Sacramento to Long Beach

What the Data Says About SMF to LGB

The Sacramento to Long Beach corridor (SMF → LGB) covers roughly 387 miles and is served by 3 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 9,737 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 87.5% on-time rate with an average delay of 52.2 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 3,995 flights were recorded on this pairing — 21 cancelled (0.5%) and 6 diverted (0.2%). 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 9,737 total flights analyzed, the 87.5% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 52.2-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, Aug 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 94% on-time, while Nov 2025 came in at 81% on-time — a 13-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the SMF to LGB route, the combination of a 87.5% on-time rate, 52.2-minute average delay, 0.5% recent cancellation rate, and 3 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.