Flights New York → San Francisco
JFK → SFO
How long is the flight from New York to San Francisco?
The flight from New York (JFK) to San Francisco (SFO) takes 5h 34m on average. That is the median time recorded across 7 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 New York to San Francisco has an on-time performance rate of 84%, with an average delay of 9.8 minutes per flight. Over the past year, this route has seen a total of 1541 flights operated by various aircraft models including Boeing 767-300, Airbus A321, Airbus A320, and Boeing 757 series planes.
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 New York (JFK) → San Francisco (SFO) route is operated by American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines. Across 4015 flights monitored in recent months, 78% arrived on time (within 15 min of schedule), with an average delay of 15 minutes. The cancellation rate is 2.96%. FlightGuard's average computed risk is 24.1/100 (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 New York the average ATFM delay is 5.5 minutes.
Heading to San Francisco: what to expect in this direction
Flying from New York (JFK) to San Francisco (SFO) heads west for about 4,152 km, a flight time of roughly 5h 34m.
Departures from New York on this leg cluster in the midday window: about 38% of JFK-SFO flights take off then.
Air-traffic congestion: departing New York the average ATFM delay is 5.5 min (atfm); arriving into San Francisco it is 5.5 min (atfm).
Across 4,015 tracked JFK-SFO flights, 78% left on time with an average delay of 15 min and a 3.0% 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) | 85% | 1 min | 0.8% |
| Alaska Airlines (AS) | 85% | -1 min | 0.5% |
| United Airlines (UA) | 83% | 5 min | 1.3% |
| American Airlines (AA) | 79% | 6 min | 1.1% |
| JetBlue Airways (B6) | 79% | 7 min | 0.1% |
Airlines operating JFK-SFO
Airports
Frequently asked questions about JFK-SFO
The flight from New York (JFK) to San Francisco (SFO) takes 5h 34m on average. That is the median time recorded across 7 scheduled flights on this leg; the actual time varies by a few minutes with wind, routing and take-off queues.
On the New York (JFK) -> San Francisco (SFO) route, on-time performance is 78% with an average delay of 15 minutes, based on 4015 tracked flights.
The cancellation rate on New York-San Francisco is 2.96% across 4015 monitored flights.
The route is operated by 5 airlines: American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Delta Air Lines, 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.
