Sacramento, CA

What the Data Says About SMF

Sacramento, CA in Sacramento, California handled 592,833 flights in the Bureau of Transportation Statistics dataset between 2020 and 2025, posting a 82.7% on-time departure rate. Of those flights, 102,838 experienced delays, 5,050 were cancelled, and 560 were diverted. The cancellation rate works out to 0.85%, the diversion rate to 0.09%, and the average delay when departures run late is 62.4 minutes. These figures are the baseline for comparing SMF against other airports in the same state and nationally.

Breaking down what drives delays at SMF, Late Aircraft leads the pack. Late Aircraft accounts for 45.4% of total delay minutes, followed by Carrier at 36.5% and NAS (National Aviation System) at 15.4%. Weather contributes 2.5% of delay minutes at this airport, while security holds the smallest share at 0.2%. Travelers often overestimate the weather share; the BTS categorization shows late-arriving aircraft and carrier operations as the larger contributors.

Seasonally, February runs the cleanest at SMF with a 93.9% on-time rate, while June is the roughest at 89.4% — a 5-point swing between best and worst month. Volume peaks in July, when average flights hit 8,970. The busiest route from SMF is to SMF (Sacramento), with 30,295 flights at a 81.6% on-time rate. Combine these numbers — 82.7% on-time, 62.4-minute average delay, 0.85% cancellation rate — and you have a concrete picture of departure reliability at Sacramento, CA.