Burbank to Sacramento

What the Data Says About BUR to SMF

The Burbank to Sacramento corridor (BUR → SMF) covers roughly 358 miles and is served by 3 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 15,739 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 86.7% on-time rate with an average delay of 54.6 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 5,520 flights were recorded on this pairing — 82 cancelled (1.5%) and 1 diverted (0.0%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 3 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 15,739 total flights analyzed, the 86.7% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 54.6-minute average delay applies only to flights that actually ran late, so it is not the average wait across all departures — the majority of flights on this route depart on time under the BTS definition of a delay (15+ minutes past schedule).

Looking at recent months, Feb 2025 posted the best performance on this corridor at 93% on-time, while Oct 2025 came in at 79% on-time — a 15-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the BUR to SMF route, the combination of a 86.7% on-time rate, 54.6-minute average delay, 1.5% recent cancellation rate, and 3 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.