Chicago (ORD) – San Francisco (SFO)
- Distance
- 2,971 km
- 1,846 mi · 1,604 nm
- Flight time
- 4 h 45 min / 4 h 18 min
- Average gate to gate: ORD → SFO / back
- Time difference
- 2 h
- CO2 per passenger
- 373 kg
- One way, economy, incl. RF (220 kg CO2 only)
- Passengers / year
- 1,976,484
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026 · +2.0%
- Flights / week
- 214
- Both directions, average
- Seats filled
- 87%
- 2,264,700 seats a year
- Airlines nonstop
- 3
- UA, AA, 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 ORD
- 272°
- Heading from SFO
- 70°
- Halfway point
- 41.10, -105.70
- Great-circle km
- 2,964 km (sphere, for EU261)
- In the air ORD → SFO
- 4 h 8 min
- In the air SFO → ORD
- 3 h 37 min
- Clocks
- San Francisco is 2 h behind Chicago
The estimate for a route without real times is 4 h 20 min; how it is worked out is on Sources.
Show as a table
| Month | Passengers |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 195,958 |
| Sep 2025 | 171,094 |
| Oct 2025 | 180,849 |
| Nov 2025 | 136,994 |
| Dec 2025 | 145,576 |
| Jan 2026 | 114,130 |
| Feb 2026 | 113,723 |
| Mar 2026 | 151,539 |
| Apr 2026 | 166,418 |
| May 2026 | 197,109 |
| Jun 2026 | 207,083 |
| Jul 2026 | 196,011 |
Show as a table
| Month | Flights |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 1,021 |
| Sep 2025 | 979 |
| Oct 2025 | 1,048 |
| Nov 2025 | 806 |
| Dec 2025 | 781 |
| Jan 2026 | 656 |
| Feb 2026 | 713 |
| Mar 2026 | 893 |
| Apr 2026 | 1,025 |
| May 2026 | 1,116 |
| Jun 2026 | 1,045 |
| Jul 2026 | 1,029 |
Airlines flying ORD–SFO nonstop
| Airline | Flights / week | Share of passengers |
|---|---|---|
| UAUnited Air Lines | 146 | 73% |
| AAAmerican Airlines | 67 | 27% |
| ASAlaska Airlines | 0.7 | 0% |
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
- Airbus Industrie A321-200n · 3,750 flights
- Boeing 737-800 · 2,336 flights
- Boeing 757-300 · 2,051 flights
- Airbus Industrie A321Neoxlr · 702 flights
- Boeing 737-900ER · 609 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 900 · 507 flights
- Boeing 777-200ER/200LR/233LR · 434 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 800 · 356 flights
Also carried: 5,825 tonnes of freight and 1,522 tonnes of mail a year (passenger and cargo flights).
Punctuality
- On time
- 71.8%
- Arrived within 15 min of schedule
- Average delay
- 23 min
- Late arrivals count, early ones as 0
- Cancelled
- 1.2%
- Flights counted
- 11,233
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026
| Airline | On time | Average delay |
|---|---|---|
| UAUnited Air Lines | 73.8% | 20 min |
| AAAmerican Airlines | 67.6% | 29 min |
| ASAlaska Airlines | 54.3% | 26 min |
Delay minutes by cause: airline 27% · aircraft arriving late 41% · air traffic system 28% · weather 4% · 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
- $338
- One way, all cabins
- Average over a year
- $304
- Q2 2025 – Q1 2026
- Largest airline
- United Air Lines
- 70% of passengers · $369
- Lowest-fare airline
- American Airlines
- 28% of passengers · $269
History, not a price to book: what the average passenger paid per one-way trip in each quarter (Q2 2025 $275 · Q3 2025 $273 · Q4 2025 $351 · Q1 2026 $338).
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: 2,964 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 Chicago and San Francisco
Kilometres. Linked numbers have a page of their own. All Chicago airports
More routes from ORD
| Route | Distance | Passengers / year |
|---|---|---|
| ORD → LGA | 1,180 km | 2,736,902 |
| ORD → LAX | 2,808 km | 2,332,419 |
| ORD → DEN | 1,430 km | 1,974,190 |
| ORD → MCO | 1,617 km | 1,924,694 |
| ORD → DFW | 1,290 km | 1,916,312 |
| ORD → BOS | 1,395 km | 1,886,038 |
| ORD → EWR | 1,157 km | 1,731,402 |
| ORD → IAH | 1,489 km | 1,711,056 |
| ORD → PHX | 2,317 km | 1,706,053 |
| ORD → SEA | 2,769 km | 1,622,991 |