Great-circle route IAD → SFO. Faint dots are other airports, for geographic context. Download this map — free to reuse with a link back to this page.
The flight time from Washington to San Francisco is approximately 5h 14m nonstop. The distance is 2,413 miles (3,883 km). There are about 10 nonstop flights from Washington to San Francisco per day.
That is a great-circle estimate, not a scheduled block time. An airline's published time will differ by roughly 15 to 45 minutes depending on routing, winds and taxi.
| Route | Est. time | Distance | Frequency | Airlines |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IAD → SFO Washington Dulles International Airport to San Francisco International Airport |
5h 14m | 2,413 mi | 47/wk | United Airlines |
| DCA → SFO Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport to San Francisco International Airport |
5h 17m | 2,436 mi | 21/wk | Alaska Airlines, United Airlines |
Frequencies come from our most recent schedule sample. Where a pairing shows “—” we track it as an operating nonstop but hold no schedule sample for it — we would rather show nothing than guess.
2 airlines fly nonstop from Washington to San Francisco, including Alaska Airlines, United Airlines.
Recent scheduled departures on this route have used the Boeing 757-200, Boeing 777, Boeing 737-900, Boeing 737 and 2 other types.
Aircraft assignments change by season and by time of day.
On a long east–west route like this one the two directions do not take the same time. Aircraft flying eastbound ride the mid-latitude jet stream and typically arrive earlier than the westbound leg, which flies into it. The difference is commonly 30 to 90 minutes on transatlantic and transpacific flights, and it varies by season. The estimate above does not model wind — treat it as a midpoint and check the airline's own timetable for the block time on your date.
The distance from Washington to San Francisco is 2,413 miles, or 3,883 kilometres.
| Great-circle distance | 2,413 mi |
| Kilometres | 3,883 km |
| Nautical miles | 2,097 nmi |
Measured airport to airport. The actual track is longer — aircraft follow airways, avoid restricted airspace and route around weather.
Yes. 2 airlines fly it nonstop, with about 68 departures a week, across 2 airport pairings. The route is in our live nonstop dataset, last seeded 2026-07-07.
About 5h 14m in the air on the IAD–SFO nonstop. That is a great-circle estimate from the 2,413-mile distance, not a scheduled block time — an airline's published time will differ by roughly 15 to 45 minutes depending on routing, winds and taxi.
2,413 miles (3,883 km) great-circle between Washington Dulles International Airport and San Francisco International Airport.
Alaska Airlines, United Airlines.
Recent scheduled departures have used the Boeing 757-200, Boeing 777, Boeing 737-900, Boeing 737. Assignments change by season and by time of day.
IAD to SFO, DCA to SFO. Flight times differ slightly between them because the airports are not in the same place.
