Flights Los Angeles → San Francisco
LAX → SFO
Route overview
The flight route from Los Angeles to San Francisco operates with a high frequency of 2,880 flights annually and uses various aircraft models including the Boeing 737 series, Embraer 175, Airbus A319, and A320. With an on-time performance rate of 77%, these flights typically experience an average delay of 11.9 minutes.
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 Los Angeles (LAX) → San Francisco (SFO) route is operated by American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines. Across 3738 flights monitored in recent months, 78% arrived on time (within 15 min of schedule), with an average delay of 12 minutes. The cancellation rate is 2.09%. FlightGuard's average computed risk is 20.7/100 (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 Los Angeles the average ATFM delay is 2.0 minutes.
Heading to San Francisco: what to expect in this direction
Flying from Los Angeles (LAX) to San Francisco (SFO) heads north-west for about 543 km, a flight time of roughly 1h 6m.
Departures from Los Angeles on this leg cluster in the overnight window: about 42% of LAX-SFO flights take off then.
Air-traffic congestion: departing Los Angeles the average ATFM delay is 2.0 min (atfm); arriving into San Francisco it is 2.0 min (atfm).
Across 3,738 tracked LAX-SFO flights, 78% left on time with an average delay of 12 min and a 2.1% cancellation rate.
Route facts
Flights on this route
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Airline punctuality on this route
| Airline | On-time | Average delay | Cancellations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delta Air Lines (DL) | 80% | 8 min | 1.8% |
| United Airlines (UA) | 74% | 10 min | 6.9% |
| American Airlines (AA) | 74% | 16 min | 3.0% |
| Southwest Airlines (WN) | 73% | 6 min | 3.1% |
| Alaska Airlines (AS) | 67% | 10 min | 11.9% |
Airlines operating LAX-SFO
Airports
Frequently asked questions about LAX-SFO
On the Los Angeles (LAX) -> San Francisco (SFO) route, on-time performance is 78% with an average delay of 12 minutes, based on 3738 tracked flights.
The cancellation rate on Los Angeles-San Francisco is 2.09% across 3738 monitored flights.
The route is operated by 5 airlines: American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Southwest 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.
