Flights San Francisco → San Diego
SFO → SAN
How long is the flight from San Francisco to San Diego?
The flight from San Francisco (SFO) to San Diego (SAN) takes 1h on average. That is the median time recorded across 4 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 San Diego operates with a mix of aircraft including Boeing 737 series and Airbus A320 family models. With approximately 1,657 flights annually, the route maintains a punctuality rate of 75%, with an average delay time of 12.6 minutes per flight.
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) → San Diego (SAN) route is operated by United Airlines, Southwest Airlines. Across 4199 flights monitored in recent months, 66% arrived on time (within 15 min of schedule), with an average delay of 19 minutes. The cancellation rate is 1.86%. FlightGuard's average computed risk is 26.5/100 (medium), updated in real time from weather, ATC delays, strikes, NOTAMs, fuel and flight history. At San Diego 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 San Diego: what to expect in this direction
Flying from San Francisco (SFO) to San Diego (SAN) heads south-east for about 719 km, a flight time of roughly 1h 0m.
Departures from San Francisco on this leg cluster in the overnight window: about 44% of SFO-SAN flights take off then.
Air-traffic congestion: departing San Francisco the average ATFM delay is 5.5 min (atfm); arriving into San Diego it is 5.5 min (atfm).
Across 4,199 tracked SFO-SAN flights, 66% left on time with an average delay of 19 min and a 1.9% 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% |
| Southwest Airlines (WN) | 75% | 5 min | 0.3% |
Airlines operating SFO-SAN
Airports
Frequently asked questions about SFO-SAN
The flight from San Francisco (SFO) to San Diego (SAN) takes 1h on average. That is the median time recorded across 4 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) -> San Diego (SAN) route, on-time performance is 66% with an average delay of 19 minutes, based on 4199 tracked flights.
The cancellation rate on San Francisco-San Diego is 1.86% across 4199 monitored flights.
The route is operated by 2 airlines: United Airlines, Southwest Airlines.
Enter your flight number on FlightGuard for a real-time analysis based on 9 factors: weather at San Diego, 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.
