78% of flights leaving Oakland (OAK) arrived on time over the past 12 months, 2 points better than the national average of 76%. That ranks 33 of 76 large U.S. airports. About 89 flights leave OAK on a typical day; 0.7% were cancelled. 75% 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: 5 a.m. (94% on time). Worst: 9 p.m. (55%).
- Best month: November (86%). Worst: June (76%).
- Most reliable airline here: Delta Air Lines (94%), vs Southwest Airlines at 77%.
- Biggest delay cause: late-arriving aircraft (49% of delay minutes).
- Year on year: getting worse (84% → 78%).
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 OAK: when a flight was late, it was under 45 minutes late 63% of the time. About 1 in 19 flights landed an hour or more late, and 1 in 204 three hours or more; 0.7% were cancelled outright.
- On time or early78%
- 15–30 min late9.0%
- 30–60 min late7.1%
- 1–2 hours late3.9%
- 2–3 hours late0.9%
- 3+ hours late0.5%
- Diverted0.2%
- Cancelled0.7%
Share of all 32,418 scheduled flights, past 12 months, by arrival time against schedule.
Best time of day to fly out of OAK
Time of day matters more at OAK than almost anything else you control. Flights scheduled to leave at 5 a.m. arrived on time 94% of the time; at 9 p.m. it was 55%, a 39-point gap. Taken together, early departures (5–9 a.m.) ran 91% on time against 67% 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: 6 a.m. departures were cancelled 1.4% of the time, against 0.7% overall.
Hour × month
Combine the two and the spread is wider still. The most reliable combination at OAK was a 5 a.m. departure in October (96% on time); the least, 9 p.m. in July (54%). 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 OAK, with 76% of flights on time across 2023–2026; November is the best at 86%. Summer (June–August) runs 7 points worse than autumn: heavy schedules, peak loads and afternoon thunderstorms. Cancellations peak in January (1.1% of flights).
Airlines at OAK
Southwest Airlines runs 85% of departures from OAK, so OAK 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 (94% on time) and Southwest Airlines the least (77%), a 17-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 | 27,640 | 77% | 73% | 0.5% | −3 min |
| Alaska Airlines | 3,201 | 81% | 84% | 1.7% | −5 min |
| Delta Air Lines | 1,074 | 94% | 93% | 0.2% | −14 min |
| Hawaiian Airlines | 333 | 86% | 87% | 2.4% | −10 min |
Why flights are late at OAK
Airlines report a cause for every flight that arrives 15 or more minutes late. At OAK, 49% 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 33%. 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 212 cancellations, 24% 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 13 minutes, shorter than at most large U.S. airports.
OAK vs nearby airports
OAK isn't the only option in the Bay Area. Over the past year SFO ran 74% on time with 1.1% of flights cancelled; SJC ran 81% on time with 0.7% of flights cancelled, against 78% and 0.7% at OAK. SJC has the better record, so if fares and times are close, it is the safer pick.
| Airport | Distance | Departures | On time | Cancelled |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OAK Oakland | — | 32,418 | 78% | 0.7% |
| SFO San Francisco | 11 mi | 151,553 | 74% | 1.1% |
| SJC San Jose | 29 mi | 44,965 | 81% | 0.7% |
Month by month
Over the latest 12 months 78% of OAK departures were on time, against 84% in the 12 months before, a decline of 6 points. The best recent month was January 2026 (88%); the worst, June 2026 (69%).
Worst cancellation days
The worst single day in the past year was Sunday, Nov 9, 2025, when 9% of 96 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 | 96 | 9% | 58% |
| Nov 10, 2025 | 97 | 8% | 65% |
| Nov 8, 2025 | 72 | 7% | 82% |
| Nov 13, 2025 | 96 | 6% | 80% |
| Nov 7, 2025 | 97 | 6% | 76% |
| Nov 11, 2025 | 85 | 6% | 89% |
| Nov 12, 2025 | 85 | 6% | 89% |
| Mar 16, 2026 | 91 | 4% | 54% |
| Dec 19, 2025 | 93 | 4% | 44% |
| Nov 14, 2025 | 97 | 4% | 78% |
Last flights of the day
The last flight of the day is a different bet. Across routes from OAK, each airline's final departure was cancelled 0.5% of the time, against 0.7% for its earlier flights, so at OAK the last flight is actually the steadier one. 0.3% of last flights landed 3+ hours late. The riskiest last flight out was Alaska Airlines to San Diego (2.3% cancelled).
