Washington (DCA) – San Francisco (SFO)
- Distance
- 3,930 km
- 2,442 mi · 2,122 nm
- Flight time
- 6 h 2 min / 5 h 8 min
- Average gate to gate: DCA → SFO / back
- Time difference
- 3 h
- CO2 per passenger
- 459 kg
- One way, economy, incl. RF (272 kg CO2 only)
- Passengers / year
- 301,905
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026 · +23.4%
- Flights / week
- 41
- Both directions, average
- Seats filled
- 85%
- 353,859 seats a year
- Airlines nonstop
- 2
- UA, AS
Traffic: U.S. DOT, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Segment (all carriers, scheduled service), Aug 2025 – Jul 2026. Distance: WGS-84 ellipsoid. CO2: UK DESNZ 2026 factors. Sources
The way there
- Heading from DCA
- 283°
- Heading from SFO
- 74°
- Halfway point
- 40.50, -99.91
- Great-circle km
- 3,921 km (sphere, for EU261)
- In the air DCA → SFO
- 5 h 30 min
- In the air SFO → DCA
- 4 h 36 min
- Clocks
- San Francisco is 3 h behind Washington
The estimate for a route without real times is 5 h 25 min; how it is worked out is on Sources.
Show as a table
| Month | Passengers |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 26,578 |
| Sep 2025 | 25,056 |
| Oct 2025 | 25,969 |
| Nov 2025 | 24,379 |
| Dec 2025 | 25,721 |
| Jan 2026 | 21,706 |
| Feb 2026 | 21,830 |
| Mar 2026 | 26,899 |
| Apr 2026 | 25,237 |
| May 2026 | 26,445 |
| Jun 2026 | 25,792 |
| Jul 2026 | 26,293 |
Show as a table
| Month | Flights |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 186 |
| Sep 2025 | 177 |
| Oct 2025 | 186 |
| Nov 2025 | 178 |
| Dec 2025 | 186 |
| Jan 2026 | 176 |
| Feb 2026 | 166 |
| Mar 2026 | 184 |
| Apr 2026 | 177 |
| May 2026 | 186 |
| Jun 2026 | 176 |
| Jul 2026 | 179 |
Airlines flying DCA–SFO nonstop
| Airline | Flights / week | Share of passengers |
|---|---|---|
| UAUnited Air Lines | 28 | 68% |
| ASAlaska Airlines | 14 | 32% |
Both directions, Aug 2025 – Jul 2026. Airlines with at least one flight a month. U.S. DOT, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Segment (all carriers, scheduled service). Sources
Aircraft on this route
- Boeing B737 Max 800 · 1,519 flights
- Boeing 737-800 · 632 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 900 · 6 flights
Also carried: 17 tonnes of freight and 0 tonnes of mail a year (passenger and cargo flights).
Punctuality
- On time
- 76.5%
- Arrived within 15 min of schedule
- Average delay
- 15 min
- Late arrivals count, early ones as 0
- Cancelled
- 0.7%
- Flights counted
- 2,180
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026
| Airline | On time | Average delay |
|---|---|---|
| UAUnited Air Lines | 78.2% | 14 min |
| ASAlaska Airlines | 73% | 17 min |
Delay minutes by cause: airline 16% · aircraft arriving late 30% · air traffic system 53% · weather 1% · security 0%.
Both directions, Aug 2025 – Jul 2026. BTS Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance (US domestic flights of the larger US airlines). Sources
What passengers paid
- Average fare, Q1 2026
- $406
- One way, all cabins
- Average over a year
- $381
- Q2 2025 – Q1 2026
- Largest airline
- United Air Lines
- 55% of passengers · $461
- Lowest-fare airline
- Alaska Airlines
- 29% of passengers · $338
History, not a price to book: what the average passenger paid per one-way trip in each quarter (Q2 2025 $371 · Q3 2025 $357 · Q4 2025 $392 · Q1 2026 $406).
Fare outlook, Q1 2027: about $415, likely $358–$473
The average fare paid we expect a year after Q1 2026, the newest DOT quarter. On this route, past forecasts made this way fell inside the range 90% of the time over 21 quarters (median error 4.3%). An estimate from US DOT data: not a price you can book, not a guarantee, not advice on when to buy. How the outlook works
Cheapest quarter on this route: Q1, typically 4% below the year's average (9 years of DOT data, without 2020–21).
U.S. DOT Consumer Airfare Report, Table 1a (airline ticket sample, US domestic airport pairs). Sources
Delay compensation (EU261 / UK261)
Measured by great-circle distance: 3,921 km.
Neither EU261 nor UK261 covers this route: it neither starts nor ends in the EU, EEA, Switzerland or the UK. Other countries have their own rules (for example Canada's APPR or Brazil's ANAC rules).
Also owed for a cancellation with less than 14 days' notice or denied boarding. Not owed for extraordinary circumstances. On a connection, the distance to the final destination counts. From 23 October 2027 the EU's Regulation 2026/2202 applies; it keeps these amounts (what changes in 2027). Information, not legal advice.
Every airport pair between Washington and San Francisco
Kilometres. Linked numbers have a page of their own. All Washington airports