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.
Frequencies below are per direction, from our most recent schedule sample.
| Direction | Frequency | Days | Airlines |
|---|---|---|---|
| IAD → SFO Washington to San Francisco |
47/wk | Daily | United Airlines |
| SFO → IAD San Francisco to Washington |
47/wk | Daily | United Airlines |
Where a direction shows “—” we track it as an operating nonstop but hold no schedule sample for it — we would rather show nothing than guess.
In 2025, airlines reported 1,007,310 passengers on 5,757 flights between IAD and SFO — about 2,761 a day — filling 84% of the 1,200,229 seats flown. United Air Lines Inc. carried the most passengers (92%).
Source: US DOT T-100 segment reports — actual airline-reported traffic, scheduled service only, both directions combined. Cargo and charter flights excluded.
United Airlines is the only airline flying the IAD–SFO nonstop.
Recent scheduled departures on this route have used the Boeing 757-200, Boeing 777, Boeing 737-900, Boeing 737 and 1 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 between Washington Dulles International Airport and San Francisco International Airport 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. United Airlines flies the route nonstop, with about 94 departures a week across both directions. The route is in our live nonstop dataset, last seeded 2026-07-07.
About 5h 14m in the air. 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.
About 47 a week from Washington to San Francisco and 47 a week from San Francisco to Washington, from our most recent schedule sample.
United Airlines.
In 2025, airlines reported 1,007,310 passengers on 5,757 scheduled flights between IAD and SFO — about 2,761 a day — filling 84% of the seats flown. Source: US DOT T-100 segment reports, both directions combined.
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.
