Flights San Francisco → Chicago
SFO → ORD
How long is the flight from San Francisco to Chicago?
The flight from San Francisco (SFO) to Chicago (ORD) takes 3h 45m 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 San Francisco to Chicago has a 77% on-time performance rate, with an average delay of 18.4 minutes per flight. Over the past year, this route has seen 1341 flights operated by various aircraft models including Boeing 737-800 and Airbus A320, serving one of the busiest destination airports in the United States, which handles nearly 80 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 San Francisco (SFO) → Chicago (ORD) route is operated by American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, United Airlines. Across 3414 flights monitored in recent months, 75% arrived on time (within 15 min of schedule), with an average delay of 23 minutes. The cancellation rate is 1.76%. FlightGuard's average computed risk is 26.6/100 (medium), updated in real time from weather, ATC delays, strikes, NOTAMs, fuel and flight history. At Chicago the average ATFM delay is 5.5 minutes (main cause: atfm). Departing from San Francisco the average ATFM delay is 5.5 minutes.
Heading to Chicago: what to expect in this direction
Flying from San Francisco (SFO) to Chicago (ORD) heads east for about 2,964 km, a flight time of roughly 3h 45m.
Departures from San Francisco on this leg cluster in the overnight window: about 39% of SFO-ORD flights take off then.
Air-traffic congestion: departing San Francisco the average ATFM delay is 5.5 min (atfm); arriving into Chicago it is 5.5 min (atfm).
Across 3,414 tracked SFO-ORD flights, 75% left on time with an average delay of 23 min and a 1.8% cancellation rate.
Route facts
Flights on this route
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Airline punctuality on this route
| Airline | On-time | Average delay | Cancellations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska Airlines (AS) | 85% | -1 min | 0.5% |
| United Airlines (UA) | 83% | 5 min | 1.3% |
| American Airlines (AA) | 79% | 6 min | 1.1% |
Airlines operating SFO-ORD
Airports
Frequently asked questions about SFO-ORD
The flight from San Francisco (SFO) to Chicago (ORD) takes 3h 45m 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 San Francisco (SFO) -> Chicago (ORD) route, on-time performance is 75% with an average delay of 23 minutes, based on 3414 tracked flights.
The cancellation rate on San Francisco-Chicago is 1.76% across 3414 monitored flights.
The route is operated by 3 airlines: American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, United Airlines.
Enter your flight number on FlightGuard for a real-time analysis based on 9 factors: weather at Chicago, 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.
