Airport month record
SFOJUL
San Francisco International in July 2026
- Departures
- 13,841
- Month
- July 2026
- National, same month
- 71.7%
- Carriers
- 8
Historical statistics for July 2026, not live status or a forecast for this year’s July. For today’s conditions at SFO, see live FAA status.
SFO in July draws a C. About one flight in three arrives at least 15 minutes late, and the typical late arrival is about an hour behind schedule. Build slack into anything you connect to. That rests on 13,841 flights, of which United Airlines flew 5,896 at 72.6% on time.
United Airlines is the most reliable of the eight carriers covered here at 72.6% on time across 5,896 flights.
Key figures
On time
66.1%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 13,590 completed departures
Avg delay
66 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
1.15%
Nationally in July: 2.62%
Whole year
75.3%
SFO across all twelve months
These figures cover 13,841 departures from San Francisco International in July 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
July next to SFO's other months
Against SFO's own year, July ran 9 points worse than the twelve-month rate of 75.3%, which makes it number eleven of twelve months, best first. Either side of it, June ran 67.1% on time and August 65.5%, so this month sits in line with its neighbours.
| Month | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 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+ |
| July 2026 (this page) | 13,841 | 66.1% | 66 min | 1.15% | C |
| August 2026 | 13,560 | 65.5% | 64 min | 0.73% | C+ |
Departure window
The best time of day to leave SFO in July
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 36 points, against 29 points between the best and worst carrier.
- 5am–8am1,538 flights90.9%
- 8am–11am3,287 flights71.5%
- 11am–2pm1,940 flights54.8%
- 2pm–5pm2,470 flights57.3%
- 5pm–8pm1,690 flights67.8%
- 8pm–5am2,916 flights61.1%
Scale runs 45% to 95%.
The weak window here is the middle of the day, not the evening: 11am–2pm runs 54.8% on time against 90.9% 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 3,287 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Saturday is the strongest day at 74.5% on time and Monday the weakest at 58.7%, a spread of 16 points.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at SFO in July
The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. United Airlines arrives on time 72.6% of the time; Southwest Airlines manages 43.9%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 1,010 flights means less than a ten-point one.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Airlines | 5,896 | 72.6% | 60 min | 0.49% | C+ |
| SkyWest Airlines | 2,571 | 64.7% | 70 min | 0.51% | D+ |
| Delta Air Lines | 1,318 | 62.3% | 66 min | 1.82% | D |
| American Airlines | 1,187 | 65.5% | 86 min | 2.11% | C |
| Alaska Airlines | 1,011 | 68.1% | 53 min | 1.29% | C |
| Southwest Airlines | 1,010 | 43.9% | 60 min | 1.39% | F |
| JetBlue Airways | 453 | 59.6% | 94 min | 5.30% | D− |
| Frontier Airlines | 395 | 50.4% | 70 min | 4.30% | F− |
JetBlue Airways cancels 5.3% of what it schedules here, the highest in the table. A cancelled flight never appears in an on-time rate, so read that column alongside the punctuality one rather than after it.
Route by route
Busiest routes out of SFO in July
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SFO to LAX · Los Angeles | 1,116 | 61.7% | 58 min | 0.54% | D+ |
| SFO to SEA · Seattle | 666 | 62.3% | 58 min | 0.75% | D+ |
| SFO to SAN · San Diego | 655 | 50.1% | 60 min | 1.53% | F |
| SFO to JFK · New York | 622 | 66.4% | 90 min | 6.11% | C− |
| SFO to LAS · Las Vegas | 548 | 60.4% | 57 min | 1.82% | D |
| SFO to ORD · Chicago | 523 | 65.8% | 99 min | 1.91% | C |
| SFO to DEN · Denver | 514 | 65.8% | 67 min | 0.97% | C+ |
| SFO to BOS · Boston | 509 | 67.1% | 82 min | 3.34% | C− |
| SFO to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worth | 421 | 66.2% | 60 min | 1.90% | C |
| SFO to PHX · Phoenix | 403 | 66.2% | 76 min | 0.74% | C+ |
| SFO to SNA · Santa Ana | 387 | 62.5% | 56 min | 1.55% | D |
| SFO to EWR · Newark | 367 | 68.2% | 79 min | 3.81% | C− |
| SFO to ATL · Atlantathin sample | 318 | 62.9% | 73 min | 1.26% | D |
| SFO to IAH · Houstonthin sample | 297 | 76.9% | 47 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| SFO to SLC · Salt Lake Citythin sample | 296 | 69.3% | 68 min | 1.35% | C |
| SFO to PDX · Portlandthin sample | 294 | 72.4% | 49 min | 0.34% | C+ |
| SFO to HNL · Honoluluthin sample | 279 | 76.8% | 57 min | 0.72% | B+ |
| SFO to BUR · Burbankthin sample | 269 | 68.2% | 58 min | 0.37% | C+ |
| SFO to AUS · Austinthin sample | 251 | 64.1% | 71 min | 0.00% | D+ |
| SFO to PHL · Philadelphiathin sample | 234 | 74.1% | 74 min | 1.71% | C |
| SFO to IAD · Washingtonthin sample | 209 | 76.9% | 70 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| SFO to PSP · Palm Springsthin sample | 197 | 66.5% | 58 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| SFO to OGG · Kahuluithin sample | 190 | 81.1% | 59 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| SFO to MSP · Minneapolisthin sample | 187 | 64.7% | 66 min | 0.00% | D+ |
| SFO to DTW · Detroitthin sample | 187 | 69.0% | 48 min | 0.00% | C+ |
Delay causes
What held SFO up in July
Late-arriving aircraft accounts for 51% of the 304,000 delay minutes carriers reported here, and the remaining four split what is left.
- 51%Late-arriving aircraft
- 24%National Airspace System
- 23%Carrier
- 2%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
51% of delay minutes trace back to a late-arriving aircraft, meaning the plane was already behind before it got here. Across 304,000 reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 26 to one. The split is drawn from 304,032 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations sit at 1.15% against a national 2.62%, which is ordinary. Diversions add another 0.66%.
11.5% of arrivals land a full hour or more behind schedule, against 11.3% nationally. Ninety minutes is the honest minimum for a connection here, and two hours if the onward flight is on a separate ticket.
What to do with this
Flying from SFO in July
For a July trip through SFO: 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 11.5% of arrivals an hour or more late, a connection here deserves more slack than the same trip in March would.
Related
Where to go next
- San Francisco International (SFO), the whole year
- SFO in September82.4%
- SFO in October80.1%
- SFO in November78.6%
- SFO in December76.3%
- SFO in January82.5%
- SFO in February81.7%
- SFO in March84.0%
- SFO in April74.7%
- SFO in May70.1%
- SFO in June67.1%
- SFO in August65.5%
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, on-time performance data, September 2025 to August 2026. Last updated ; recomputed monthly. How this data is collected.