San Francisco to Chicago nonstop
Yes: Southwest flies direct from San Francisco (SFO) to Chicago (MDW) about 2 times a day, year-round.
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San Francisco to Chicago in numbers
Measured from US DOT filings, not estimated from distance.
- Distance and flight time
- 1,855 miles nonstop, about 4 hr 20 min gate to gate. Flight time is an estimate from the great-circle distance; the filings carry distance, not scheduled elapsed time.
- Seasonality
- Flew every month of the last year: busiest in May 2026 (14 flights a week), quietest in January 2026 (3 flights a week).
- Sep 2025: 7 flights a week
- Oct 2025: 7 flights a week
- Nov 2025: 7 flights a week
- Dec 2025: 7 flights a week
- Jan 2026: 3 flights a week
- Feb 2026: 5 flights a week
- Mar 2026: 12 flights a week
- Apr 2026: 14 flights a week
- May 2026: 14 flights a week
- Jun 2026: 14 flights a week
- Jul 2026: 14 flights a week
- Aug 2026: 14 flights a week
Flights a week by month, Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, from US DOT on-time filings. - Who operates the flights
- Southwest is the only carrier filing this pair.
- Fares
- Half of the 757 tickets in the US DOT fare survey for Q2 2025 sold between $150 and $300 one way, median $200. The survey runs a couple of quarters behind, so read it as the shape of the route's pricing rather than today's quote.
- Jul to Sep (Q3 2024): median $150 one way, middle half $100 to $250, 1,363 tickets
- Oct to Dec (Q4 2024): median $200 one way, middle half $125 to $300, 752 tickets
- Jan to Mar (Q1 2025): median $175 one way, middle half $125 to $300, 432 tickets
- Apr to Jun (Q2 2025): median $200 one way, middle half $150 to $300, 757 tickets
Jul to Sep trips were the cheapest (median $150 one way) and Oct to Dec and Apr to Jun trips cost the most (median $200), in the DOT ticket survey for Q3 2024 to Q2 2025. Bars show the middle half of one-way fares; the mark is the median.
Flying the other way? Chicago to San Francisco nonstop.
Other airports near San Francisco with nonstops to Chicago
Within about 100 miles of San Francisco International Airport
Also nonstop from San Francisco (SFO)
Busiest other routes out of the same airport
- Los Angeles (LAX) about 36 times a day
- San Diego (SAN) about 22 times a day
- Seattle (SEA) about 21 times a day
- New York (JFK) about 19 times a day
- Chicago (ORD) about 18 times a day
- Las Vegas (LAS) about 17 times a day
- Boston (BOS) about 16 times a day
- Denver (DEN) about 16 times a day
Staying in Chicago?
Sort out where you'll sleep and what you'll do once you land.
Exploring Chicago on foot? Take the free GPS audio walking tour
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