Best time to fly out of Mineta San Jose (SJC)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Mineta San Jose: departures in the 6–8am band left on time 94.4% of the time, against 70% in the 8–10pm band. These are historical odds, not forecasts. The records say what happened on this schedule over three years; they know nothing about tomorrow’s thunderstorm.
Data through June 2026 · Bureau of Transportation Statistics
On-time rate by hour and day
On this page, “on time” means a departure that pushed back less than 15 minutes behind its scheduled time — the Bureau of Transportation Statistics definition, and the one airlines are held to.
| Departure time | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before 6am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 6–8am | 95 | 95 | 95 | 95 | 95 | 93 | 95 |
| 8–10am | 91 | 93 | 93 | 92 | 91 | 92 | 92 |
| 10am–12pm | 83 | 89 | 88 | 86 | 83 | 88 | 85 |
| 12–2pm | 80 | 86 | 86 | 83 | 77 | 85 | 79 |
| 2–4pm | 74 | 82 | 81 | 74 | 71 | 82 | 74 |
| 4–6pm | 76 | 86 | 83 | 72 | 71 | 83 | 71 |
| 6–8pm | 77 | 83 | 81 | 72 | 71 | 81 | 70 |
| 8–10pm | 71 | 83 | 75 | 63 | 65 | 75 | 67 |
| 10pm–12am | 79 | 83 | 88 | 86 | 78 | 81 | 74 |
The steadiest stretch at SJC was 6–8am — 94.4% of departures left on time across 28,080 flights. The weakest was 8–10pm at 70%. 6–8am departures from SJC left on time 94.4% of the time across 28,080 flights; 6–8pm departures, 75.7% across 16,109. That is a gap of 18.7 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
The year at SJC
June was the hard month at SJC: 77.4% of departures left on time, across 12,235 flights. January was the easy one at 87.2%. Each month pools three years of that month, so a single bad week does not decide it.
| Month | Share departures that left on time | Flights |
|---|---|---|
| January | 87.2% | 10,628 |
| February | 86.1% | 10,101 |
| March | 85.5% | 11,298 |
| April | 84.8% | 11,184 |
| May | 82.9% | 11,904 |
| June | 77.4% | 12,235 |
| July | 80.1% | 13,211 |
| August | 83.4% | 13,162 |
| September | 84.7% | 12,605 |
| October | 83.2% | 12,820 |
| November | 86.2% | 12,026 |
| December | 83% | 11,983 |
Airlines at SJC
Every airline with at least 100 departures from SJC, busiest first. These are that airline’s departures from this airport only — its record across the country sits on its own page.
| Airline | Left on time | Typical delay | Cancelled | Departures |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 80.7% | 48 min | 0.6% | 85,392 |
| SkyWest Airlines | 90.1% | 70 min | 0.3% | 22,888 |
| Alaska Airlines | 87.9% | 54 min | 1.5% | 8,463 |
| Delta Air Lines | 90.7% | 88 min | 0.9% | 7,589 |
| United Airlines | 88.9% | 76 min | 0.8% | 5,375 |
| American Airlines | 82% | 99 min | 1.4% | 4,861 |
| Spirit Airlines | 80.9% | 68 min | 0.9% | 4,479 |
| Hawaiian Airlines | 92.1% | 76 min | 0.8% | 1,730 |
| Frontier Airlines | 79% | 71 min | 1.1% | 1,297 |
| Envoy Air | 88.6% | 52 min | 0.6% | 706 |
| JetBlue Airways | 54.7% | 106 min | 3.4% | 377 |
What delays out of SJC were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 22,248 flights that departed SJC and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 45.9% put down to late-arriving aircraft and 31.8% to airline operations.
- Late-arriving aircraft 45.9%
- Airline operations 31.8%
- Air traffic & airport volume 19.5%
- Severe weather 2.7%
- Security 0.2%
Late-arriving aircraft is the knock-on category: the plane came in late, so it went out late again. It is why a 7am problem in Newark is still a problem in Denver at dinnertime, and why it is usually the biggest slice on the bar.
If you are connecting through SJC
Of 142,947 scheduled arrivals into SJC, 81.4% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 25,612 arrivals that ran late, 61.4% were no more than 45 minutes behind — which is the difference between a tight connection and a new boarding pass.
Work out a specific layover — pick the airport and the minutes you have, and the tool reads the same arrival records back as a share.
Busiest routes out of SJC
Ranked by flights, with the share that arrived on time at the far end. Where a route carries enough flights for a page of its own the chip goes there; otherwise it goes to the destination airport.
- SAN 77% on time · 16,368 flights
- LAX 87% on time · 15,203 flights
- SEA 84.1% on time · 13,461 flights
- LAS 81.1% on time · 12,866 flights
- PHX 84.4% on time · 9,361 flights
- DEN 83.6% on time · 8,709 flights
- SNA 87.3% on time · 8,121 flights
- BUR 85.2% on time · 7,245 flights
- PDX 85.7% on time · 6,281 flights
- SLC 91.6% on time · 5,491 flights
SJC in one number
Mineta San Jose (SJC)
Rank 40 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: 6–8am. Hardest month: June.
Questions about SJC
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Mineta San Jose?
- 6–8am. Departures in that band left on time 94.4% of the time across 28,080 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 8–10pm band was the weakest at 70%.
- Is the early flight out of SJC really more reliable?
- 6–8am departures from SJC left on time 94.4% of the time across 28,080 flights; 6–8pm departures, 75.7% across 16,109. That is a gap of 18.7 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
- What is the worst month to fly out of SJC?
- June: 77.4% of the departures that flew left on time, with 12,235 scheduled. January was the other end of the year at 87.2%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- Which airline is most on time at SJC?
- Hawaiian Airlines — 92.1% of its 1,730 departures from SJC left on time. JetBlue Airways sat at the other end at 54.7% over 377 flights. Only airlines with at least 100 departures here are ranked.
- How often are flights cancelled at SJC?
- 0.7% of scheduled departures were cancelled over July 2023 through June 2026. Cancellations are counted against everything scheduled, not against everything that flew — a rate that looks small still adds up to real people in a rebooking line.