Great-circle route IAH ↔ 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| IAH → SFO Houston to San Francisco |
60/wk | Daily | United Airlines |
| SFO → IAH San Francisco to Houston |
60/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 1,160,600 passengers on 6,858 flights between IAH and SFO — about 3,181 a day — filling 84% of the 1,386,892 seats flown. United Air Lines Inc. carried the most passengers (100%).
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 IAH–SFO nonstop.
Recent scheduled departures on this route have used the Boeing 737-900, Boeing 737, Boeing 777, Boeing 737-800.
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 George Bush Intercontinental Houston Airport and San Francisco International Airport is 1,632 miles, or 2,626 kilometres.
| Great-circle distance | 1,632 mi |
| Kilometres | 2,626 km |
| Nautical miles | 1,418 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 120 departures a week across both directions. The route is in our live nonstop dataset, last seeded 2026-07-07.
About 3h 45m in the air. That is a great-circle estimate from the 1,632-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 60 a week from Houston to San Francisco and 60 a week from San Francisco to Houston, from our most recent schedule sample.
United Airlines.
In 2025, airlines reported 1,160,600 passengers on 6,858 scheduled flights between IAH and SFO — about 3,181 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 737-900, Boeing 737, Boeing 777, Boeing 737-800. Assignments change by season and by time of day.
