81% of flights leaving San Jose (SJC) arrived on time over the past 12 months, 5 points better than the national average of 76%. That ranks 10 of 76 large U.S. airports. About 123 flights leave SJC on a typical day; 0.7% were cancelled. 80% pushed back from the gate on time, so most of the lateness is already there when the flight leaves the gate.
At a glance
- Best hour to fly: 7 a.m. (93% on time). Worst: 9 p.m. (65%).
- Best month: February (87%). Worst: June (78%).
- Most reliable airline here: Delta Air Lines (91%), vs Southwest Airlines at 78%.
- Biggest delay cause: late-arriving aircraft (47% of delay minutes).
- Year on year: getting worse (85% → 81%).
How late?
The on-time rate treats a flight 20 minutes late the same as one 5 hours late. Here's the split for flights leaving SJC: when a flight was late, it was under 45 minutes late 62% of the time. About 1 in 22 flights landed an hour or more late, and 1 in 196 three hours or more; 0.7% were cancelled outright.
- On time or early81%
- 15–30 min late7.6%
- 30–60 min late5.8%
- 1–2 hours late3.2%
- 2–3 hours late0.8%
- 3+ hours late0.5%
- Diverted0.2%
- Cancelled0.7%
Share of all 44,965 scheduled flights, past 12 months, by arrival time against schedule.
Best time of day to fly out of SJC
Time of day matters more at SJC than almost anything else you control. Flights scheduled to leave at 7 a.m. arrived on time 93% of the time; at 9 p.m. it was 65%, a 28-point gap. Taken together, early departures (5–9 a.m.) ran 92% on time against 71% for the evening bank (5–10 p.m.). Early planes usually start the day at the airport, so they haven't had a chance to pick up delays elsewhere. By evening a late inbound aircraft, a crew running out of duty hours or an afternoon thunderstorm can push one late flight into the next. Cancellations cluster too: 10 p.m. departures were cancelled 1.1% of the time, against 0.7% overall.
Hour × month
Combine the two and the spread is wider still. The most reliable combination at SJC was a 5 a.m. departure in December (96% on time); the least, 9 p.m. in July (58%). If you can only move one thing, move the hour. Departure hour usually shifts the odds more than the month does.
Each cell: on-time rate for that departure hour in that calendar month, 2023–2026. Find your travel month, then look along the row for the greenest hour.
Best and worst months
June is the hardest month at SJC, with 78% of flights on time across 2023–2026; February is the best at 87%. Summer (June–August) runs 5 points worse than autumn: heavy schedules, peak loads and afternoon thunderstorms. Cancellations peak in January (1.4% of flights).
Airlines at SJC
Southwest Airlines runs 59% of departures from SJC, so SJC is effectively its hub. When Southwest Airlines has a bad day, so does the airport. Among airlines with at least 1,000 departures here, Delta Air Lines was the most reliable (91% on time) and Southwest Airlines the least (78%), a 13-point difference. On a route where both fly, that difference is worth more than a small fare gap.
| Airline | Departures | On time | Left on time | Cancelled | Typical arrival |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 26,391 | 78% | 76% | 0.6% | −5 min |
| Alaska Airlines | 7,115 | 81% | 84% | 1.0% | −8 min |
| Delta Air Lines | 6,987 | 91% | 91% | 0.6% | −15 min |
| American Airlines | 2,275 | 82% | 81% | 1.4% | −9 min |
| United Airlines | 1,510 | 87% | 89% | 0.5% | −12 min |
| Frontier Airlines | 368 | 74% | 77% | 2.5% | −5 min |
| Hawaiian Airlines | 242 | 91% | 92% | 0.0% | −8 min |
Why flights are late at SJC
Airlines report a cause for every flight that arrives 15 or more minutes late. At SJC, 47% of delay minutes came from late-arriving aircraft: the plane showed up late from its previous flight, so the delay started somewhere else. Next is the airlines themselves at 28%. That's why the first flight of the morning is the safest bet: it has no earlier flight to inherit a delay from. Of the 317 cancellations, 33% were blamed on weather, so most were within the airlines’ control or the air traffic system’s.
The average taxi from gate to takeoff is 14 minutes, shorter than at most large U.S. airports.
