Long Beach to Sacramento

What the Data Says About LGB to SMF

The Long Beach to Sacramento corridor (LGB → SMF) covers roughly 387 miles and is served by 2 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 9,742 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 87.4% on-time rate with an average delay of 56.4 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 3,995 flights were recorded on this pairing — 20 cancelled (0.5%) and 1 diverted (0.0%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 2 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 9,742 total flights analyzed, the 87.4% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 56.4-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 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 97% on-time, while May 2024 came in at 80% on-time — a 17-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the LGB to SMF route, the combination of a 87.4% on-time rate, 56.4-minute average delay, 0.5% recent cancellation rate, and 2 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.