Route profile
SBA→SFO
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Santa Barbara to San Francisco, 262 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 12% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 4,325 flights. How this is calculated
SBA → SFO arrives on time 69.2% of the time; the return trip, SFO → SBA, arrives on time 82.7% of the time, a 13.5-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
SBA → SFO spends 28.0 minutes on the ground on a 262-mile trip: 21.1 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at SBA and 6.9 minutes from touchdown to gate at SFO.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
Reliability on this route has fallen unusually sharply over the past year, a bigger swing than 97% of 5,368 comparable routes.
62.5% on time over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), against 75.9% in the 12 months before (2024-08 to 2025-07), a change of 13.4 points.
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · Ranked against every other route with the same kind of figure and at least 5,368 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where SBA to SFO differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
SBA to SFO struggles most at 9 AM: 39.5% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 46.1 points behind the 85.6% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 44.8 points.
Wednesday is the day SBA to SFO slips furthest against routes of similar length, 68.3% on time where they average 82.0%, 13.7 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 12.5 points.
In April, SBA to SFO runs 24.4 points below routes of similar length, 55.5% on time to 79.9%. Against all other routes the gap is 24.4 points.
United Airlines’ flights on SBA to SFO arrive on time 69.9% of the time, 9 points below the 78.9% it manages on its routes of similar length. Against all other routes the gap is 10 points.
SBA to SFO against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 9 AM departures | 39.5% | routes of similar length | 85.6% | −46.1 pts | 124 here, 38,735 there |
| Weekday: Wednesday | 68.3% | routes of similar length | 82.0% | −13.7 pts | 606 here, 100,988 there |
| Month: April | 55.5% | routes of similar length | 79.9% | −24.4 pts | 362 here, 58,662 there |
| Airline: United Airlines | 69.9% | routes of similar length | 78.9% | −9.0 pts | 2,374 here, 47,926 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 262 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.
Why SBA → SFO flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
SBA → SFO cancelled 60 of 4,325 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 72. The reason filed most often was the air traffic system, 36.7% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 197 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 60 cancelled departures carrying a reason code.
What each reason means
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
22 cancellations, 36.7% of the total.
Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.
21 cancellations, 35.0% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
17 cancellations, 28.3% of the total.
A terminal evacuation, a security breach, screening equipment failure, or screening queues over 29 minutes.
0 cancellations, 0.0% of the total.
Reason codes are the operating airline’s own filing with US DOT, not an independent finding of fault. With only one or two carriers on the route, the split mostly reflects how they file. Ordinary bad weather is filed under air traffic, so weather’s full share is larger than its bar.
60 coded cancellations were recorded on SBA → SFO; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
63 min late
against a median of 2 min early
SBA → SFO has an average that understates its risk: a typical arrival is 2 min early, but the worst tenth are 65 minutes worse than that. If the trip has something unmissable at the end of it, the median is the wrong number to plan against.
Percentiles over 4,325 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at SFO after arriving from SBA.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 46% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 30% | Likely to miss |
| 60 min | 20% | High risk |
| 90 min | 11% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 6.9% | 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 1.39% of the time and diverts 0.07% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 4,262 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 63 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 4,325 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
SBA → SFO flights departing 3–6 PM arrived on time 77.8% of the time, against 63.6% for 6–9 PM departures, a gap of 14.2 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 5 AM: too few flights to score
- 6 AM: 88.1% on time from 937 flights
- 7 AM: too few flights to score
- 8 AM: 44.8% on time from 280 flights
- 9 AM: 39.5% on time from 124 flights
- 10 AM: 70.9% on time from 516 flights
- 11 AM to 12 PM: too few flights to score
- 1 PM: 59.8% on time from 165 flights
- 2 PM: 66.9% on time from 959 flights
- 3 PM: too few flights to score
- 4 PM: 78.5% on time from 152 flights
- 5 PM: too few flights to score
- 6 PM: 70.4% on time from 472 flights
- 7 PM: 61.9% on time from 273 flights
- 8 PM: 53.1% on time from 261 flights
- 9 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why SBA → 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 SBA → SFO. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Airlines | 2,409 | 69.9% | 1.45% | -2 min | 11.3% |
| SkyWest Airlines | 1,916 | 68.3% | 1.30% | -3 min | 10.2% |
United Airlines flew 55.7% of the 4,325 flights listed.
Carriers on this route performed within a couple of percentage points of each other.
Flights on this route
Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.
| Flight | Scheduled | Operations | On time |
|---|---|---|---|
| UA2305 United Airlines | 2:10 PM | 617 | 62.4% |
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Saturday is historically the most reliable day and Monday the least, a gap of 7.1 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 80.3%
- Feb: 62.1%
- Mar: 68.7%
- Apr: 55.5%
- May: 60.4%
- Jun: 61.8%
- Jul: 67.3%
- Aug: 79.1%
- Sep: 82.0%
- Oct: 76.8%
- Nov: 65.3%
- Dec: 73.2%
April is historically the weakest month and September the strongest, a spread of 26.5 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: too few flights to score (113)
- August 2023: too few flights to score (116)
- September 2023: too few flights to score (115)
- October 2023: 83.6% from 122 flights
- November 2023: too few flights to score (116)
- December 2023: too few flights to score (89)
- January 2024: too few flights to score (93)
- February 2024: too few flights to score (87)
- March 2024: too few flights to score (92)
- April 2024: too few flights to score (82)
- May 2024: too few flights to score (84)
- June 2024: too few flights to score (60)
- July 2024: 80.3% from 123 flights
- August 2024: 89.2% from 122 flights
- September 2024: too few flights to score (115)
- October 2024: 82.4% from 120 flights
- November 2024: too few flights to score (117)
- December 2024: too few flights to score (91)
- January 2025: too few flights to score (80)
- February 2025: too few flights to score (91)
- March 2025: too few flights to score (116)
- April 2025: 74.5% from 145 flights
- May 2025: 69.1% from 153 flights
- June 2025: 65.8% from 120 flights
- July 2025: 58.5% from 123 flights
- August 2025: too few flights to score (111)
- September 2025: 77.1% from 132 flights
- October 2025: 66.2% from 142 flights
- November 2025: 54.0% from 146 flights
- December 2025: too few flights to score (118)
- January 2026: 83.2% from 123 flights
- February 2026: 67.7% from 126 flights
- March 2026: 77.2% from 149 flights
- April 2026: 44.2% from 140 flights
- May 2026: 45.6% from 151 flights
- June 2026: 50.7% from 150 flights
- July 2026: 55.3% from 152 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 62.5% against 75.9% in the 12 months before — declining by 13.4 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 4,325 SBA → 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