Airport month record

OAKDEC

Oakland International in December 2025

Departures: 2,646
Month: December 2025
National, same month: 73.2%
Carriers: 4

Historical statistics for December 2025, not live status or a forecast for this year’s December. For today’s conditions at OAK, see live FAA status.

OAK in December lands a B+, 4 points better than the national rate of 73.2%. About one flight in four arrives 15 minutes late or worse, and those flights are late by about 50 minutes on average. That is a workable record, not a spotless one. That rests on 2,646 flights, with a median arrival 3 minutes early.

On time

76.7%

Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 2,626 completed departures

Avg delay

50 min

Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights

Cancelled

0.57%

Nationally in December: 1.55%

Whole year

79.5%

OAK across all twelve months

These figures cover 2,646 departures from Oakland International in December 2025. On time means an arrival less than 15 minutes after the scheduled gate time, the DOT's threshold, and the national comparison uses every US departure in the same month rather than the whole year.

Against the year

December next to OAK's other months

Against OAK's own year, December ran 3 points worse than the twelve-month rate of 79.5%, which makes it number nine of twelve months, best first. Either side of it, November ran 81.6% on time and January 88.4%, so a trip moved by a few weeks would have landed in a better stretch.

OAK month by month
Month	Flights	On time	Avg delay	Cancelled	Grade
July 2025	3,046	78.4%	62 min	1.05%	B
August 2025	2,850	81.4%	58 min	0.35%	B+
September 2025	2,714	82.4%	47 min	0.29%	B+
October 2025	2,771	79.6%	52 min	0.25%	B+
November 2025	2,618	81.6%	56 min	2.06%	B
December 2025 (this page)	2,646	76.7%	50 min	0.57%	B+
January 2026	2,408	88.4%	54 min	0.46%	A+
February 2026	2,356	83.7%	50 min	0.25%	B+
March 2026	2,569	80.1%	53 min	0.97%	B+
April 2026	2,509	76.4%	46 min	0.28%	B+
May 2026	2,683	76.1%	50 min	0.63%	B+
June 2026	2,597	69.7%	49 min	0.42%	C+

Departure window

The best time of day to leave OAK in December

Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 39 points, against half a point between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.

5am–8am559 flights91.1%
8am–11am479 flights84.2%
11am–2pm547 flights74.8%
2pm–5pm454 flights69.8%
5pm–8pm418 flights70.2%
8pm–5am189 flights51.9%

Scale runs 45% to 95%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.

The 8pm–5am window is where this operation falls apart: 51.9% on time, against 91.1% for the 5am–8am slot. By evening the aircraft flying these rotations have absorbed a full day of small delays and there is no slack left to recover in. The 5am–8am window is the busiest, with 559 flights scheduled in it.

Across the week, Thursday is the strongest day at 86.4% on time and Friday the weakest at 66.8%. 20 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.

Carrier by carrier

Which airlines ran best at OAK in December

Only one carrier clears this site's 365-flight floor here, so there is no comparison to draw. The table below is the full picture.

Carriers at OAK in December 2025
Airline	Flights	On time	Avg delay	Cancelled	Grade
Southwest Airlines	2,388	75.6%	49 min	0.59%	B+
SkyWest Airlinesthin sample	100	96.0%	44 min	0.00%	A+
Hawaiian Airlinesthin sample	78	87.2%	44 min	0.00%	A+
Alaska Airlinesthin sample	68	74.6%	49 min	1.47%	C

Route by route

Busiest routes out of OAK in December

Routes from OAK in December 2025
Route	Flights	On time	Avg delay	Cancelled	Grade
OAK to SAN · San Diegothin sample	261	58.4%	54 min	1.53%	D
OAK to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample	248	81.9%	45 min	0.00%	B+
OAK to BUR · Burbankthin sample	232	79.0%	54 min	2.59%	B
OAK to SNA · Santa Anathin sample	198	81.7%	41 min	0.00%	B+
OAK to LAX · Los Angelesthin sample	180	77.0%	49 min	1.11%	B
OAK to PHX · Phoenixthin sample	165	69.7%	53 min	0.00%	C+
OAK to SEA · Seattlethin sample	151	76.7%	47 min	0.66%	B+
OAK to LGB · Long Beachthin sample	142	80.0%	71 min	0.70%	B+
OAK to DEN · Denverthin sample	137	72.8%	46 min	0.00%	C+
OAK to ONT · Ontariothin sample	121	77.7%	39 min	0.00%	B+
OAK to PDX · Portlandthin sample	121	72.7%	61 min	0.00%	C+
OAK to SLC · Salt Lake Citythin sample	121	85.1%	48 min	0.00%	A+
OAK to BOI · Boisethin sample	62	71.0%	37 min	0.00%	C+
OAK to HNL · Honoluluthin sample	62	71.0%	45 min	0.00%	C+
OAK to OGG · Kahuluithin sample	62	87.1%	36 min	0.00%	A+
OAK to LIH · Lihuethin sample	47	83.0%	40 min	0.00%	B+
OAK to DAL · Dallasthin sample	37	94.6%	38 min	0.00%	A+
OAK to HOU · Houstonthin sample	33	90.9%	30 min	0.00%	A+
OAK to MDW · Chicagothin sample	33	84.8%	25 min	0.00%	B+
OAK to PSP · Palm Springsthin sample	33	81.8%	53 min	0.00%	B+
OAK to EUG · Eugenethin sample	31	77.4%	28 min	0.00%	B+
OAK to MCI · Kansas Citythin sample	31	93.5%	16 min	0.00%	A+
OAK to GEG · Spokanethin sample	31	71.0%	52 min	0.00%	C+
OAK to AUS · Austinthin sample	31	80.6%	23 min	0.00%	B+
OAK to SBA · Santa Barbarathin sample	31	83.3%	47 min	3.23%	B−

Delay causes

What held OAK up in December

One category carries most of the weight here. Late-arriving aircraft accounts for 51% of the 30,000 delay minutes carriers reported, and the remaining four split what is left. The split is by minutes rather than by flights, so a few very long delays count for as much as many short ones.

Late-arriving aircraft
51%
Carrier
30%
National Airspace System
18%
Security
0%
Extreme weather
0%

51% of delay minutes trace back to a late-arriving aircraft, meaning the plane was already behind before it got here. That is a cascade, and cascades start small and grow through the day. Across 30,000 reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 51 to one. It is the strongest argument for booking the first departure of the morning, when the aircraft has been sitting at the gate overnight with nothing to inherit. The split is drawn from 30,270 reported delay minutes.

Cancellations are rare at 0.57%, below the national 1.55% and low enough to earn the plus on the grade. Roughly one flight in 100 is called off; the risk here is arriving late, not not arriving.

6.1% of arrivals land an hour or more late, close to the national 10.0%. That is the figure that decides a connection, and it says a 60 to 75 minute layover is reasonable here while anything under 45 minutes is a bet. Most delays on this route last about 50 minutes, which a normal layover absorbs.

What to do with this

Flying from OAK in December

For a December trip through OAK: expect 76.7% on time and 0.57% cancelled, going by December 2025. The 5am–8am window was the strongest part of the day.

Oakland International (OAK), the whole year
OAK in July78.4%
OAK in August81.4%
OAK in September82.4%
OAK in October79.6%
OAK in November81.6%
OAK in January88.4%
OAK in February83.7%
OAK in March80.1%
OAK in April76.4%
OAK in May76.1%
OAK in June69.7%

Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, on-time performance data, July 2025 to June 2026. Last updated 15 September 2026; recomputed monthly. How this data is collected.

Key figures