New York (EWR) – San Francisco (SFO)
- Distance
- 4,128 km
- 2,565 mi · 2,229 nm
- Flight time
- 6 h 15 min / 5 h 21 min
- Average gate to gate: EWR → SFO / back
- Time difference
- 3 h
- CO2 per passenger
- 482 kg
- One way, economy, incl. RF (285 kg CO2 only)
- Passengers / year
- 1,752,123
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026 · +2.5%
- Flights / week
- 165
- Both directions, average
- Seats filled
- 90%
- 1,955,561 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 EWR
- 281°
- Heading from SFO
- 70°
- Halfway point
- 41.74, -98.83
- Great-circle km
- 4,118 km (sphere, for EU261)
- In the air EWR → SFO
- 5 h 37 min
- In the air SFO → EWR
- 4 h 45 min
- Clocks
- San Francisco is 3 h behind New York
The estimate for a route without real times is 5 h 40 min; how it is worked out is on Sources.
Show as a table
| Month | Passengers |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 159,323 |
| Sep 2025 | 153,109 |
| Oct 2025 | 162,451 |
| Nov 2025 | 133,582 |
| Dec 2025 | 141,098 |
| Jan 2026 | 120,755 |
| Feb 2026 | 106,450 |
| Mar 2026 | 151,081 |
| Apr 2026 | 156,906 |
| May 2026 | 164,468 |
| Jun 2026 | 152,788 |
| Jul 2026 | 150,112 |
Show as a table
| Month | Flights |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 753 |
| Sep 2025 | 709 |
| Oct 2025 | 773 |
| Nov 2025 | 697 |
| Dec 2025 | 732 |
| Jan 2026 | 625 |
| Feb 2026 | 552 |
| Mar 2026 | 744 |
| Apr 2026 | 757 |
| May 2026 | 801 |
| Jun 2026 | 738 |
| Jul 2026 | 697 |
Airlines flying EWR–SFO nonstop
| Airline | Flights / week | Share of passengers |
|---|---|---|
| UAUnited Air Lines | 144 | 91% |
| ASAlaska Airlines | 21 | 9% |
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 757-200 · 3,894 flights
- Boeing 777-200ER/200LR/233LR · 1,513 flights
- Boeing 777-300/300ER/333ER · 1,015 flights
- B787-900 Dreamliner · 823 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 900 · 548 flights
- Boeing 737-900ER · 487 flights
- Boeing 737-800 · 133 flights
- Boeing 757-300 · 65 flights
Also carried: 24,205 tonnes of freight and 1,441 tonnes of mail a year (passenger and cargo flights).
Punctuality
- On time
- 73.2%
- Arrived within 15 min of schedule
- Average delay
- 24 min
- Late arrivals count, early ones as 0
- Cancelled
- 2.2%
- Flights counted
- 8,744
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026
| Airline | On time | Average delay |
|---|---|---|
| UAUnited Air Lines | 71.8% | 26 min |
| ASAlaska Airlines | 82.8% | 11 min |
Delay minutes by cause: airline 32% · aircraft arriving late 37% · air traffic system 28% · 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
- $572
- One way, all cabins
- Average over a year
- $524
- Q2 2025 – Q1 2026
- Largest airline
- United Air Lines
- 86% of passengers · $615
- Lowest-fare airline
- Alaska Airlines
- 11% of passengers · $285
History, not a price to book: what the average passenger paid per one-way trip in each quarter (Q2 2025 $484 · Q3 2025 $478 · Q4 2025 $576 · Q1 2026 $572).
Fare outlook, Q1 2027: about $583, likely $517–$665
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 6.1%). 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: 4,118 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 New York and San Francisco
Kilometres. Linked numbers have a page of their own. All New York airports