Flights San Francisco → Miami
SFO → MIA
How long is the flight from San Francisco to Miami?
The flight from San Francisco (SFO) to Miami (MIA) takes 5h 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 Miami operates with a high level of punctuality, with 85% of flights arriving on time. Over the past year, there have been 443 total flights on this route, using aircraft such as Boeing 757, Boeing 767-300, and Boeing 737-800, experiencing an average delay of 13.3 minutes. The destination airport in Miami serves over 50 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) → Miami (MIA) route is operated by American Airlines, Alaska Airlines. Across 1151 flights monitored in recent months, 79% arrived on time (within 15 min of schedule), with an average delay of 17 minutes. The cancellation rate is 1.48%. FlightGuard's average computed risk is 19.5/100 (medium), updated in real time from weather, ATC delays, strikes, NOTAMs, fuel and flight history. At Miami 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 Miami: what to expect in this direction
Flying from San Francisco (SFO) to Miami (MIA) heads east for about 4,154 km, a flight time of roughly 5h 13m.
Departures from San Francisco on this leg cluster in the overnight window: about 46% of SFO-MIA flights take off then.
Air-traffic congestion: departing San Francisco the average ATFM delay is 5.5 min (atfm); arriving into Miami it is 5.5 min (atfm).
Across 1,151 tracked SFO-MIA flights, 79% left on time with an average delay of 17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska Airlines (AS) | 85% | -1 min | 0.5% |
| American Airlines (AA) | 79% | 6 min | 1.1% |
Airlines operating SFO-MIA
Airports
Frequently asked questions about SFO-MIA
The flight from San Francisco (SFO) to Miami (MIA) takes 5h 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) -> Miami (MIA) route, on-time performance is 79% with an average delay of 17 minutes, based on 1151 tracked flights.
The cancellation rate on San Francisco-Miami is 1.48% across 1151 monitored flights.
The route is operated by 2 airlines: American Airlines, Alaska Airlines.
Enter your flight number on FlightGuard for a real-time analysis based on 9 factors: weather at Miami, 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.
