Airport month record
OAKMAR
Oakland International in March 2026
- Departures
- 2,569
- Month
- March 2026
- National, same month
- 75.7%
- Carriers
- 3
Historical statistics for March 2026, not live status or a forecast for this year’s March. For today’s conditions at OAK, see live FAA status.
OAK in March lands a B+, 4 points better than the national rate of 75.7%. About one flight in five arrives 15 minutes late or worse, and those flights are late by roughly 55 minutes on average. That is a workable record, not a spotless one. That rests on 2,569 flights, with a median arrival 6 minutes early.
Set against the rest of the country, OAK's March record is 4 points better than the US average of 75.7%. That gap is worth roughly 44 fewer late arrivals for every thousand flights.
Key figures
On time
80.1%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 2,541 completed departures
Avg delay
53 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
0.97%
Nationally in March: 2.90%
Whole year
79.5%
OAK across all twelve months
These figures cover 2,569 departures from Oakland International in March 2026. 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
March next to OAK's other months
Against OAK's own year, March ran level with the twelve-month rate of 79.5%, which makes it number six of twelve months, best first. Cancellations are where March stands out: 0.97% of scheduled departures were called off, 1.5 times the airport's rate across the year. Either side of it, February ran 83.7% on time and April 76.4%, so this month sits in line with its neighbours.
| 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 | 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 (this page) | 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 March
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 21 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–8am510 flights92.4%
- 8am–11am416 flights87.8%
- 11am–2pm483 flights78.1%
- 2pm–5pm377 flights75.2%
- 5pm–8pm465 flights72.1%
- 8pm–5am318 flights71.4%
Scale runs 65% to 100%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.
Book the early departure. Flights leaving between 5am–8am arrive on time 92.4% of the time, against 71.4% for the overnight window. That is 21 points of difference for no extra money, and it comes from the same aircraft having had no earlier flight to fall behind on. The 5am–8am window is the busiest, with 510 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Tuesday is the strongest day at 85.0% on time and Friday the weakest at 76.3%. 9 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at OAK in March
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.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 2,301 | 79.6% | 54 min | 0.87% | B+ |
| Alaska Airlinesthin sample | 155 | 82.7% | 50 min | 3.23% | B− |
| SkyWest Airlinesthin sample | 104 | 87.5% | 49 min | 0.00% | A+ |
Route by route
Busiest routes out of OAK in March
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OAK to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample | 285 | 79.4% | 54 min | 1.05% | B |
| OAK to SAN · San Diegothin sample | 229 | 70.9% | 59 min | 0.87% | C+ |
| OAK to BUR · Burbankthin sample | 219 | 80.6% | 60 min | 0.91% | B+ |
| OAK to SNA · Santa Anathin sample | 207 | 89.2% | 75 min | 1.45% | A |
| OAK to PHX · Phoenixthin sample | 177 | 81.7% | 56 min | 1.13% | B |
| OAK to LAX · Los Angelesthin sample | 169 | 80.4% | 61 min | 0.59% | B+ |
| OAK to SLC · Salt Lake Citythin sample | 145 | 91.0% | 57 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| OAK to DEN · Denverthin sample | 124 | 66.1% | 48 min | 1.61% | C |
| OAK to SEA · Seattlethin sample | 124 | 80.8% | 54 min | 3.23% | B− |
| OAK to LGB · Long Beachthin sample | 124 | 84.6% | 46 min | 0.81% | B+ |
| OAK to ONT · Ontariothin sample | 121 | 78.3% | 50 min | 0.83% | B+ |
| OAK to PDX · Portlandthin sample | 101 | 81.0% | 46 min | 0.99% | B+ |
| OAK to PSP · Palm Springsthin sample | 75 | 80.0% | 31 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| OAK to HNL · Honoluluthin sample | 62 | 77.0% | 58 min | 1.61% | B |
| OAK to OGG · Kahuluithin sample | 62 | 85.5% | 45 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| OAK to LIH · Lihuethin sample | 61 | 74.6% | 36 min | 1.64% | C |
| OAK to MDW · Chicagothin sample | 55 | 84.9% | 27 min | 1.82% | B |
| OAK to BOI · Boisethin sample | 35 | 88.6% | 123 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| OAK to HOU · Houstonthin sample | 32 | 78.1% | 26 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| OAK to DAL · Dallasthin sample | 31 | 80.6% | 45 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| OAK to GEG · Spokanethin sample | 31 | 67.7% | 43 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| OAK to AUS · Austinthin sample | 31 | 58.1% | 34 min | 0.00% | D+ |
Delay causes
What held OAK up in March
One category carries most of the weight here. Carrier accounts for 44% of the 27,000 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.
- 44%Carrier
- 42%Late-arriving aircraft
- 13%National Airspace System
- 1%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
42% 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 27,000 reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 42 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 26,930 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations sit at 0.97% against a national 2.90%, which is ordinary. Diversions add another 0.12%.
5.8% of arrivals land an hour or more late, close to the national 9.5%. 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 roughly 55 minutes, which a normal layover absorbs.
What to do with this
Flying from OAK in March
For a March trip through OAK: expect 80.1% on time and 0.97% cancelled, going by March 2026. The 5am–8am window was the strongest part of the day.
Related
Where to go next
- 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 December76.7%
- OAK in January88.4%
- OAK in February83.7%
- 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.