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Route Reliability

Washington → San Francisco

IAD–SFO · 2,418 miles · Washington Dulles International Airport to San Francisco International Airport

84
Pretty Reliable
WanderNerd Reliability Score
79%
Arrive within 15 minutes
8 min
Average arrival delay
0.8%
Cancelled
2,828
Flights in the data

Data through May 2026.

Who flies it best

Ranked by on-time arrivals. Historical results, not predictions.

  1. 1.United Airlines80%2,669 flights
  2. 2.Alaska Airlines67%159 flights

What the data says

Morning-you made the right choice.

IAD–SFO flights departing between 6–9 AM arrived on time 87% of the time, versus 70% between 3–6 PM.

Friday is doing you no favors.

IAD–SFO flights arrived on time 84% of the time on Tuesdays. On Fridays: 76%.

United Airlines runs this route best.

United Airlines arrived on time 80% of the time on this route; Alaska Airlines managed 67%.

Trending in the right direction.

IAD–SFO flights arrived on time 83% of the time over the last three months in the data, compared with 76% in the three months before that.

Best historical flights

Ranked by on-time arrivals, minimum 100 flights. Past performance, not a promise.

Top flights by on-time rate

More flights on this route

The breakdown

On-time by weekday
  • Mon78%(410 flights)
  • Tue84%(379 flights)
  • Wed79%(388 flights)
  • Thu78%(410 flights)
  • Fri76%(411 flights)
  • Sat81%(391 flights)
  • Sun79%(411 flights)
On-time by departure window
  • 6–9 AM87%(761 flights)
  • 9 AM–12 PM86%(49 flights)
  • 12–3 PM84%(527 flights)
  • 3–6 PM70%(673 flights)
  • 6–9 PM71%(446 flights)
  • 9 PM–12 AM83%(344 flights)
On-time trend by month
80%
May

Jun 71% → May 80% on time

On-time arrival percentage by month
MonthOn-time percentageFlights
June 202571%275
July 202570%263
August 202584%252
September 202587%206
October 202583%244
November 202583%228
December 202569%244
January 202679%198
February 202679%189
March 202688%205
April 202682%229
May 202680%267

Same trip, other airports

Keep nerding

Based on 2,828 historical flights, because apparently we checked. Historical flight data: U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics, June 2025 – May 2026. Data through May 2026. How we calculate this.