Los Angeles (LAX) and San Francisco (SFO): July 2026 on-time record

The two directions together ran behind the national figure in July 2026, with 52.8% of the 2,234 flights between Los Angeles and San Francisco arriving on time against a national share of 69.4% across all 630,535 reported flights. That leaves the pair on the weaker side of the national picture.

The market here was contested rather than dominated: no airline reached half of the flights, and the two busiest combined for 46.1%, short of three quarters.

There was no clear winner among airlines. In at least one direction the top two finished within a few points of each other, which one month of data cannot separate, so the order below is not a verdict.

The National Aviation System (NAS) was the biggest source of attributed delay minutes for flights between Los Angeles and San Francisco, at 43.3%, unlike the national total for July 2026, where Late-arriving aircraft led.

The directions split sharply. Flights from Los Angeles to San Francisco ran on time 44.3% of the time (1,118 flights), while the return direction reached 61.3% (1,116 flights), a gap of 10 points or more that is large enough to separate in one month of data.

The field was wide for one city pair: 5 airlines flew it often enough to be ranked in July 2026. Read each airline's line against the pair's combined figure, since any one gap is small in a crowd this size.

United Airlines carried the largest share of the pair's flights, 590 in all, and 63.9% of them arrived on time, ahead of the pair's combined 52.8%.

SkyWest Airlines operated 440 of the pair's flights; 53.2% were on time, level with the pair's combined 52.8%, give or take a few points.

Delta Air Lines operated 418 of the pair's flights; 48.6% were on time, level with the pair's combined 52.8%, give or take a few points.

Alaska Airlines operated 355 of the pair's flights; 54.1% were on time, level with the pair's combined 52.8%, give or take a few points.

Southwest Airlines operated 328 of the pair's flights; 40.9% were on time, behind the pair's combined 52.8%.

Also flew this pair, too few flights to rank: Frontier Airlines (61 flights), American Airlines (42 flights).

Of the 19 routes out of LAX that carried at least 300 flights in July 2026, the route to SFO placed in the bottom third for on-time arrivals.

Of the 13 routes out of SFO that carried at least 300 flights in July 2026, the route to LAX placed in the bottom third for on-time arrivals.

The two directions disagreed on the leading cause: National Aviation System (NAS) led on flights from Los Angeles, while Late-arriving aircraft led on flights from San Francisco.

With NAS delays the largest cause, only 0.6% of the attributed minutes for flights between Los Angeles and San Francisco came from extreme weather, under half its national share of 6.4%.

Behind the NAS figure, NAS delays pulled ahead of air carrier delays for flights between Los Angeles and San Francisco, 43.3% against 17.7%, a different order from the national figures.

National Aviation System (NAS) supplied 43.3% of the attributed delay minutes for flights between Los Angeles and San Francisco, a clear lead but short of a near-majority, with the rest spread over the other causes.

Second on the list, late-arriving aircraft added 38.3% of the attributed delay minutes for flights between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Delay causes are shares of the delay minutes BTS attributes to flights that arrived 15 minutes or more late, not shares of flights. Extreme weather here means BTS's extreme-weather category only; milder weather delays are generally reported under NAS.

A flight counts as on time unless it arrives 15 minutes or more late. Cancelled and diverted flights count as not on time.

Directions are shown only with at least 500 flights, and an airline is ranked only with at least 100 flights in a direction; airlines below that are listed by name, not ranked.

A difference of a few points between two airlines, or between two directions, is within what one month of data can move. These figures describe July 2026 only.

These are figures for one month, July 2026, not a trend or forecast.

Source: US Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance, July 2026, as loaded by BookWithAI.