Philadelphia (PHL) – San Francisco (SFO)
- Distance
- 4,057 km
- 2,521 mi · 2,191 nm
- Flight time
- 6 h 10 min / 5 h 16 min
- Average gate to gate: PHL → SFO / back
- Time difference
- 3 h
- CO2 per passenger
- 474 kg
- One way, economy, incl. RF (280 kg CO2 only)
- Passengers / year
- 627,499
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026 · +18.4%
- Flights / week
- 78
- Both directions, average
- Seats filled
- 84%
- 750,327 seats a year
- Airlines nonstop
- 2
- AA, 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 PHL
- 282°
- Heading from SFO
- 71°
- Halfway point
- 41.21, -99.20
- Great-circle km
- 4,048 km (sphere, for EU261)
- In the air PHL → SFO
- 5 h 37 min
- In the air SFO → PHL
- 4 h 45 min
- Clocks
- San Francisco is 3 h behind Philadelphia
The estimate for a route without real times is 5 h 35 min; how it is worked out is on Sources.
Show as a table
| Month | Passengers |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 56,923 |
| Sep 2025 | 50,364 |
| Oct 2025 | 54,193 |
| Nov 2025 | 44,092 |
| Dec 2025 | 49,927 |
| Jan 2026 | 35,657 |
| Feb 2026 | 31,956 |
| Mar 2026 | 44,576 |
| Apr 2026 | 50,077 |
| May 2026 | 62,354 |
| Jun 2026 | 70,873 |
| Jul 2026 | 76,507 |
Show as a table
| Month | Flights |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 334 |
| Sep 2025 | 334 |
| Oct 2025 | 361 |
| Nov 2025 | 294 |
| Dec 2025 | 317 |
| Jan 2026 | 229 |
| Feb 2026 | 223 |
| Mar 2026 | 293 |
| Apr 2026 | 327 |
| May 2026 | 417 |
| Jun 2026 | 453 |
| Jul 2026 | 462 |
Airlines flying PHL–SFO nonstop
| Airline | Flights / week | Share of passengers |
|---|---|---|
| AAAmerican Airlines | 50 | 68% |
| UAUnited Air Lines | 28 | 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
- Airbus Industrie A321-200n · 2,327 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 800 · 1,037 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 900 · 275 flights
- Boeing 737-900ER · 196 flights
- Airbus Industrie A321Neoxlr · 120 flights
- Boeing 737-800 · 79 flights
- Airbus Industrie A320-100/200 · 8 flights
- B787-900 Dreamliner · 1 flight
Also carried: 135 tonnes of freight and 128 tonnes of mail a year (passenger and cargo flights).
Punctuality
- On time
- 78.9%
- Arrived within 15 min of schedule
- Average delay
- 17 min
- Late arrivals count, early ones as 0
- Cancelled
- 1.3%
- Flights counted
- 4,091
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026
| Airline | On time | Average delay |
|---|---|---|
| AAAmerican Airlines | 79% | 19 min |
| UAUnited Air Lines | 78.7% | 15 min |
Delay minutes by cause: airline 29% · aircraft arriving late 31% · air traffic system 31% · weather 9% · 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
- $378
- One way, all cabins
- Average over a year
- $352
- Q2 2025 – Q1 2026
- Largest airline
- American Airlines
- 66% of passengers · $378
- Lowest-fare airline
- American Airlines
- 66% of passengers · $378
History, not a price to book: what the average passenger paid per one-way trip in each quarter (Q2 2025 $344 · Q3 2025 $327 · Q4 2025 $369 · Q1 2026 $378).
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: 4,048 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.