Los Angeles (LAX) to San Francisco (SFO)
Flight time
≈ 1h 29m
Bearing
320° NW
Los Angeles (LAX) to San Francisco (SFO) is 338 miles (543 km) as the crow flies — the great-circle baseline most distance-based mileage programs credit.
Look up a route, or build a trip
Change the airports, or add stops for a multi-leg trip.
What actually flies LAX–SFO
Filed traffic dataIn May 2026, United Airlines operated the most departures, one of 9 carriers flying nonstop LAX–SFO; the Boeing 737-900ER was the most common aircraft at 26% of departures; flights ran 81% full.
Departures
2,062
May 2026
Seats
316,964
both directions
Passengers
258,265
both directions
Load factor
81.5%
RPM ÷ ASM
Who flies LAX–SFO?
United Airlines operated the most nonstop LAX–SFO departures in May 2026 (608), one of 9 carriers on the route.
- UA
608 departures · 104,858 seats
Share of departures29.5%79.9%
Load
- DL
404 departures · 69,643 seats
Share of departures19.6%84.8%
Load
- AS
376 departures · 64,459 seats
Share of departures18.2%78.9%
Load
- OO
356 departures · 26,882 seats
Share of departures17.3%84.8%
Load
- WN
212 departures · 32,198 seats
Share of departures10.3%78.1%
Load
- F9
62 departures · 13,976 seats
Share of departures3.0%91.8%
Load
- QX
24 departures · 1,824 seats
Share of departures1.2%78.3%
Load
- AA
18 departures · 3,096 seats
Share of departures0.9%75.5%
Load
- 27Q
2 departures · 28 seats
Share of departures0.1%21.4%
Load
What plane flies LAX–SFO?
In May 2026, the Boeing 737-900ER flew 26% of LAX–SFO departures — more than any other aircraft type.
- Boeing 737-900ER
531 departures · 82.3% load
25.8% - Boeing 737-800
382 departures · 81.0% load
18.5% - Embraer E175
380 departures · 84.4% load
18.4% - Boeing 737 MAX 9
313 departures · 79.6% load
15.2% - Boeing 737 MAX 8
156 departures · 78.3% load
7.6% - Boeing 737-700
129 departures · 78.4% load
6.3% - Airbus A320
66 departures · 80.0% load
3.2% - Airbus A321neo
58 departures · 88.3% load
2.8% - Airbus A319
16 departures · 86.3% load
0.8% - Airbus A320neo
14 departures · 92.0% load
0.7% - Airbus A321
4 departures · 93.9% load
0.2% - Boeing 767-300
4 departures · 60.1% load
0.2% - Boeing 757-200
4 departures · 84.7% load
0.2% - Boeing 787-9
2 departures · 86.0% load
0.1% - Dassault FALCON-7X
2 departures · 21.4% load
0.1% - Boeing 787-10
1 departures · 92.8% load
0.1%
How has LAX–SFO traffic changed?
Nonstop LAX–SFO departures rose from 1,988 in June 2025 to 2,062 in May 2026.
Monthly nonstop LAX–SFO traffic, trailing 12 months through May 2026. Bars scale to the busiest month; months with no filed service show as zero.
June 2025
1,988 departures · 233,970 passengers
85.1%
Load
July 2025
1,970 departures · 234,834 passengers
87.0%
Load
August 2025
2,006 departures · 240,124 passengers
87.0%
Load
September 2025
1,938 departures · 229,536 passengers
84.8%
Load
October 2025
2,123 departures · 246,569 passengers
85.4%
Load
November 2025
1,918 departures · 222,466 passengers
82.6%
Load
December 2025
1,960 departures · 227,389 passengers
83.9%
Load
January 2026
1,744 departures · 202,061 passengers
83.1%
Load
February 2026
1,729 departures · 202,927 passengers
88.6%
Load
March 2026
2,017 departures · 240,275 passengers
87.0%
Load
April 2026
1,990 departures · 237,690 passengers
79.4%
Load
May 2026
2,062 departures · 258,265 passengers
81.5%
Load
By direction
Each direction is filed separately — they rarely match.
SFO → LAX
80.9% full
1,035 departures · 128,363 passengers
LAX → SFO
82.1% full
1,027 departures · 129,902 passengers
Nonstop LAX–SFO traffic has been filed since 2025.
Source: US DOT BTS Form 41 T-100 Segment (All Carriers). Data through May 2026; filings from 2025. Public domain (US Government work).
The airports
Frequently asked
How far is Los Angeles (LAX) from San Francisco (SFO)?
LAX to SFO is 338 miles (543 km / 293 nautical miles) measured great-circle — the shortest path over the surface of the Earth.
How long is the flight from LAX to SFO?
A nonstop covers the 338-mile great-circle distance in roughly 1h 29m of block time, before winds. Actual schedules vary a few percent by direction and aircraft.
What plane flies LAX–SFO?
In May 2026, the Boeing 737-900ER flew the largest share of departures (25.8%), followed by the Boeing 737-800 (18.5%).
What mileage do I earn flying LAX–SFO?
Distance-based programs credit off the 338-mile great-circle figure, then apply your fare-class earning rate. Revenue-based programs credit off the fare instead.
Trip reports on YouTube
Fliers post trip reports from this route to YouTube. These three were matched automatically from public YouTube listings — The Frequent Flier does not host, review, or endorse them.
Simply Aviation
TRIPREPORT | Alaska Airlines (ECONOMY) | Embraer 175 | San Francisco - Los Angeles
13:42 · Feb 2022
OnBoardHD
TRIP REPORT | The Biggest Low-Cost in the World | San Francisco to Los Angeles | Southwest B737
21:05 · Jun 2022
QFS Aviation
American Eagle - CRJ 700 - First Class - Los Angeles (LAX) to San Francisco (SFO) | TRIP REPORT
11:40 · Mar 2021
Source: YouTube. Titles, thumbnails, and channel names come from YouTube. Playing a video loads the YouTube player, and using it means you agree to the YouTube Terms of Service; the Google Privacy Policy applies.
Keep exploring
Every route below is its own page.
Other routes from LAX
Other routes from SFO
Popular long-haul routes