SFO to ATL flight delays
San Francisco, CA (SFO) Atlanta, GA (ATL) · 2,139 miles
304 flights · March 2025 – August 2026 · US Bureau of Transportation Statistics
77.48%
Arrived on time
Within 15 minutes of schedule
0.66%
Cancelled
Share of scheduled flights
56 min
When late, late by
Average across delayed arrivals
14 min
Delay per flight
Averaged over every flight flown
What the record says about this route
The two directions do not behave alike. ATL to SFO arrives on time 21.5 points less often than the outbound. Delay accumulates through the flying day, so whichever direction is scheduled later tends to carry the worse record — which is an argument for booking the morning departure if the choice exists.
This route does better than its own airport. Departures from SFO overall run 13.6 points less punctual than this particular one — so whatever congestion SFO has, this route is largely escaping it.
Only Delta Air Lines flies this route in the published record, so there is no choice to weigh — the route's figures and the airline's are the same figures.
This is a thin route — 304 flights across the whole period. On a route this infrequent a cancellation is far more costly than the rate suggests, because the next departure may not be the same day.
Which airline should you fly on this route?
Over March 2025 – August 2026, Delta Air Lines arrived on time most often on SFO to ATL.
Every airline on SFO to ATL
Ranked by how many flights each one operated. A carrier with fewer than 100 flights in the period is listed but not graded.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Avg delay | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delta Air Lines | 217 | 75.58% | 0% | 53 min | C |
| United Airlines | 57 | 87.72% | 0% | 64 min | — |
| Frontier Airlines | 30 | 71.43% | 6.67% | 66 min | — |
The return leg
ATL to SFO Atlanta back to San Francisco 55.96% on time FOther routes from San Francisco
Common questions
Are flights from San Francisco to Atlanta usually delayed?
77.48% of flights on the SFO to ATL route arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, so roughly 2 in every ten arrived late. That is about the same as the average route in this record.
Which airlines fly from San Francisco to Atlanta?
Only Delta Air Lines appears in the published record on this route, with 217 flights and 75.58% arriving on time.
How often are SFO to ATL flights cancelled?
0.66% of scheduled flights did not operate — about 7 in every thousand. That is in the normal range.
When SFO to ATL flights are late, how late are they?
About 56 minutes on average across the flights that arrived more than 15 minutes behind schedule.
What these figures do and do not tell you
Everything on this page is counted from the flights that actually operated on SFO to ATL during March 2025 – August 2026, as reported by the airlines to the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics. "On time" is the federal definition: arriving at the gate within 15 minutes of the scheduled time.
A route's record is a description of the past, not a forecast. Weather, air traffic control and the aircraft's earlier flights that day drive most delays, and none of them are predictable from a historical rate. What the record does tell you is whether this route runs late more often than others, and which carrier on it has the better history — which is the part you can actually act on when you book.
Cancellations are counted separately from delays because they are a different problem for a traveller: a late flight still gets you there. How the grade is calculated →