- Great circle
- 4,152 km
- 2,580 mi
- Estimated in the air
- 5h 40m
- block time
- Furthest from equator
- 42.0°N
- at 35% along
- One lap of Earth
- 10.4%
- of 40,075 km
Of the 292 routes catalogued here, this is the 146th longest.
What the aircraft actually flies over
From New York the path crosses the United States.
The furthest the great circle gets from the equator is 42.0°N, 35% of the way along.
Flying the line that looks straight on a Mercator map — one constant compass bearing — would cover 4,204 km. That is 52 km further, about 1% more, and roughly 4m of extra flying.
Leaving New York the aircraft points west (282°); it arrives into San Francisco heading west (250°). That is 32° of drift without a single turn — the compass moves because the path is a curve on a sphere, not because the aircraft does.
JFK
John F. Kennedy
New York, United States · North America
40.6°N, 73.8°W
SFO
San Francisco
San Francisco, United States · North America
37.6°N, 122.4°W
New York to San Francisco, asked and answered
- How far is New York to San Francisco?
- New York to San Francisco (JFK to SFO) is 4,152 km, or 2,580 mi, measured as great circle distance between the two airports.
- How long is the flight from New York to San Francisco?
- About 5h 40m in the air. That is an estimate from the distance at a typical airliner block speed, plus half an hour for taxi, climb and descent; published schedules vary with winds and routing.
- What route does a New York to San Francisco flight take?
- The great circle passes over the United States. It reaches 42.0°N at its furthest from the equator.
Where these numbers come from
Distances are computed from the two airports’ own coordinates, not looked up from published routes. Times are estimates, not schedules.
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