Flights Santa Barbara → San Francisco
SBA → SFO
Route overview
The flight route from Santa Barbara to San Francisco operates with an average on-time performance rate of 72%, experiencing a mean delay of 19.2 minutes per flight. Over the course of a year, this route sees 415 flights using Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia aircraft, serving a destination airport that handles approximately 50,196,094 passengers annually.
Your rights on this US flight (DOT)
US flights have no statutory cash compensation for delays. Under the US DOT rules, if your flight is cancelled or significantly changed and you decline rebooking, you're owed an automatic refund of the unused ticket. The tarmac-delay limit is 3 hours (domestic) / 4 hours (international). Amenities for controllable delays depend on each airline's contract of carriage.
US flight refund rules & checker →General information, not legal advice.
The Santa Barbara (SBA) → San Francisco (SFO) route is operated by United Airlines. Across 508 flights monitored in recent months, 74% arrived on time (within 15 min of schedule), with an average delay of 18 minutes. The cancellation rate is 0.98%. FlightGuard's average computed risk is 23/100 (medium), updated in real time from weather, ATC delays, strikes, NOTAMs, fuel and flight history. At San Francisco the average ATFM delay is 2.0 minutes (main cause: atfm). Departing from Santa Barbara the average ATFM delay is 3.6 minutes.
Heading to San Francisco: what to expect in this direction
Flying from Santa Barbara (SBA) to San Francisco (SFO) heads north-west for about 422 km, a flight time of roughly 57m.
Departures from Santa Barbara on this leg cluster in the overnight window: about 49% of SBA-SFO flights take off then.
Air-traffic congestion: departing Santa Barbara the average ATFM delay is 3.6 min (airspace/NAS (BTS)); arriving into San Francisco it is 2.0 min (atfm).
Across 508 tracked SBA-SFO flights, 74% left on time with an average delay of 18 min and a 1.0% cancellation rate.
Route facts
Flights on this route
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Airline punctuality on this route
| Airline | On-time | Average delay | Cancellations |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Airlines (UA) | 74% | 10 min | 6.9% |
Airlines operating SBA-SFO
Airports
Frequently asked questions about SBA-SFO
On the Santa Barbara (SBA) -> San Francisco (SFO) route, on-time performance is 74% with an average delay of 18 minutes, based on 508 tracked flights.
The cancellation rate on Santa Barbara-San Francisco is 0.98% across 508 monitored flights.
The route is operated by 1 airline: United Airlines.
Enter your flight number on FlightGuard for a real-time analysis based on 9 factors: weather at San Francisco, ATC delays, strikes, NOTAMs, fuel, airline punctuality and recent trends.
US flights have no statutory cash compensation for delays. Under US DOT rules, if the airline cancels or significantly changes your flight and you decline rebooking, you're owed an automatic refund of the unused ticket. The tarmac-delay limit is 3 hours (domestic) / 4 hours (international). Meals or hotels for controllable delays depend on each airline's contract of carriage.