| Last flight to | Airline | Leaves | Cancelled | 3h+ late | On time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SAN San Diego | Alaska Airlines | 8:10 p.m. | 2.3% | 0.0% | 48% |
| SAN San Diego | Southwest Airlines | 8:30 p.m. | 1.1% | 0.8% | 53% |
| SNA Santa Ana | Southwest Airlines | 8:30 p.m. | 1.6% | 0.0% | 81% |
| SEA Seattle | Alaska Airlines | 2:55 p.m. | 1.4% | 0.0% | 67% |
| DEN Denver | Southwest Airlines | 7:40 p.m. | 0.8% | 0.5% | 62% |
| ONT Ontario | Southwest Airlines | 7:55 p.m. | 0.0% | 1.1% | 65% |
| PDX Portland | Alaska Airlines | 7:03 p.m. | 0.7% | 0.3% | 78% |
| LAS Las Vegas | Southwest Airlines | 9:00 p.m. | 0.5% | 0.3% | 68% |
| PHX Phoenix | Southwest Airlines | 8:40 p.m. | 0.0% | 0.8% | 70% |
| SLC Salt Lake City | Southwest Airlines | 12:20 p.m. | 0.0% | 0.6% | 68% |
| LAX Los Angeles | Southwest Airlines | 7:45 p.m. | 0.0% | 0.5% | 71% |
| PDX Portland | Southwest Airlines | 8:30 p.m. | 0.0% | 0.5% | 69% |
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 OAK
- Book the earliest departure you can live with. At OAK the 5 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 OAK come from late-arriving aircraft. If your inbound plane is late, your flight will be too, whatever the board says.
Routes from OAK
Where you're going matters too. From OAK, the most reliable busy route was to Salt Lake City (SLC, 88% on time) and the least reliable to San Diego (SAN, 62%). 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 | 3,464 | 62% | 1.1% | +5 min |
| DEN Denver | 1,608 | 71% | 0.4% | +2 min |
| HOU Houston | 376 | 75% | 0.5% | +1 min |
| PSP Palm Springs | 473 | 75% | 0.9% | −4 min |
| LAS Las Vegas | 3,264 | 76% | 0.6% | −2 min |
| SEA Seattle | 2,304 | 77% | 1.0% | −4 min |
| DAL Dallas | 411 | 77% | 1.0% | 0 min |
| PHX Phoenix | 1,907 | 77% | 0.3% | −3 min |
| LAX Los Angeles | 2,064 | 78% | 0.5% | −6 min |
| HNL Honolulu | 729 | 79% | 0.7% | −4 min |
| ONT Ontario | 1,458 | 80% | 0.5% | −7 min |
| BUR Burbank | 2,694 | 81% | 0.9% | −7 min |
| LIH Lihue | 646 | 81% | 0.9% | −6 min |
| PDX Portland | 1,913 | 82% | 0.8% | −6 min |
| BOI Boise | 530 | 83% | 0.0% | −5 min |
| OGG Kahului | 731 | 84% | 1.4% | −8 min |
| MDW Chicago | 526 | 84% | 0.2% | −5 min |
| SNA Santa Ana | 2,356 | 84% | 0.9% | −8 min |
| LGB Long Beach | 1,568 | 85% | 0.3% | −9 min |
| SLC Salt Lake City | 1,621 | 88% | 0.1% | −11 min |
Flights into OAK
Arriving rather than leaving? These are the routes into Oakland, least reliable first. The weakest is from Chicago (60% on time).
| From | Flights | On time | Cancelled |
|---|---|---|---|
| MDW Chicago | 525 | 60% | 1.3% |
| DAL Dallas | 411 | 60% | 1.0% |
| DEN Denver | 1,613 | 65% | 0.8% |
| SAN San Diego | 3,476 | 71% | 1.3% |
| LAS Las Vegas | 3,228 | 71% | 0.4% |
| SEA Seattle | 2,303 | 75% | 0.9% |
| PHX Phoenix | 1,922 | 75% | 0.4% |
| HOU Houston | 375 | 78% | 0.5% |
| LAX Los Angeles | 2,055 | 79% | 0.4% |
| PDX Portland | 1,914 | 80% | 0.7% |
| HNL Honolulu | 729 | 81% | 0.1% |
| BOI Boise | 529 | 83% | 0.0% |
| OGG Kahului | 730 | 84% | 0.5% |
| SNA Santa Ana | 2,355 | 84% | 0.6% |
| BUR Burbank | 2,694 | 84% | 0.9% |
| PSP Palm Springs | 471 | 85% | 0.9% |
| ONT Ontario | 1,450 | 86% | 0.5% |
| LIH Lihue | 647 | 87% | 0.6% |
| LGB Long Beach | 1,568 | 88% | 0.4% |
| SLC Salt Lake City | 1,621 | 90% | 0.2% |
Questions about OAK delays
What is the best time to fly out of OAK?
Flights scheduled at 5 a.m.: over the past year 94% of OAK departures at that hour arrived on time, against 55% at 9 p.m., the worst hour.
What month has the most flight delays at OAK?
June (76% on time). November is the best month (86%).
Which airline is most on time at OAK?
Delta Air Lines: 94% of its OAK departures arrived on time over the past year. Southwest Airlines had the weakest record at 77%.
Why are flights delayed at OAK?
The biggest cause was late-arriving aircraft (49% of delay minutes): the plane showed up late from its previous flight, so the delay started somewhere else. Then the airlines themselves (33%).
Is OAK or SFO or SJC more reliable?
Over the past year: OAK 78% on time, SFO 74%, SJC 81%.
How often are flights cancelled at OAK?
0.7% of scheduled departures over the past 12 months, peaking in January at 1.1%.
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.