyzed, the 81% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 69.0-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, Jun 2025 posted the best performance on this corridor at 85% on-time, while Mar 2024 came in at 37% on-time — a 48-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the SNA to SFO route, the combination of a 81% on-time rate, 69.0-minute average delay, 1.4% recent cancellation rate, and 14 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.