Detroit (DTW) – San Francisco (SFO)
- Distance
- 3,345 km
- 2,079 mi · 1,806 nm
- Flight time
- 5 h 8 min / 4 h 28 min
- Average gate to gate: DTW → SFO / back
- Time difference
- 3 h
- CO2 per passenger
- 420 kg
- One way, economy, incl. RF (248 kg CO2 only)
- Passengers / year
- 516,046
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026 · +3.0%
- Flights / week
- 69
- Both directions, average
- Seats filled
- 83%
- 620,050 seats a year
- Airlines nonstop
- 2
- DL, UA
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 DTW
- 274°
- Heading from SFO
- 69°
- Halfway point
- 41.60, -103.54
- Great-circle km
- 3,337 km (sphere, for EU261)
- In the air DTW → SFO
- 4 h 39 min
- In the air SFO → DTW
- 3 h 58 min
- Clocks
- San Francisco is 3 h behind Detroit
The estimate for a route without real times is 4 h 45 min; how it is worked out is on Sources.
Show as a table
| Month | Passengers |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 48,847 |
| Sep 2025 | 41,153 |
| Oct 2025 | 46,517 |
| Nov 2025 | 38,756 |
| Dec 2025 | 37,522 |
| Jan 2026 | 32,228 |
| Feb 2026 | 30,590 |
| Mar 2026 | 39,594 |
| Apr 2026 | 40,702 |
| May 2026 | 45,770 |
| Jun 2026 | 55,038 |
| Jul 2026 | 59,329 |
Show as a table
| Month | Flights |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 317 |
| Sep 2025 | 291 |
| Oct 2025 | 308 |
| Nov 2025 | 292 |
| Dec 2025 | 272 |
| Jan 2026 | 252 |
| Feb 2026 | 223 |
| Mar 2026 | 284 |
| Apr 2026 | 290 |
| May 2026 | 313 |
| Jun 2026 | 351 |
| Jul 2026 | 377 |
Airlines flying DTW–SFO nonstop
| Airline | Flights / week | Share of passengers |
|---|---|---|
| DLDelta Air Lines | 53 | 81% |
| UAUnited Air Lines | 16 | 19% |
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 737-900ER · 2,310 flights
- Airbus Industrie A319 · 408 flights
- Airbus Industrie A321-200n · 287 flights
- Airbus Industrie A320-100/200 · 201 flights
- Boeing 757-200 · 119 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 900 · 79 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 800 · 72 flights
- Boeing 757-300 · 67 flights
Also carried: 144 tonnes of freight and 58 tonnes of mail a year (passenger and cargo flights).
Punctuality
- On time
- 72.9%
- Arrived within 15 min of schedule
- Average delay
- 18 min
- Late arrivals count, early ones as 0
- Cancelled
- 0.7%
- Flights counted
- 3,590
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026
| Airline | On time | Average delay |
|---|---|---|
| DLDelta Air Lines | 71.4% | 18 min |
| UAUnited Air Lines | 78% | 17 min |
Delay minutes by cause: airline 35% · aircraft arriving late 28% · air traffic system 34% · weather 3% · 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
- $439
- One way, all cabins
- Average over a year
- $403
- Q2 2025 – Q1 2026
- Largest airline
- Delta Air Lines
- 64% of passengers · $518
- Lowest-fare airline
- United Air Lines
- 25% of passengers · $319
History, not a price to book: what the average passenger paid per one-way trip in each quarter (Q2 2025 $372 · Q3 2025 $382 · Q4 2025 $434 · Q1 2026 $439).
Fare outlook, Q1 2027: about $448, likely $388–$511
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 76% of the time over 21 quarters (median error 4.9%). 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: Q3, 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: 3,337 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.