Flights Philadelphia → San Francisco
PHL → SFO
Route overview
The flight route from Philadelphia to San Francisco operates with an average on-time performance of 82%, with flights typically experiencing a mean delay of 11.7 minutes. Over the course of a year, this route sees around 427 total flights using various aircraft such as Airbus A320, Airbus A321, Boeing 737-900, Boeing 737-800, Airbus A319, and Boeing 757-200, serving a destination airport that handles approximately 50.2 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 Philadelphia (PHL) → San Francisco (SFO) route is operated by American Airlines, United Airlines. Across 521 flights monitored in recent months, 82% arrived on time (within 15 min of schedule), with an average delay of 11 minutes. The cancellation rate is 1.54%. FlightGuard's average computed risk is 19.9/100 (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 Philadelphia the average ATFM delay is 2.0 minutes.
Heading to San Francisco: what to expect in this direction
Flying from Philadelphia (PHL) to San Francisco (SFO) heads west for about 4,048 km, a flight time of roughly 5h 29m.
Departures from Philadelphia on this leg cluster in the midday window: about 45% of PHL-SFO flights take off then.
Air-traffic congestion: departing Philadelphia the average ATFM delay is 2.0 min (atfm); arriving into San Francisco it is 2.0 min (atfm).
Across 521 tracked PHL-SFO flights, 82% left on time with an average delay of 11 min and a 1.5% 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% |
| American Airlines (AA) | 74% | 16 min | 3.0% |
Airlines operating PHL-SFO
Airports
Frequently asked questions about PHL-SFO
On the Philadelphia (PHL) -> San Francisco (SFO) route, on-time performance is 82% with an average delay of 11 minutes, based on 521 tracked flights.
The cancellation rate on Philadelphia-San Francisco is 1.54% across 521 monitored flights.
The route is operated by 2 airlines: American Airlines, 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.
