Flights San Francisco → Cleveland
SFO → CLE
How long is the flight from San Francisco to Cleveland?
The flight from San Francisco (SFO) to Cleveland (CLE) takes 4h 13m 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 Cleveland operates with an average on-time performance of 85%, with flights typically experiencing a mean delay of just six minutes. The route sees around 89 total flights annually, utilizing aircraft such as the Boeing 737-900, Boeing 737-800, and Airbus A320, serving Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, which opened in 1925 and currently handles over eight million passengers per year.
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) → Cleveland (CLE) route is operated by United Airlines. Across 296 flights monitored in recent months, 73% arrived on time (within 15 min of schedule), with an average delay of 16 minutes. The cancellation rate is 4.05%. FlightGuard's average computed risk is 30.5/100 (medium), updated in real time from weather, ATC delays, strikes, NOTAMs, fuel and flight history. At Cleveland 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 Cleveland: what to expect in this direction
Flying from San Francisco (SFO) to Cleveland (CLE) heads east for about 3,470 km, a flight time of roughly 4h 13m.
Departures from San Francisco on this leg cluster in the overnight window: about 41% of SFO-CLE flights take off then.
Air-traffic congestion: departing San Francisco the average ATFM delay is 5.5 min (atfm); arriving into Cleveland it is 5.5 min (atfm).
Across 296 tracked SFO-CLE flights, 73% left on time with an average delay of 16 min and a 4.0% 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) | 83% | 5 min | 1.3% |
Airlines operating SFO-CLE
Airports
Frequently asked questions about SFO-CLE
The flight from San Francisco (SFO) to Cleveland (CLE) takes 4h 13m 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) -> Cleveland (CLE) route, on-time performance is 73% with an average delay of 16 minutes, based on 296 tracked flights.
The cancellation rate on San Francisco-Cleveland is 4.05% across 296 monitored flights.
The route is operated by 1 airline: United Airlines.
Enter your flight number on FlightGuard for a real-time analysis based on 9 factors: weather at Cleveland, 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.
