Airport month record

SFOFEB

San Francisco International in February 2026

Departures: 10,316
Month: February 2026
National, same month: 80.2%
Carriers: 8

Historical statistics for February 2026, not live status or a forecast for this year’s February. For today’s conditions at SFO, see live FAA status.

SFO in February lands a B, 2 points better than the national rate of 80.2%. Roughly one flight in five arrives 15 minutes late or worse, and those flights are late by a little over an hour on average. That is a workable record, not a spotless one. That rests on 10,316 flights, of which Alaska Airlines flew 676 at 88.3% on time.

Alaska Airlines is the most reliable of the six carriers covered here at 88.3% on time across 676 flights.

On time

81.7%

Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 10,165 completed departures

Avg delay

77 min

Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights

Cancelled

1.21%

Nationally in February: 2.25%

Whole year

77.3%

SFO across all twelve months

These figures cover 10,316 departures from San Francisco International in February 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

February next to SFO's other months

Against SFO's own year, February ran 4 points better than the twelve-month rate of 77.3%, which makes it number four of twelve months, best first. Either side of it, January ran 82.5% on time and March 84.0%, so this month sits in line with its neighbours.

SFO month by month
Month	Flights	On time	Avg delay	Cancelled	Grade
July 2025	12,958	73.9%	67 min	1.14%	C
August 2025	12,594	79.6%	66 min	0.64%	B+
September 2025	11,830	82.4%	58 min	0.25%	B+
October 2025	12,774	80.1%	61 min	0.36%	B+
November 2025	12,022	78.6%	66 min	1.86%	B
December 2025	11,975	76.3%	81 min	1.07%	B
January 2026	11,113	82.5%	85 min	2.43%	B
February 2026 (this page)	10,316	81.7%	77 min	1.21%	B
March 2026	12,171	84.0%	72 min	1.02%	B
April 2026	12,401	74.7%	63 min	0.70%	C+
May 2026	13,114	70.1%	64 min	0.79%	C+
June 2026	13,415	67.1%	67 min	0.70%	C+

Departure window

The best time of day to leave SFO in February

Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 17 points, against 20 points between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.

5am–8am1,179 flights93.1%
8am–11am2,322 flights83.8%
11am–2pm2,109 flights76.3%
2pm–5pm1,560 flights77.2%
5pm–8pm1,360 flights78.5%
8pm–5am1,786 flights84.2%

Scale runs 70% to 100%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.

The weak window here is the middle of the day, not the evening: 11am–2pm runs 76.3% on time against 93.1% for 5am–8am. That shape usually means a departure bank rather than an accumulating delay, so the recovery later in the afternoon is real rather than noise. The 8am–11am window is the busiest, with 2,322 flights scheduled in it.

Across the week, Friday is the strongest day at 88.6% on time and Wednesday the weakest at 77.6%. 11 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.

Carrier by carrier

Which airlines ran best at SFO in February

The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. Alaska Airlines arrives on time 88.3% of the time; Southwest Airlines manages 68.6%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 684 flights means less than a ten-point one.

Carriers at SFO in February 2026
Airline	Flights	On time	Avg delay	Cancelled	Grade
United Airlines	4,213	84.4%	63 min	0.81%	B+
SkyWest Airlines	2,443	77.1%	89 min	0.90%	B+
Delta Air Lines	966	85.1%	67 min	2.28%	A
American Airlines	826	84.6%	143 min	1.94%	B
Southwest Airlines	684	68.6%	58 min	0.58%	C+
Alaska Airlines	676	88.3%	51 min	1.48%	A
JetBlue Airwaysthin sample	312	82.0%	101 min	5.45%	B−
Frontier Airlinesthin sample	196	76.5%	78 min	0.00%	B+

The spread between Alaska and Southwest is 20 points, wide enough that it should decide the booking. On a hundred trips that is 20 more arrivals inside the on-time window.

Route by route

Busiest routes out of SFO in February

Routes from SFO in February 2026
Route	Flights	On time	Avg delay	Cancelled	Grade
SFO to LAX · Los Angeles	739	77.4%	57 min	0.81%	B+
SFO to SEA · Seattle	481	86.4%	63 min	0.83%	A+
SFO to JFK · New York	465	85.3%	106 min	7.53%	A−
SFO to LAS · Las Vegas	445	81.1%	61 min	0.00%	B+
SFO to SAN · San Diego	442	72.5%	54 min	0.90%	C+
SFO to DEN · Denver	398	82.6%	76 min	0.25%	B+
SFO to PHX · Phoenixthin sample	361	81.3%	60 min	0.28%	B+
SFO to ORD · Chicagothin sample	357	85.2%	88 min	0.00%	A+
SFO to SNA · Santa Anathin sample	319	84.5%	87 min	0.31%	B+
SFO to EWR · Newarkthin sample	297	80.4%	71 min	7.07%	B−
SFO to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample	291	82.4%	112 min	0.34%	B+
SFO to SLC · Salt Lake Citythin sample	285	77.8%	64 min	0.35%	B+
SFO to BOS · Bostonthin sample	283	84.6%	124 min	8.13%	B−
SFO to IAH · Houstonthin sample	277	87.0%	71 min	0.00%	A+
SFO to PDX · Portlandthin sample	254	84.6%	68 min	0.00%	B+
SFO to ATL · Atlantathin sample	219	89.0%	59 min	0.00%	A+
SFO to BUR · Burbankthin sample	216	81.7%	65 min	0.93%	B+
SFO to PSP · Palm Springsthin sample	204	80.7%	89 min	0.49%	B+
SFO to IAD · Washingtonthin sample	189	92.1%	71 min	0.00%	A+
SFO to AUS · Austinthin sample	182	75.8%	69 min	0.00%	B+
SFO to RNO · Renothin sample	168	77.6%	71 min	1.79%	B
SFO to HNL · Honoluluthin sample	163	82.8%	65 min	0.00%	B+
SFO to MIA · Miamithin sample	137	83.2%	172 min	0.00%	B+
SFO to BOI · Boisethin sample	131	81.7%	105 min	0.00%	B+
SFO to MSP · Minneapolisthin sample	128	89.0%	50 min	0.00%	A+

Delay causes

What held SFO up in February

One category carries most of the weight here. Late-arriving aircraft accounts for 44% of the 142,000 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
44%
Carrier
34%
National Airspace System
17%
Extreme weather
6%
Security
0%

44% 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 142,000 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 142,155 reported delay minutes.

Cancellations sit at 1.21% against a national 2.25%, which is ordinary. Diversions add another 0.25%.

6.7% of arrivals land an hour or more late, close to the national 6.5%. 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 a little over an hour, which a normal layover absorbs.

What to do with this

Flying from SFO in February

For a February trip through SFO: expect 81.7% on time and 1.21% cancelled, going by February 2026. The 5am–8am window was the strongest part of the day.

San Francisco International (SFO), the whole year
SFO in July73.9%
SFO in August79.6%
SFO in September82.4%
SFO in October80.1%
SFO in November78.6%
SFO in December76.3%
SFO in January82.5%
SFO in March84.0%
SFO in April74.7%
SFO in May70.1%
SFO in June67.1%

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.

Key figures