Flights Charlotte → San Francisco
CLT → SFO
How long is the flight from Charlotte to San Francisco?
The flight from Charlotte (CLT) to San Francisco (SFO) takes 4h 54m on average. That is the median time recorded across 2 scheduled flights on this leg; the actual time varies by a few minutes with wind, routing and take-off queues.
Route overview
The flight route from Charlotte to San Francisco operates with an average on-time performance of 74%, experiencing a mean delay of 13.3 minutes per flight. Over the course of a year, this route sees approximately 348 flights using Airbus A321 aircraft, serving one of the world's busiest airports in terms of passenger traffic, San Francisco International Airport, which handles nearly 50 million 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 Charlotte (CLT) → San Francisco (SFO) route is operated by American Airlines. Across 925 flights monitored in recent months, 61% arrived on time (within 15 min of schedule), with an average delay of 24 minutes. The cancellation rate is 0.65%. FlightGuard's average computed risk is 25.4/100 (medium), updated in real time from weather, ATC delays, strikes, NOTAMs, fuel and flight history. At San Francisco the average ATFM delay is 5.5 minutes (main cause: atfm). Departing from Charlotte the average ATFM delay is 5.5 minutes.
Heading to San Francisco: what to expect in this direction
Flying from Charlotte (CLT) to San Francisco (SFO) heads west for about 3,687 km, a flight time of roughly 4h 54m.
Departures from Charlotte on this leg cluster in the midday window: about 62% of CLT-SFO flights take off then.
Air-traffic congestion: departing Charlotte the average ATFM delay is 5.5 min (atfm); arriving into San Francisco it is 5.5 min (atfm).
Across 925 tracked CLT-SFO flights, 61% left on time with an average delay of 24 min and a 0.7% cancellation rate.
Route facts
Flights on this route
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Airline punctuality on this route
| Airline | On-time | Average delay | Cancellations |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Airlines (AA) | 79% | 6 min | 1.1% |
Airlines operating CLT-SFO
Airports
Frequently asked questions about CLT-SFO
The flight from Charlotte (CLT) to San Francisco (SFO) takes 4h 54m on average. That is the median time recorded across 2 scheduled flights on this leg; the actual time varies by a few minutes with wind, routing and take-off queues.
On the Charlotte (CLT) -> San Francisco (SFO) route, on-time performance is 61% with an average delay of 24 minutes, based on 925 tracked flights.
The cancellation rate on Charlotte-San Francisco is 0.65% across 925 monitored flights.
The route is operated by 1 airline: American 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.
