Route profile
FLL→SFO
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Fort Lauderdale to San Francisco, 2,584 miles.
Right now
Aviation weather is not currently a factor.
Aviation weather is not currently a factor.
Route reliability
July 2023 – July 2026
Better than 43% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 4,076 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
FLL → SFO arrives on time 76.1% of the time; the return trip, SFO → FLL, arrives on time 80.5% of the time, a 4.4-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
FLL → SFO spends 29.2 minutes on the ground on a 2,584-mile trip: 19.8 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at FLL and 9.5 minutes from touchdown to gate at SFO.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What sets this route apart
Where FLL to SFO differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
FLL to SFO struggles most at 7 PM: 54.3% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 13.5 points behind the 67.8% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 13.5 points.
FLL to SFO is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 8 AM: 89.9% arrive on time, 6.7 points ahead of the 83.2% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 4 points.
Sunday is the day FLL to SFO slips furthest against routes of similar length, 68.4% on time where they average 76.1%, 7.7 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 6.4 points.
In March, FLL to SFO runs 14.5 points below routes of similar length, 64.7% on time to 79.2%. Against all other routes the gap is 13.2 points.
July is kinder to FLL to SFO than to routes of similar length: 78.7% on time against 70.5%, 8.2 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 9 points.
FLL to SFO against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 7 PM departures | 54.3% | routes of similar length | 67.8% | −13.5 pts | 140 here, 31,457 there |
| Hour: 8 AM departures | 89.9% | routes of similar length | 83.2% | +6.7 pts | 731 here, 88,754 there |
| Weekday: Sunday | 68.4% | routes of similar length | 76.1% | −7.7 pts | 589 here, 122,928 there |
| Month: March | 64.7% | routes of similar length | 79.2% | −14.5 pts | 402 here, 66,571 there |
| Month: July | 78.7% | routes of similar length | 70.5% | +8.2 pts | 385 here, 101,573 there |
Each comparison pools the flights of other routes, with this route’s own left out. Similar length means within 15% of this route’s 2,584 miles, with at least 5 such routes. A bucket is set against the most comparable group that has enough flights: similar length, then the same origin (at least 3 routes), then all other routes. Hours, weekdays and months appear only where both sides have 120 completed flights, and airlines where both have 600. The gap must be at least 2 points and 2 standard errors, and only the largest gap each way is kept per measure. These are differences in the flights counted, not causes.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
52 min late
against a median of 6 min early
Percentiles over 4,076 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at SFO after arriving from FLL.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 39% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 23% | High risk |
| 60 min | 15% | High risk |
| 90 min | 8.3% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 5.2% | Some risk |
This is one leg of a connection. Gate changes and the next flight's own schedule matter too. And a connection can fail before delay is even the question — this route cancels 0.81% of the time and diverts 0.39% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 4,027 arrivals on this route that landed later than the connection time less 30 minutes to reach the next gate.
The worst tenth of arrivals on this route land at least 52 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 4,076 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
FLL → SFO flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 88.1% of the time, against 58.1% for 3–6 PM departures, a gap of 30.0 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 5 AM: too few flights to score
- 6 AM: 87.9% on time from 426 flights
- 7 AM: 85.8% on time from 521 flights
- 8 AM: 89.9% on time from 732 flights
- 9 AM: 74.4% on time from 436 flights
- 10 AM to 5 PM: too few flights to score
- 6 PM: 63.6% on time from 625 flights
- 7 PM: 54.3% on time from 156 flights
- 8 PM: 69.0% on time from 815 flights
- 9 PM: 72.4% on time from 164 flights
- 10 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Departure windows with fewer than 120 flights are not scored.
Why FLL → SFO runs late
July 2023 – July 2026
airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control
the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late
crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control
weather severe enough to stop this flight specifically
screening or terminal security incidents
Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for FLL → SFO. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean
Airlines on this route
Carriers with at least 200 flights, by the airline that operated each one.
| Carrier | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Severe |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JetBlue | 2,498 | 74.4% | 0.48% | -5 min | 9.4% |
| United Airlines | 1,438 | 80.5% | 0.70% | -8 min | 6.7% |
JetBlue flew 63.5% of the 3,936 flights listed.
United Airlines arrived on time 6.1 percentage points more often than JetBlue on this route.
Flights on this route
Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.
| Flight | Scheduled | Operations | On time |
|---|---|---|---|
| B6277 JetBlue | 8:45 PM | 1,118 | 67.1% |
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 12.0 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 77.7%
- Feb: 69.9%
- Mar: 64.7%
- Apr: 68.8%
- May: 79.0%
- Jun: 78.1%
- Jul: 78.7%
- Aug: 81.0%
- Sep: 72.7%
- Oct: 86.6%
- Nov: 84.6%
- Dec: 76.6%
March is historically the weakest month and October the strongest, a spread of 21.9 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: too few flights to score (93)
- August 2023: too few flights to score (93)
- September 2023: too few flights to score (67)
- October 2023: too few flights to score (77)
- November 2023: too few flights to score (100)
- December 2023: 74.8% from 152 flights
- January 2024: 69.6% from 165 flights
- February 2024: 57.3% from 159 flights
- March 2024: 42.3% from 169 flights
- April 2024: 52.7% from 149 flights
- May 2024: 72.4% from 125 flights
- June 2024: too few flights to score (102)
- July 2024: too few flights to score (93)
- August 2024: too few flights to score (92)
- September 2024: too few flights to score (89)
- October 2024: too few flights to score (96)
- November 2024: too few flights to score (118)
- December 2024: 80.4% from 144 flights
- January 2025: 84.1% from 127 flights
- February 2025: too few flights to score (104)
- March 2025: too few flights to score (115)
- April 2025: too few flights to score (106)
- May 2025: too few flights to score (93)
- June 2025: too few flights to score (90)
- July 2025: too few flights to score (113)
- August 2025: too few flights to score (81)
- September 2025: too few flights to score (66)
- October 2025: too few flights to score (97)
- November 2025: 83.5% from 121 flights
- December 2025: 74.5% from 141 flights
- January 2026: 81.0% from 122 flights
- February 2026: too few flights to score (105)
- March 2026: 86.6% from 121 flights
- April 2026: too few flights to score (115)
- May 2026: too few flights to score (93)
- June 2026: too few flights to score (90)
- July 2026: too few flights to score (93)
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 78.8% against 82.8% in the 12 months before — declining by 4.0 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 4,076 FLL → SFO flight records from the US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, covering July 2023 – July 2026. Late means 15 or more minutes past scheduled arrival; cancelled and diverted flights are left out of on-time rates.
Full methodology · Data sources · Report a problem
Related research: How Long a Layover Needs to Be · Two Airlines on One Route · Best Time of Day to Fly From Major US Airports
Analysis last recomputed