Santa Maria, CA

What the Data Says About SMX

Santa Maria, CA in Santa Maria, California handled 2,193 flights in the Bureau of Transportation Statistics dataset between 2020 and 2025, posting a 76.6% on-time departure rate. Of those flights, 513 experienced delays, 51 were cancelled, and 1 were diverted. The cancellation rate works out to 2.33%, the diversion rate to 0.05%, and the average delay when departures run late is 97.2 minutes. These figures are the baseline for comparing SMX against other airports in the same state and nationally.

Breaking down what drives delays at SMX, Late Aircraft leads the pack. Late Aircraft accounts for 53.0% of total delay minutes, followed by Carrier at 27.6% and NAS (National Aviation System) at 9.9%. Weather contributes 9.2% 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, January runs the cleanest at SMX with a 92.1% on-time rate, while July is the roughest at 81.4% — a 11-point swing between best and worst month. Volume peaks in November, when average flights hit 48. Combine these numbers — 76.6% on-time, 97.2-minute average delay, 2.33% cancellation rate — and you have a concrete picture of departure reliability at Santa Maria, CA.