SJC vs nearby airports
SJC isn't the only option in the Bay Area. Over the past year SFO ran 74% on time with 1.1% of flights cancelled; OAK ran 78% on time with 0.7% of flights cancelled, against 81% and 0.7% at SJC. SJC has the best record in the area.
| Airport | Distance | Departures | On time | Cancelled |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SJC San Jose | — | 44,965 | 81% | 0.7% |
| OAK Oakland | 29 mi | 32,418 | 78% | 0.7% |
| SFO San Francisco | 30 mi | 151,553 | 74% | 1.1% |
| MRY Monterey | 54 mi | 5,186 | 79% | 1.1% |
Month by month
Over the latest 12 months 81% of SJC departures were on time, against 85% in the 12 months before, a decline of 3 points. The best recent month was January 2026 (88%); the worst, June 2026 (74%).
Worst cancellation days
The worst single day in the past year was Sunday, Nov 9, 2025, when 8% of 142 scheduled departures were cancelled. Days like that are usually a major storm, a system outage or a holiday peak hitting bad weather. No average predicts them, so on a stormy forecast, check your airline's travel waivers.
| Date | Departures | Cancelled | On time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 9, 2025 | 142 | 8% | 67% |
| Jan 25, 2026 | 117 | 7% | 83% |
| Nov 10, 2025 | 143 | 6% | 59% |
| Dec 19, 2025 | 129 | 5% | 57% |
| Mar 13, 2026 | 129 | 5% | 68% |
| Jan 27, 2026 | 96 | 5% | 91% |
| Jan 24, 2026 | 82 | 5% | 93% |
| Sep 26, 2025 | 148 | 5% | 67% |
| Mar 16, 2026 | 130 | 5% | 70% |
| Sep 17, 2025 | 121 | 4% | 88% |
Last flights of the day
The last flight of the day is a different bet. Across routes from SJC, each airline's final departure was cancelled 0.7% of the time, against 0.8% for its earlier flights, about the same. 0.6% of last flights landed 3+ hours late. The riskiest last flight out was American Airlines to Dallas (3.0% cancelled).
| Last flight to | Airline | Leaves | Cancelled | 3h+ late | On time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DFW Dallas | American Airlines | 2:30 p.m. | 3.0% | 2.5% | 67% |
| PHX Phoenix | American Airlines | 7:18 p.m. | 1.9% | 0.8% | 82% |
| SAN San Diego | Alaska Airlines | 8:12 p.m. | 2.2% | 0.3% | 66% |
| MSP Minneapolis | Delta Air Lines | 1:10 p.m. | 1.2% | 1.2% | 84% |
| AUS Austin | Southwest Airlines | 6:25 p.m. | 0.6% | 1.8% | 64% |
| LAX Los Angeles | Alaska Airlines | — | 1.6% | 0.8% | 80% |
| SAN San Diego | Southwest Airlines | 8:45 p.m. | 1.6% | 0.3% | 59% |
| ATL Atlanta | Delta Air Lines | 10:00 p.m. | 1.1% | 0.6% | 92% |
| LAS Las Vegas | Southwest Airlines | 8:30 p.m. | 0.5% | 0.8% | 73% |
| PHX Phoenix | Southwest Airlines | 9:10 p.m. | 0.5% | 0.8% | 70% |
| PDX Portland | Alaska Airlines | 6:37 p.m. | 0.3% | 0.8% | 81% |
| LAX Los Angeles | Delta Air Lines | 8:19 p.m. | 0.8% | 0.3% | 90% |
Each airline's last scheduled departure of the day on a route, on days it flies the route at least twice; past 12 months. Riskiest first.
Tips for flying out of SJC
- Book the earliest departure you can live with. At SJC the 7 a.m. flights do best.
- Traveling in June? Leave extra slack for anything that can't move: cruises, weddings, the last connection of the day.
- Choosing between airlines? Delta Air Lines has the better record here.
- Delayed already? Most delays at SJC come from late-arriving aircraft. If your inbound plane is late, your flight will be too, whatever the board says.
Routes from SJC
Where you're going matters too. From SJC, the most reliable busy route was to Salt Lake City (SLC, 91% on time) and the least reliable to San Diego (SAN, 68%). Flights into congested airports inherit their delays: an air traffic program at the destination holds planes on the ground here.
