Airport month record
SFONOV
San Francisco International in November 2025
- Departures
- 12,022
- Month
- November 2025
- National, same month
- 79.4%
- Carriers
- 9
Historical statistics for November 2025, not live status or a forecast for this year’s November. For today’s conditions at SFO, see live FAA status.
SFO in November lands a B, about a point worse than the national rate of 79.4%. About one flight in five arrives 15 minutes late or worse, and those flights are late by about an hour on average. That is a workable record, not a spotless one. That rests on 12,022 flights, of which Alaska Airlines flew 771 at 81.8% on time.
Alaska Airlines is the most reliable of the six carriers covered here at 81.8% on time across 771 flights.
Key figures
On time
78.6%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 11,763 completed departures
Avg delay
66 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
1.86%
Nationally in November: 2.49%
Whole year
77.3%
SFO across all twelve months
These figures cover 12,022 departures from San Francisco International in November 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
November next to SFO's other months
Against SFO's own year, November ran about a point better than the twelve-month rate of 77.3%, which makes it number seven of twelve months, best first. Cancellations are where November stands out: 1.86% of scheduled departures were called off, 1.9 times the airport's rate across the year. Either side of it, October ran 80.1% on time and December 76.3%, so this month sits in line with its neighbours.
| 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 (this page) | 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+ |
Departure window
The best time of day to leave SFO in November
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 20 points, against 21 points between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.
- 5am–8am1,673 flights91.9%
- 8am–11am2,486 flights82.4%
- 11am–2pm2,417 flights73.2%
- 2pm–5pm1,847 flights71.5%
- 5pm–8pm1,169 flights78.4%
- 8pm–5am2,430 flights76.2%
Scale runs 65% to 95%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.
Book the early departure. Flights leaving between 5am–8am arrive on time 91.9% of the time, against 71.5% for the afternoon window. That is 20 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 2,486 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Tuesday is the strongest day at 87.8% on time and Sunday the weakest at 73.3%. 15 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at SFO in November
The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. Alaska Airlines arrives on time 81.8% of the time; Southwest Airlines manages 61.3%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 753 flights means less than a ten-point one.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Airlines | 5,025 | 81.1% | 63 min | 0.90% | B+ |
| SkyWest Airlines | 2,764 | 77.6% | 74 min | 4.20% | B− |
| Delta Air Lines | 1,137 | 79.8% | 66 min | 1.14% | B |
| American Airlines | 862 | 80.7% | 64 min | 1.28% | B |
| Alaska Airlines | 771 | 81.8% | 49 min | 0.78% | B+ |
| Southwest Airlines | 753 | 61.3% | 58 min | 2.39% | D |
| JetBlue Airwaysthin sample | 325 | 82.0% | 68 min | 2.77% | B |
| Frontier Airlinesthin sample | 305 | 67.1% | 95 min | 1.31% | C |
| Hawaiian Airlinesthin sample | 80 | 73.1% | 84 min | 2.50% | C |
SkyWest Airlines cancels 4.2% 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 November
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SFO to LAX · Los Angeles | 904 | 74.2% | 66 min | 2.65% | C |
| SFO to SEA · Seattle | 565 | 79.4% | 51 min | 2.12% | B |
| SFO to SAN · San Diego | 564 | 63.2% | 59 min | 3.37% | D− |
| SFO to JFK · New York | 546 | 81.3% | 65 min | 1.10% | B |
| SFO to LAS · Las Vegas | 500 | 73.9% | 58 min | 1.80% | C |
| SFO to SNA · Santa Ana | 445 | 81.6% | 67 min | 3.15% | B− |
| SFO to DEN · Denver | 437 | 77.5% | 56 min | 0.92% | B+ |
| SFO to ORD · Chicago | 411 | 78.1% | 87 min | 2.43% | B |
| SFO to PHX · Phoenix | 390 | 68.3% | 66 min | 2.56% | C |
| SFO to BOS · Bostonthin sample | 360 | 78.5% | 71 min | 2.78% | B |
| SFO to EWR · Newarkthin sample | 351 | 76.2% | 98 min | 1.71% | B |
| SFO to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample | 326 | 72.7% | 62 min | 1.53% | C |
| SFO to IAH · Houstonthin sample | 299 | 80.8% | 45 min | 0.67% | B+ |
| SFO to ATL · Atlantathin sample | 286 | 82.6% | 76 min | 1.05% | B |
| SFO to PDX · Portlandthin sample | 280 | 78.9% | 49 min | 1.79% | B |
| SFO to SLC · Salt Lake Citythin sample | 265 | 81.1% | 73 min | 2.26% | B |
| SFO to BUR · Burbankthin sample | 259 | 82.1% | 61 min | 4.25% | B− |
| SFO to AUS · Austinthin sample | 250 | 75.3% | 58 min | 0.40% | B+ |
| SFO to PSP · Palm Springsthin sample | 238 | 78.5% | 77 min | 1.68% | B |
| SFO to IAD · Washingtonthin sample | 229 | 86.0% | 63 min | 0.44% | A+ |
| SFO to RNO · Renothin sample | 177 | 78.6% | 68 min | 4.52% | B− |
| SFO to HNL · Honoluluthin sample | 174 | 88.9% | 76 min | 1.72% | A |
| SFO to BOI · Boisethin sample | 148 | 84.8% | 49 min | 0.68% | B+ |
| SFO to MSP · Minneapolisthin sample | 148 | 86.4% | 54 min | 0.68% | A+ |
| SFO to PHL · Philadelphiathin sample | 147 | 89.1% | 63 min | 0.00% | A+ |
Delay causes
What held SFO up in November
Carriers report a reason for every delay minute they cause, in five DOT categories. The split below is by minutes, not by number of flights, so a handful of very long weather delays weighs as much as many short ones. It covers 166,000 reported delay minutes.
- 39%Late-arriving aircraft
- 30%National Airspace System
- 28%Carrier
- 3%Extreme weather
39% 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 166,000 reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 12 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 166,056 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations sit at 1.86% against a national 2.49%, which is ordinary. Diversions add another 0.29%.
7.7% of arrivals land an hour or more late, close to the national 7.8%. 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 SFO in November
For a November trip through SFO: expect 78.6% on time and 1.86% cancelled, going by November 2025. The 5am–8am window was the strongest part of the day.
Related
Where to go next
- 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 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%
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.