How reliable is San Diego International Airport?
Flights from SAN departed within 15 minutes of schedule in 79% of 537,008 flights in official BTS history — and weather is calmest in May. Here’s the full picture before you book.
Reliability score
on-time, cancellations & delays
Weather favorability
year-round climate
Origin-airport operations
What the departure punctuality at SAN looks like
On-time departures
across 537,008 flights
Source: BTS Airport Operations · data through 2026-08-08. Role-specific BTS departure history; advisory context, not a guarantee for any flight.
Weather by month
When the weather works for you at San Diego
A calm-weather score (0–100) for each month from decades of airport observations — how often conditions disrupt flying, not temperature. Higher is calmer.
Calmest month
Calmest flying weather of the year · 97/100 favorability
Roughest month
Most disruptive — low visibility & fog, high winds · 84/100 favorability
Connecting through SAN
How much layover you really need
Based on 56 sellable domestic itineraries seen through Google Flights. Median observed layover: 152 min.
Observed windows come from normalized SearchAPI / Google Flights itineraries. They are not official airport MCTs. We score every connecting itinerary against conservative connection floors.
The read on SAN
What the numbers say about flying through San Diego International Airport
Across official performance history, flights from San Diego left within 15 minutes of schedule about 79% of the time over 537,008 flights. That's a respectable but unspectacular operational record. Pair it with a moderate cancellation rate of 1.3%. When a departure does run late, the typical delay is around 12 minutes.
On weather, San Diego is an unusually calm-weather airport year-round. May is the calmest stretch for flying, scoring 97 out of 100 for favorable conditions, while December is the most disruptive at 84, driven mainly by low visibility & fog and high winds. The year is relatively steady, so no single month stands out as one to avoid on weather alone.
If you're connecting through SAN, give yourself room. Real itineraries sold through SAN bottom out around 73 minutes for a domestic connection. Those are floors, not comfortable buffers — one inbound delay can erase them, so add margin when the connection matters.
None of this guarantees your specific flight — it’s the backdrop. To turn it into a booking, score real flights to San Diego, read how we weigh it all in how the PlaneSane Score works, and brush up with how to pick a reliable flight and avoiding weather delays.
Common questions about SAN
- How reliable is San Diego International Airport (SAN)?
- Flights from San Diego left within 15 minutes of schedule roughly 79% of the time across 537,008 flights of official history — a respectable but unspectacular operational record. The cancellation rate runs about 1.3%. It's advisory context, not a guarantee for any single flight.
- What is the best month to fly from SAN for good weather?
- May has the calmest flying weather at San Diego International Airport. December is the most disruptive, mainly from low visibility & fog and high winds.
- How much layover time do you need at SAN?
- Allow at least about 73 minutes for a domestic connection as a floor. These are minimums, not comfortable buffers — a single inbound delay can wipe them out, so add margin when you can.
Reliability guides
Planning a trip through San Diego?
Score real flights to and from SAN on reliability, weather, and connection safety — not just price.