Best time to fly Washington to San Francisco

Every month pooled across the years on record, so "July" means July generally rather than one particular July. Full IAD to SFO record →

Best month

March

87.8% on time · 209 flights

Worst month

June

63.5% on time · 234 flights

Month Flights On time Cancelled When late, by
January 209 78.3% 4.78% 115 min
February 189 78.3% 0% 86 min
March 209 87.8% 1.91% 96 min
April 229 80.8% 0% 59 min
May 268 79.8% 0% 62 min
June 234 63.5% 0.43% 49 min
July 267 68.8% 1.12% 79 min
August 255 83.3% 1.18% 73 min
September 206 87.4% 0% 70 min
October 246 82.8% 0.81% 60 min
November 230 82.5% 0.87% 76 min
December 245 68.9% 0% 84 min

What a seasonal pattern can and cannot tell you

Months differ for reasons that repeat — summer thunderstorms in the American interior, winter fog and de-icing in northern Europe, school holidays filling every seat and leaving no slack in the schedule. Those are real and they come back each year.

What the pattern cannot do is forecast a particular flight. A quiet month has late days and a bad month has punctual ones. Treat this as a way to choose between two dates you are indifferent about, not as a promise.