Sacramento to Ontario

What the Data Says About SMF to ONT

The Sacramento to Ontario corridor (SMF → ONT) covers roughly 390 miles and is served by 3 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 10,958 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 86.3% on-time rate with an average delay of 58.7 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 4,042 flights were recorded on this pairing — 12 cancelled (0.3%) and 4 diverted (0.1%). 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 10,958 total flights analyzed, the 86.3% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 58.7-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, Jan 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 96% on-time, while Jun 2024 came in at 77% on-time — a 19-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the SMF to ONT route, the combination of a 86.3% on-time rate, 58.7-minute average delay, 0.3% recent cancellation rate, and 3 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.