Least reliable first. Routes with at least 365 flights a year.
| To | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Typical arrival |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SAN San Diego | 5,620 | 68% | 1.1% | +2 min |
| AUS Austin | 1,108 | 73% | 0.4% | 0 min |
| DFW Dallas | 1,093 | 79% | 1.9% | −11 min |
| LAS Las Vegas | 3,663 | 80% | 0.5% | −6 min |
| DEN Denver | 2,546 | 80% | 0.4% | −6 min |
| PHX Phoenix | 3,013 | 80% | 0.8% | −5 min |
| HNL Honolulu | 807 | 80% | 0.1% | −8 min |
| DAL Dallas | 409 | 82% | 1.0% | −4 min |
| BOI Boise | 689 | 82% | 0.3% | −9 min |
| ONT Ontario | 1,318 | 82% | 0.1% | −8 min |
| SEA Seattle | 4,461 | 82% | 0.6% | −9 min |
| BUR Burbank | 2,137 | 83% | 1.3% | −9 min |
| MDW Chicago | 526 | 83% | 0.2% | −5 min |
| LAX Los Angeles | 4,669 | 84% | 0.9% | −10 min |
| LGB Long Beach | 1,251 | 84% | 0.2% | −8 min |
| SNA Santa Ana | 2,741 | 85% | 0.8% | −10 min |
| PDX Portland | 2,554 | 86% | 0.6% | −10 min |
| HOU Houston | 365 | 89% | 0.3% | −4 min |
| MSP Minneapolis | 511 | 90% | 1.0% | −12 min |
| SLC Salt Lake City | 1,794 | 91% | 0.4% | −14 min |
| ATL Atlanta | 898 | 91% | 1.2% | −15 min |
| OGG Kahului | 470 | 91% | 0.2% | −9 min |
Flights into SJC
Arriving rather than leaving? These are the routes into San Jose, least reliable first. The weakest is from Dallas (64% on time).
| From | Flights | On time | Cancelled |
|---|---|---|---|
| DAL Dallas | 409 | 64% | 1.7% |
| MDW Chicago | 526 | 64% | 1.3% |
| DFW Dallas | 1,090 | 72% | 1.7% |
| MSP Minneapolis | 511 | 73% | 1.0% |
| DEN Denver | 2,547 | 73% | 0.4% |
| AUS Austin | 1,095 | 74% | 0.4% |
| SAN San Diego | 5,591 | 74% | 1.0% |
| OGG Kahului | 471 | 75% | 0.4% |
| PHX Phoenix | 2,979 | 78% | 0.5% |
| LAS Las Vegas | 3,693 | 78% | 0.4% |
| SEA Seattle | 4,464 | 80% | 0.6% |
| HNL Honolulu | 808 | 81% | 0.0% |
| PDX Portland | 2,554 | 83% | 0.6% |
| ATL Atlanta | 898 | 85% | 1.2% |
| LAX Los Angeles | 4,669 | 85% | 1.0% |
| BUR Burbank | 2,133 | 85% | 1.2% |
| SNA Santa Ana | 2,677 | 85% | 0.8% |
| LGB Long Beach | 1,251 | 86% | 0.2% |
| ONT Ontario | 1,320 | 86% | 0.1% |
| SLC Salt Lake City | 1,796 | 86% | 0.4% |
| BOI Boise | 687 | 87% | 0.1% |
Questions about SJC delays
What is the best time to fly out of SJC?
Flights scheduled at 7 a.m.: over the past year 93% of SJC departures at that hour arrived on time, against 65% at 9 p.m., the worst hour.
What month has the most flight delays at SJC?
June (78% on time). February is the best month (87%).
Which airline is most on time at SJC?
Delta Air Lines: 91% of its SJC departures arrived on time over the past year. Southwest Airlines had the weakest record at 78%.
Why are flights delayed at SJC?
The biggest cause was late-arriving aircraft (47% of delay minutes): the plane showed up late from its previous flight, so the delay started somewhere else. Then the airlines themselves (28%).
Is SJC or SFO or OAK more reliable?
Over the past year: SJC 81% on time, SFO 74%, OAK 78%.
How often are flights cancelled at SJC?
0.7% of scheduled departures over the past 12 months, peaking in January at 1.4%.
Hours are scheduled local departure times. "On time" means arriving less than 15 minutes late at the destination; cancelled and diverted flights count as not on time. Method.