Los Angeles (LAX) – San Francisco (SFO)
- Distance
- 543 km
- 337 mi · 293 nm
- Flight time
- 1 h 30 min / 1 h 30 min
- Average gate to gate: LAX → SFO / back
- Time difference
- none
- CO2 per passenger
- 68 kg
- One way, economy, incl. RF (40 kg CO2 only)
- Passengers / year
- 2,842,388
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026 · +2.5%
- Flights / week
- 457
- Both directions, average
- Seats filled
- 84%
- 3,400,453 seats a year
- Airlines nonstop
- 8
- UA, DL, WN
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 LAX
- 320°
- Heading from SFO
- 138°
- Halfway point
- 35.80, -120.35
- Great-circle km
- 543 km (sphere, for EU261)
- In the air LAX → SFO
- 56 min
- In the air SFO → LAX
- 56 min
- Clocks
- Same time in both
The estimate for a route without real times is 1 h 25 min; how it is worked out is on Sources.
Show as a table
| Month | Passengers |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 239,886 |
| Sep 2025 | 229,417 |
| Oct 2025 | 245,958 |
| Nov 2025 | 222,323 |
| Dec 2025 | 227,387 |
| Jan 2026 | 201,614 |
| Feb 2026 | 202,523 |
| Mar 2026 | 239,933 |
| Apr 2026 | 237,434 |
| May 2026 | 258,156 |
| Jun 2026 | 269,075 |
| Jul 2026 | 268,682 |
Show as a table
| Month | Flights |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 1,996 |
| Sep 2025 | 1,933 |
| Oct 2025 | 2,112 |
| Nov 2025 | 1,915 |
| Dec 2025 | 1,956 |
| Jan 2026 | 1,731 |
| Feb 2026 | 1,717 |
| Mar 2026 | 2,007 |
| Apr 2026 | 1,981 |
| May 2026 | 2,058 |
| Jun 2026 | 2,157 |
| Jul 2026 | 2,225 |
Airlines flying LAX–SFO nonstop
| Airline | Flights / week | Share of passengers |
|---|---|---|
| UAUnited Air Lines | 127 | 33% |
| DLDelta Air Lines | 90 | 23% |
| WNSouthwest Airlines | 55 | 13% |
| OOSkyWest Airlines | 99 | 12% |
| ASAlaska Airlines | 33 | 8% |
| F9Frontier Airlines | 15 | 5% |
| QXHorizon Air | 27 | 3% |
| AAAmerican Airlines | 12 | 3% |
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 737-800 · 6,764 flights
- Embraer ERJ-175 · 6,551 flights
- Boeing 737-900ER · 3,655 flights
- Boeing 737-700/700LR/Max 7 · 1,655 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 800 · 1,636 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 900 · 1,598 flights
- Airbus Industrie A320-100/200 · 655 flights
- Airbus Industrie A321-200n · 640 flights
Also carried: 1,203 tonnes of freight and 790 tonnes of mail a year (passenger and cargo flights).
Punctuality
- On time
- 67.5%
- Arrived within 15 min of schedule
- Average delay
- 20 min
- Late arrivals count, early ones as 0
- Cancelled
- 0.8%
- Flights counted
- 22,470
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026
| Airline | On time | Average delay |
|---|---|---|
| UAUnited Air Lines | 71.4% | 16 min |
| OOSkyWest Airlines | 72.2% | 18 min |
| DLDelta Air Lines | 67.5% | 20 min |
| WNSouthwest Airlines | 56.8% | 27 min |
| ASAlaska Airlines | 59.6% | 22 min |
| F9Frontier Airlines | 59% | 31 min |
| AAAmerican Airlines | 67.8% | 29 min |
Delay minutes by cause: airline 21% · aircraft arriving late 38% · air traffic system 40% · 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
- $172
- One way, all cabins
- Average over a year
- $151
- Q2 2025 – Q1 2026
- Largest airline
- United Air Lines
- 33% of passengers · $197
- Lowest-fare airline
- Southwest Airlines
- 15% of passengers · $149
History, not a price to book: what the average passenger paid per one-way trip in each quarter (Q2 2025 $139 · Q3 2025 $139 · Q4 2025 $154 · Q1 2026 $172).
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: 543 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.