Flights San Francisco → Washington
SFO → DCA
Route overview
This flight route operates between San Francisco and Washington, utilizing a mix of Boeing 737-800, Boeing 737-700, and Airbus A320 aircraft. With an on-time performance rate of 81%, the flights experience an average delay of 7.6 minutes, based on a total of 266 recorded flights. The destination airport, which opened in 1938, serves over 25 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) → Washington (DCA) route is operated by United Airlines. Across 328 flights monitored in recent months, 83% arrived on time (within 15 min of schedule), with an average delay of 6 minutes. The cancellation rate is 0.61%. FlightGuard's average computed risk is 25.1/100 (medium), updated in real time from weather, ATC delays, strikes, NOTAMs, fuel and flight history. At Washington the average ATFM delay is 2.0 minutes (main cause: atfm). Departing from San Francisco the average ATFM delay is 2.0 minutes.
Heading to Washington: what to expect in this direction
Flying from San Francisco (SFO) to Washington (DCA) heads east for about 3,921 km, a flight time of roughly 5h 19m.
Departures from San Francisco on this leg cluster in the overnight window: about 73% of SFO-DCA flights take off then.
Air-traffic congestion: departing San Francisco the average ATFM delay is 2.0 min (atfm); arriving into Washington it is 2.0 min (atfm).
Across 328 tracked SFO-DCA flights, 83% left on time with an average delay of 6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Airlines (UA) | 74% | 10 min | 6.9% |
Airlines operating SFO-DCA
Airports
Frequently asked questions about SFO-DCA
On the San Francisco (SFO) -> Washington (DCA) route, on-time performance is 83% with an average delay of 6 minutes, based on 328 tracked flights.
The cancellation rate on San Francisco-Washington is 0.61% across 328 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 Washington, 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.
