Route profile
SFO→HNL
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from San Francisco to Honolulu, 2,398 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 66% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 7,809 flights. How this is calculated
SFO → HNL arrives on time 80.0% of the time; the return trip, HNL → SFO, arrives on time 81.5% of the time.
SFO → HNL spends 31.0 minutes on the ground on a 2,398-mile trip: 23.1 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at SFO and 7.9 minutes from touchdown to gate at HNL.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
Unlike most, it barely matters what time you fly this route, a steadier spread than 99% of 4,023 comparable routes.
82.3% on time for 6–9 PM departures, against 78.8% for 9 AM–12 PM, a narrow gap either way.
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 4,023 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where SFO to HNL differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
SFO to HNL is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 6 PM: 83.5% arrive on time, 15.2 points ahead of the 68.3% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 14.9 points.
SFO to HNL struggles most at 8 AM: 68.6% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 15 points behind the 83.6% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 17.3 points.
SFO to HNL holds up on Sundays better than routes of similar length do: 80.6% on time to their 76.0%, a 4.6 points lead. Against all other routes the gap is 5.8 points.
June is kinder to SFO to HNL than to routes of similar length: 84.6% on time against 74.1%, 10.5 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 11.9 points.
In October, SFO to HNL runs 4.5 points below routes of similar length, 78.7% on time to 83.2%. Against all other routes the gap is 4.3 points.
SFO to HNL against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 6 PM departures | 83.5% | routes of similar length | 68.3% | +15.2 pts | 413 here, 61,862 there |
| Hour: 8 AM departures | 68.6% | routes of similar length | 83.6% | −15.0 pts | 344 here, 109,141 there |
| Weekday: Sunday | 80.6% | routes of similar length | 76.0% | +4.6 pts | 1,118 here, 157,994 there |
| Month: June | 84.6% | routes of similar length | 74.1% | +10.5 pts | 712 here, 95,614 there |
| Month: October | 78.7% | routes of similar length | 83.2% | −4.5 pts | 596 here, 90,159 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 2,398 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 SFO → HNL flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
SFO → HNL cancelled 81 of 7,809 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 96. The reason filed most often was the airline, 92.6% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 104 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 81 cancelled departures carrying a reason code.
What each reason means
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
75 cancellations, 92.6% of the total.
Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.
6 cancellations, 7.4% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
0 cancellations, 0.0% 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. Ordinary bad weather is filed under air traffic, so weather’s full share is larger than its bar.
81 coded cancellations were recorded on SFO → HNL; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
33 min late
against a median of 5 min early
Percentiles over 7,809 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at HNL after arriving from SFO.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 38% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 19% | High risk |
| 60 min | 11% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 5.7% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 3.7% | Low 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 1.04% of the time and diverts 0.12% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 7,719 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 33 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 7,809 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
SFO → HNL flights departing 6–9 PM arrived on time 82.3% of the time, against 78.8% for 9 AM–12 PM departures, a gap of 3.5 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 6 AM: too few flights to score
- 7 AM: 83.1% on time from 1,034 flights
- 8 AM: 68.6% on time from 357 flights
- 9 AM: 82.7% on time from 1,376 flights
- 10 AM: 75.5% on time from 194 flights
- 11 AM: 74.7% on time from 1,149 flights
- 12 PM: too few flights to score
- 1 PM: 79.8% on time from 879 flights
- 2 PM: 85.0% on time from 249 flights
- 3 PM: too few flights to score
- 4 PM: 80.3% on time from 1,081 flights
- 5 PM: too few flights to score
- 6 PM: 83.5% on time from 415 flights
- 7 PM: 81.3% on time from 815 flights
- 8 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Departure windows with fewer than 120 flights are not scored.
Why SFO → HNL runs late
July 2023 – July 2026
crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control
the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late
airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow 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 SFO → HNL. 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 | 5,364 | 82.7% | 0.30% | -7 min | 5.9% |
| Alaska Airlines | 1,239 | 74.7% | 1.61% | -1 min | 5.5% |
| Hawaiian Airlines | 1,206 | 73.0% | 3.73% | 2 min | 5.5% |
United Airlines flew 68.7% of the 7,809 flights listed. Hawaiian Airlines cancelled 3.73% of its flights here against 0.30% for United Airlines.
United Airlines arrived on time 9.7 percentage points more often than Hawaiian Airlines on this route.
Flights on this route
Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.
UA638 (7:10 PM) arrived on time 89.4% of the time, 13.5 points more often than UA2380 (11:10 AM) at 75.9%.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Friday the least, a gap of 6.6 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 79.7%
- Feb: 76.4%
- Mar: 82.6%
- Apr: 81.8%
- May: 80.6%
- Jun: 84.6%
- Jul: 77.4%
- Aug: 76.0%
- Sep: 84.2%
- Oct: 78.7%
- Nov: 83.8%
- Dec: 76.3%
August is historically the weakest month and June the strongest, a spread of 8.6 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 65.4% from 250 flights
- August 2023: 73.2% from 250 flights
- September 2023: 80.3% from 199 flights
- October 2023: 81.1% from 229 flights
- November 2023: 83.8% from 233 flights
- December 2023: 67.6% from 217 flights
- January 2024: 62.1% from 198 flights
- February 2024: 67.0% from 189 flights
- March 2024: 80.1% from 217 flights
- April 2024: 81.3% from 212 flights
- May 2024: 77.3% from 199 flights
- June 2024: 83.7% from 210 flights
- July 2024: 85.9% from 279 flights
- August 2024: 72.8% from 228 flights
- September 2024: 86.4% from 155 flights
- October 2024: 80.6% from 191 flights
- November 2024: 79.6% from 216 flights
- December 2024: 76.7% from 234 flights
- January 2025: 93.3% from 199 flights
- February 2025: 80.8% from 168 flights
- March 2025: 85.2% from 210 flights
- April 2025: 92.2% from 180 flights
- May 2025: 89.3% from 205 flights
- June 2025: 86.0% from 236 flights
- July 2025: 80.8% from 239 flights
- August 2025: 83.0% from 202 flights
- September 2025: 87.1% from 147 flights
- October 2025: 73.8% from 184 flights
- November 2025: 88.9% from 174 flights
- December 2025: 84.7% from 221 flights
- January 2026: 82.5% from 192 flights
- February 2026: 82.8% from 163 flights
- March 2026: 82.6% from 213 flights
- April 2026: 73.0% from 206 flights
- May 2026: 75.2% from 215 flights
- June 2026: 84.0% from 270 flights
- July 2026: 76.8% from 279 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 80.9% against 83.3% in the 12 months before — declining by 2.4 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 7,809 SFO → HNL 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