San Francisco SFO delay compensation

Rules on a departure

US DOT

Destinations here

7

Longest route

MUC · 9,437 km

On time, June 2026

63.3%

Which rules cover a flight at SFO

Leaving SFO. US DOT applies to every departure on this site's routes from here, whichever airline is operating. EU261, UK261 reach some of them as well, depending on where the flight is going or who operates it.

Arriving at SFO. Coming the other way the rules do not line up with the airport, so this is by route: US DOT covers every one of the 7 inbound flights here, whatever the airline; EU261 covers 4 of the 7, whatever the airline; UK261 covers 1 of the 7, whatever the airline; APPR covers 1 of the 7, whatever the airline; nothing else reaches an arrival here.

The trap on an inbound flight is that EU261 and UK261 follow the airline when the flight is arriving from outside, while they follow the airport on the way out — so a return leg can be uncovered when the outbound one was covered, or covered for a reason that has nothing to do with SFO. A claim is judged on the flight you were actually on. Each route page below sets out both directions.

What that pays, by distance from SFO

Under the EU and UK rules the amount is set by the great-circle distance to the final destination, not by the fare. From SFO the routes here fall into 3 bands: 5 over 3,500 km, 1 1,500 to 3,500 km, 1 up to 1,500 km. Compensation starts once you arrive 3 hours late at the final destination. On a flight over 3,500 km, the first hour band is reduced: €300 under EU261 and £260 under UK261 for 3 to 4 hours late, the full amount from 4 hours. US law pays nothing for the delay itself; what it gives is a refund once a delay reaches 3 hours on a domestic itinerary or 6 on an international one, and you choose not to travel.

Amounts are per passenger for a delay the airline is responsible for, read off the rule's own table at this distance. Where two are shown, the first is for arriving 3 to 4 hours late and the second from 4 hours — the reduction the EU and UK rules apply over 3,500 km. This column is the flight out of SFO; the return can be covered by something else, and each route page sets out both directions.

How SFO runs

The US Department of Transportation publishes on-time rates for the 30 largest US airports in its Air Travel Consumer Report. At San Francisco International Airport, 63.3% of departures and 48.3% of arrivals were on time in June 2026. The DOT counts a flight as on time when it runs within 15 minutes of schedule.

A poor on-time rate does not by itself create a claim here: US law sets no compensation for a delay, whatever the airport's record. It matters for the refund right and for the airline's own published commitments, which are on the airline pages.

If the airline says no

A US complaint goes to the Department of Transportation rather than to a compensation body, because there is no delay compensation under US law to enforce. What the DOT does enforce is the refund right and the denied-boarding payments, set out on the US DOT page. Whichever body it is, it is the second step: write to the operating airline first, keep the reply, and claim for free — the fee comparison shows what a claim company would take out of the same payment.

Sources: coordinates from Wikipedia: San Francisco International Airport (infobox coordinates), checked 2026-10-20; US DOT Air Travel Consumer Report, August 2026 (June 2026 data), Tables 3 and 4; amounts and thresholds from Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, its UK version, SOR/2019-150 and 14 CFR Part 260, checked 2026-10-20. General information, not legal advice.