San Francisco, CA · Airport profile
SFO
San Francisco International Airport
SFO right now
Current operating conditions, from live sources only.
Aviation weather is not currently a factor. FAA operational data — ground stops, ground delay programs and closures — is not currently available to FlyerIntel.
FAA operational data is not currently available to FlyerIntel. Why
Minimal operational impact. Conditions are not a notable factor for operations right now.
Forecast issued 23:40Z.
UpdatedSecurity wait data is not currently available for SFO. Why
Parking data is not currently available for SFO. Why
FlyerIntel shows live values only where a permitted source provides them. Sections without data are left empty rather than estimated.
Airport reliability
Departures from SFO, July 2023 – June 2026.
Better than 58% of major US airports covered by FlyerIntel (58 compared)
Calculated from 421,938 flights. How this is calculated
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – June 2026
Best time to fly from SFO
On-time arrival rate by scheduled local departure time.
Flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 89.2% of the time, against 73.5% for 12–3 PM departures — a gap of 15.7 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – June 2026 · Buckets with fewer than 120 flights are not scored.
What to expect at SFO
How busy the airport is through the day, from scheduled departure volume.
Scheduled departures by hour
The busiest hour is 8 AM, with about 34 departures a day, against roughly 9 at 5 PM. Counterintuitively, that peak is also more punctual than a typical hour here — early banks fly aircraft that have been on the ground overnight rather than ones inheriting the day’s delays.
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – June 2026 · Taxi-out is the time between leaving the gate and lifting off, averaged across departures and weighted by hour.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Friday the least, a gap of 7.2 percentage points.
By month
June is historically the weakest month and October the strongest, a spread of 9.4 percentage points.
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – June 2026
Airlines at SFO
Departure performance by operating carrier. Regional flights are reported by the carrier that operated them, not by the mainline brand.
| Carrier | Departures | On time | Cancelled | Median delay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Airlines UA | 164,239 | 82.1% | 0.81% | -8 min |
| SkyWest Airlines OO | 98,256 | 79.2% | 1.03% | -5 min |
| Delta Air Lines DL | 39,922 | 82.1% | 0.79% | -9 min |
| American Airlines AA | 33,607 | 78.9% | 1.26% | -8 min |
| Alaska Airlines AS | 33,235 | 76.7% | 1.41% | -5 min |
| Southwest Airlines WN | 25,086 | 66.1% | 0.61% | 2 min |
| JetBlue B6 | 13,313 | 78.7% | 0.91% | -8 min |
| Frontier Airlines F9 | 12,139 | 63.9% | 1.93% | 2 min |
| Hawaiian Airlines HA | 2,090 | 78.3% | 3.64% | -2 min |
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – June 2026 · Carriers with fewer than 500 departures are not listed.
Routes from SFO
Ranked by FlyerIntel Route Reliability Score.
Most reliable
Busiest routes
| Destination | Flights | On time | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| SFO → LAX Los Angeles | 33,688 | 77.6% | 68 |
| SFO → JFK New York | 20,198 | 80.8% | 68 |
| SFO → SEA Seattle | 20,101 | 76.4% | 67 |
| SFO → SAN San Diego | 19,294 | 72.1% | 57 |
| SFO → LAS Las Vegas | 17,715 | 73.7% | 58 |
| SFO → DEN Denver | 16,605 | 76.7% | 67 |
| SFO → ORD Chicago | 15,597 | 79.1% | 67 |
| SFO → PHX Phoenix | 14,125 | 76.7% | 64 |
| SFO → BOS Boston | 13,718 | 78.2% | 65 |
| SFO → SNA Santa Ana | 13,328 | 80.7% | 73 |
| SFO → EWR Newark | 12,682 | 76.2% | 55 |
| SFO → DFW Dallas–Fort Worth | 12,290 | 75.2% | 53 |
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – June 2026 · Only routes with at least 750 flights are ranked.
Reliability over time
On-time arrival rate for departures, by month.
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – June 2026
Data and sources
Historical statistics
Every historical figure on this page is calculated by FlyerIntel from US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics on-time performance records covering July 2023 – June 2026, comprising 421,938 departures from SFO. A flight counts as delayed when it arrives 15 or more minutes after schedule.
Live conditions
Aviation weather comes from the NOAA Aviation Weather Center. Operational events come from the FAA where available. FlyerIntel shows the age of every live value and does not display data it cannot currently retrieve.
Latest observation for SFO: METAR KSFO 292356Z 27018G28KT 10SM FEW012 20/12 A2995 RMK AO2 PK WND 28028/2351 SLP142 T02000117 10217 20194 56011 $ (issued ).