SFO: security peaks at 10 AM, and 8 AM arrivals taxi longest

San Francisco’s busiest security hour of the week is 10 AM, later than most big airports. On Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays the top band typically runs from 9 AM to 1 PM, after a short spike at 7 AM.

A noon flight means arriving at the peak

On a typical Thursday, the 5 and 6 AM hours sit in the 20–30 minute band, the 7 AM hour touches the top band, and 8 AM drops back. Then the top band runs from 9 AM to 1 PM. From 4 PM most hours are back in the 10–20 minute band. So a flight around noon has you at the checkpoint in the worst stretch of the day.

Tuesday is the quiet day: no hour in the top band, and only 6 hours at 20 minutes or more, against 14 on Thursday.

Morning arrivals are the slow ones

SFO’s median from landing to gate is 6 minutes, among the shortest of the big airports. The exception is 8 AM. Flights landing in that hour take a median 8 minutes, and the slowest 1 in 10 take at least 27. By mid-afternoon the slow tail is 12.

The records don’t say why. LAX’s slow tail also peaks at 8 AM.

BART depends on your gate

From the G gates, BART is 2 to 12 minutes away. From the A gates it’s 5 to 16. From the F gates in Terminal 3 it’s 13 to 29. The rental car center is a train ride from everywhere, at 10 to 34 minutes depending on the gate.

Rideshares load on Level 5 of the domestic garage, 4 to 20 minutes from a domestic gate. From the International Terminal they load on the Departures level center island, 3 to 15 minutes out.

For a carry-on in row 25 of a 737, the typical trip from landing to curb is 26 minutes, 35 on a slow one. A checked bag adds about 6, and that bag figure is a judgement.

Terminal G’s passport hall runs shorter than A’s

Of arrivals at Terminal A, 20.4% waited over 30 minutes last year. At Terminal G it was 13.8%. Over the day, the share falls from about 25% in the 9 and 10 AM hours to under 9% in the 6 PM hour.

SFO has 18 lounges, and Priority Pass opens 6 of them. Half of those 6 come with a condition, such as a fee at the door or an airline’s boarding pass.

What this can’t tell you

The band is a typical week. Fog days, when arrival rates fall, won’t show in a median. Taxi figures cover domestic flights only.

Passport counts mix citizens and visitors, and the reports don’t say when the clock starts. Lounge conditions change, so check before you go.

Security bands are typical, not live, and not a guarantee. Walks are modelled from maps and nobody has timed them.

Taxi and passport figures are measured. Security bands and walks are modelled. Bag time is judgement. Methods: security hours, taxi-in, landing to the curb.

Skycap looks up SFO’s typical band at the hour you’d arrive and builds it into when you should leave.

Typical security times are estimated from public passenger-throughput data. Not affiliated with any airport, airline or government agency.