Flights San Francisco → Detroit
SFO → DTW
How long is the flight from San Francisco to Detroit?
The flight from San Francisco (SFO) to Detroit (DTW) takes 4h 3m 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 Detroit operates with a high level of punctuality, achieving an on-time performance rate of 85%. Over the course of a year, approximately 403 flights are conducted using Boeing 767-300 and Boeing 737-900 aircraft, with each flight experiencing an average delay of just five minutes. Detroit's airport serves over 28 million passengers annually, making it one of the busiest in the country.
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) → Detroit (DTW) route is operated by Delta Air Lines. Across 1086 flights monitored in recent months, 78% arrived on time (within 15 min of schedule), with an average delay of 10 minutes. The cancellation rate is 0.64%. FlightGuard's average computed risk is 20.8/100 (medium), updated in real time from weather, ATC delays, strikes, NOTAMs, fuel and flight history. At Detroit 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 Detroit: what to expect in this direction
Flying from San Francisco (SFO) to Detroit (DTW) heads east for about 3,337 km, a flight time of roughly 4h 3m.
Departures from San Francisco on this leg cluster in the overnight window: about 30% of SFO-DTW flights take off then.
Air-traffic congestion: departing San Francisco the average ATFM delay is 5.5 min (atfm); arriving into Detroit it is 5.5 min (atfm).
Across 1,086 tracked SFO-DTW flights, 78% left on time with an average delay of 10 min and a 0.6% 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% |
Airlines operating SFO-DTW
Airports
Frequently asked questions about SFO-DTW
The flight from San Francisco (SFO) to Detroit (DTW) takes 4h 3m 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) -> Detroit (DTW) route, on-time performance is 78% with an average delay of 10 minutes, based on 1086 tracked flights.
The cancellation rate on San Francisco-Detroit is 0.64% across 1086 monitored flights.
The route is operated by 1 airline: Delta Air Lines.
Enter your flight number on FlightGuard for a real-time analysis based on 9 factors: weather at Detroit, 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.
