Best time to fly New York to San Francisco

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

Best month

September

85.8% on time · 579 flights

Worst month

June

60.9% on time · 611 flights

Month Flights On time Cancelled When late, by
January 539 76.1% 5.94% 62 min
February 465 77.7% 8.17% 71 min
March 533 81.6% 0.94% 72 min
April 543 70.5% 0% 54 min
May 593 69.2% 0.51% 64 min
June 611 60.9% 0.98% 66 min
July 582 72.1% 3.26% 94 min
August 591 84.4% 0.17% 78 min
September 579 85.8% 0.35% 71 min
October 611 72.3% 0.49% 78 min
November 546 75.4% 0.92% 69 min
December 537 65% 2.79% 73 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.