Best time to fly out of Sacramento (SMF)

The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Sacramento: departures in the Before 6am band left on time 94.3% of the time, against 69.7% in the 8–10pm band. These are historical odds, not forecasts. The records say what happened on this schedule over three years; they know nothing about tomorrow’s thunderstorm.

Data through June 2026 · Bureau of Transportation Statistics

On-time rate by hour and day

On this page, “on time” means a departure that pushed back less than 15 minutes behind its scheduled time — the Bureau of Transportation Statistics definition, and the one airlines are held to.

Share of departures that left on time, by hour band and day of week.
Departure time MonTueWedThuFriSatSun
Before 6am 95 95 94 94 94 93 95
6–8am 93 94 95 94 93 92 94
8–10am 90 92 93 91 90 88 90
10am–12pm 83 88 88 84 84 86 84
12–2pm 79 83 84 78 77 81 78
2–4pm 73 81 79 71 68 78 70
4–6pm 75 81 81 70 68 78 69
6–8pm 74 82 79 70 67 75 66
8–10pm 71 79 79 65 66 70 66
10pm–12am 76 82 78 75 79 73 72
fewer left on time more left on time

The steadiest stretch at SMF was Before 6am — 94.3% of departures left on time across 8,411 flights. The weakest was 8–10pm at 69.7%. 6–8am departures from SMF left on time 93.3% of the time across 27,573 flights; 6–8pm departures, 73.1% across 17,315. That is a gap of 20.2 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.

The year at SMF

June was the hard month at SMF: 76.6% of departures left on time, across 14,987 flights. January was the easy one at 85%. Each month pools three years of that month, so a single bad week does not decide it.

Share of departures that left on time, by calendar month. Best month in green, worst in amber. The hairline sits at the overall rate, 82%.
Departure on-time share at SMF by calendar month
Month Share departures that left on time Flights
January 85% 12,422
February 84.8% 11,641
March 83.3% 13,705
April 83.2% 14,002
May 80.7% 14,766
June 76.6% 14,987
July 77.4% 15,080
August 82.3% 14,848
September 84.7% 14,096
October 82.8% 14,555
November 84.4% 13,714
December 80.9% 13,586

Airlines at SMF

Every airline with at least 100 departures from SMF, busiest first. These are that airline’s departures from this airport only — its record across the country sits on its own page.

Airline Left on time Typical delay Cancelled Departures
Southwest Airlines 79% 47 min 0.5% 94,085
SkyWest Airlines 87.5% 76 min 0.5% 26,560
United Airlines 88.2% 77 min 1% 12,316
American Airlines 81% 98 min 1.5% 10,698
Delta Air Lines 89.6% 83 min 0.7% 9,991
Alaska Airlines 85.1% 52 min 1% 4,771
Spirit Airlines 79.8% 67 min 1.4% 3,120
Hawaiian Airlines 86.8% 94 min 0.8% 2,419
Frontier Airlines 80.3% 72 min 1.5% 1,797
JetBlue Airways 58.3% 114 min 1.5% 986
Envoy Air 87.5% 54 min 0.3% 659

Spirit Airlines (through May 2026) and Hawaiian Airlines (through December 2025) stopped filing before June 2026. Their rows cover a shorter run of months than the rest of the table, so their figures are not set against the others anywhere on this page.

What delays out of SMF were put down to

Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 27,657 flights that departed SMF and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 46.1% put down to late-arriving aircraft and 34.2% to airline operations.

Late-arriving aircraft 46.1% Airline operations 34.2% Air traffic & airport volume 16.7% Severe weather 2.8% Security 0.2%
  • Late-arriving aircraft 46.1%
  • Airline operations 34.2%
  • Air traffic & airport volume 16.7%
  • Severe weather 2.8%
  • Security 0.2%

Late-arriving aircraft is the knock-on category: the plane came in late, so it went out late again. It is why a 7am problem in Newark is still a problem in Denver at dinnertime, and why it is usually the biggest slice on the bar.

If you are connecting through SMF

Of 167,406 scheduled arrivals into SMF, 80% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 32,358 arrivals that ran late, 61.1% were no more than 45 minutes behind — which is the difference between a tight connection and a new boarding pass.

Work out a specific layover — pick the airport and the minutes you have, and the tool reads the same arrival records back as a share.

Busiest routes out of SMF

Ranked by flights, with the share that arrived on time at the far end. Where a route carries enough flights for a page of its own the chip goes there; otherwise it goes to the destination airport.

SMF in one number

Sacramento (SMF)

Rank 36 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: Before 6am. Hardest month: June.

July 2023–June 2026 · 166,306 departures flown

82% of departures left on time

Questions about SMF

What is the best time of day to fly out of Sacramento?
Before 6am. Departures in that band left on time 94.3% of the time across 8,411 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 8–10pm band was the weakest at 69.7%.
Is the early flight out of SMF really more reliable?
6–8am departures from SMF left on time 93.3% of the time across 27,573 flights; 6–8pm departures, 73.1% across 17,315. That is a gap of 20.2 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
What is the worst month to fly out of SMF?
June: 76.6% of the departures that flew left on time, with 14,987 scheduled. January was the other end of the year at 85%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
Which airline is most on time at SMF?
Delta Air Lines — 89.6% of its 9,991 departures from SMF left on time. JetBlue Airways sat at the other end at 58.3% over 986 flights. Only airlines with at least 100 departures here are ranked. Airlines that stopped filing before June 2026 are left out of the ranking — their figures cover a shorter run of months than the rest of the table.
How often are flights cancelled at SMF?
0.7% of scheduled departures were cancelled over July 2023 through June 2026. Cancellations are counted against everything scheduled, not against everything that flew — a rate that looks small still adds up to real people in a rebooking line.