Airport month record
SANDEC
San Diego International in December 2025
- Departures
- 8,228
- Month
- December 2025
- National, same month
- 73.2%
- Carriers
- 9
Historical statistics for December 2025, not live status or a forecast for this year’s December. For today’s conditions at SAN, see live FAA status.
SAN in December sits in the middle of the pack with a B. Close to three flights in four arrive on time by the DOT's definition, 2 points better than the national rate of 73.2%. The late ones land about an hour behind schedule. That rests on 8,228 flights, of which American Airlines flew 722 at 83.4% on time.
American Airlines is the most reliable of the six carriers covered here at 83.4% on time across 722 flights.
Key figures
On time
75.4%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 8,073 completed departures
Avg delay
63 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
1.42%
Nationally in December: 1.55%
Whole year
78.0%
SAN across all twelve months
These figures cover 8,228 departures from San Diego 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 SAN's other months
Against SAN's own year, December ran 3 points worse than the twelve-month rate of 78.0%, which makes it number ten of twelve months, best first. Either side of it, November ran 77.1% on time and January 83.1%, so a trip moved by a few weeks would have landed in a better stretch.
| Month | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2025 | 8,776 | 73.9% | 62 min | 1.32% | C |
| August 2025 | 8,406 | 76.7% | 58 min | 0.75% | B+ |
| September 2025 | 7,875 | 81.9% | 74 min | 1.37% | B |
| October 2025 | 8,687 | 79.0% | 63 min | 0.92% | B+ |
| November 2025 | 8,246 | 77.1% | 65 min | 2.81% | B |
| December 2025 (this page) | 8,228 | 75.4% | 63 min | 1.42% | B |
| January 2026 | 7,406 | 83.1% | 79 min | 2.71% | B |
| February 2026 | 7,008 | 84.0% | 64 min | 0.97% | B+ |
| March 2026 | 8,547 | 78.2% | 64 min | 1.03% | B |
| April 2026 | 8,505 | 80.8% | 54 min | 0.33% | B+ |
| May 2026 | 8,947 | 76.9% | 54 min | 0.66% | B+ |
| June 2026 | 8,996 | 71.1% | 55 min | 1.00% | C |
Departure window
The best time of day to leave SAN in December
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 25 points, against 11 points between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.
- 5am–8am1,203 flights90.9%
- 8am–11am1,736 flights79.9%
- 11am–2pm1,635 flights72.2%
- 2pm–5pm1,301 flights66.0%
- 5pm–8pm1,167 flights68.0%
- 8pm–5am1,186 flights75.2%
Scale runs 60% to 95%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.
Book the early departure. Flights leaving between 5am–8am arrive on time 90.9% of the time, against 66.0% for the afternoon window. That is 25 points of difference for no extra money, and it comes from the same aircraft having had no earlier flight to fall behind on. The 8am–11am window is the busiest, with 1,736 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Thursday is the strongest day at 81.1% on time and Friday the weakest at 66.7%. 14 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at SAN in December
The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. American Airlines arrives on time 83.4% of the time; Southwest Airlines manages 72.5%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 3,202 flights means less than a ten-point one.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 3,202 | 72.5% | 51 min | 1.06% | C |
| SkyWest Airlines | 1,181 | 72.8% | 64 min | 2.37% | C |
| Alaska Airlines | 1,070 | 72.8% | 62 min | 1.78% | C |
| United Airlines | 842 | 81.0% | 73 min | 0.36% | B+ |
| Delta Air Lines | 835 | 81.5% | 83 min | 2.28% | B |
| American Airlines | 722 | 83.4% | 84 min | 0.42% | B+ |
| Frontier Airlinesthin sample | 176 | 69.2% | 84 min | 2.27% | C |
| JetBlue Airwaysthin sample | 120 | 84.5% | 67 min | 3.33% | B− |
| Hawaiian Airlinesthin sample | 80 | 66.7% | 142 min | 3.75% | C− |
American leads Southwest by 11 points. Real, but small enough that a better departure time on the weaker carrier can outweigh it.
Route by route
Busiest routes out of SAN in December
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SAN to DEN · Denver | 537 | 73.0% | 61 min | 1.30% | C |
| SAN to SFO · San Francisco | 485 | 68.3% | 75 min | 1.03% | C |
| SAN to LAS · Las Vegas | 475 | 73.5% | 58 min | 0.84% | C+ |
| SAN to PHX · Phoenix | 463 | 78.4% | 61 min | 1.08% | B |
| SAN to SMF · Sacramento | 398 | 70.3% | 45 min | 1.76% | C |
| SAN to SJC · San Jose | 397 | 73.2% | 53 min | 1.26% | C |
| SAN to SEA · Seattlethin sample | 355 | 77.1% | 68 min | 2.82% | B |
| SAN to ORD · Chicagothin sample | 309 | 77.4% | 54 min | 2.27% | B |
| SAN to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample | 281 | 79.4% | 69 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| SAN to SLC · Salt Lake Citythin sample | 275 | 81.3% | 63 min | 0.36% | B+ |
| SAN to OAK · Oaklandthin sample | 262 | 70.5% | 55 min | 1.53% | C |
| SAN to ATL · Atlantathin sample | 215 | 78.8% | 82 min | 0.93% | B+ |
| SAN to JFK · New Yorkthin sample | 212 | 83.0% | 82 min | 4.25% | B− |
| SAN to AUS · Austinthin sample | 198 | 64.6% | 56 min | 1.52% | D |
| SAN to LAX · Los Angelesthin sample | 188 | 79.1% | 69 min | 0.53% | B+ |
| SAN to FAT · Fresnothin sample | 163 | 75.3% | 43 min | 3.07% | B− |
| SAN to PDX · Portlandthin sample | 156 | 81.9% | 43 min | 0.64% | B+ |
| SAN to HNL · Honoluluthin sample | 156 | 68.7% | 111 min | 3.21% | C− |
| SAN to IAH · Houstonthin sample | 145 | 86.2% | 62 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| SAN to DAL · Dallasthin sample | 137 | 70.8% | 47 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| SAN to BOS · Bostonthin sample | 134 | 76.0% | 65 min | 2.24% | B |
| SAN to RNO · Renothin sample | 131 | 76.4% | 50 min | 1.53% | B |
| SAN to EWR · Newarkthin sample | 124 | 77.5% | 101 min | 1.61% | B |
| SAN to IAD · Washingtonthin sample | 122 | 90.2% | 87 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| SAN to MSP · Minneapolisthin sample | 119 | 77.1% | 119 min | 0.84% | B+ |
Delay causes
What held SAN up in December
One category carries most of the weight here. Late-arriving aircraft accounts for 55% of the 125,000 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.
- 55%Late-arriving aircraft
- 23%Carrier
- 15%National Airspace System
- 7%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
55% 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 125,000 reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 8 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 125,189 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations sit at 1.42% against a national 1.55%, which is ordinary. Diversions add another 0.46%.
7.9% 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 an hour, which a normal layover absorbs.
What to do with this
Flying from SAN in December
For a December trip through SAN: plan on this being one of the airport's harder months. The 5am–8am departures held up best at 90.9% on time, and with 7.9% of arrivals an hour or more late, a connection here deserves more slack than the same trip in February would.
Related
Where to go next
- San Diego International (SAN), the whole year
- SAN in July73.9%
- SAN in August76.7%
- SAN in September81.9%
- SAN in October79.0%
- SAN in November77.1%
- SAN in January83.1%
- SAN in February84.0%
- SAN in March78.2%
- SAN in April80.8%
- SAN in May76.9%
- SAN in June71.1%
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.