Route · SMF → SAN · 2020–2025 BTS data
Sacramento to San Diego
According to PlainFlights' route traffic ranking (BTS On-Time Performance total flights), SMF to SAN (Sacramento to San Diego) ranks #126 of 4927 tracked domestic routes by total flights (most flights = #1).
Data updated 2026-06-13
- 81.7%
- On-time
- +2.7 pts
- vs US avg
- 58 min
- Delay when late
- 30,193
- Flights
- #126 of 4927
- Corpus placement
Cancelled
0.9%
Best Month
Jan 2025 86%
Worst Month
Dec 2025 67%
Distance
480 mi
Carriers
16
Monthly Performance
Recent 24 months of route data.
| Period | Flights | Delayed | Cancelled | Diverted | Carriers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 2025 | 399 | 130 | 6 | 3 | WN,AS,OO |
| Nov 2025 | 440 | 131 | 17 | 0 | OO,AS,WN |
| Oct 2025 | 424 | 116 | 2 | 2 | AS,OO,WN |
| Sep 2025 | 416 | 82 | 4 | 1 | WN,OO |
| Aug 2025 | 443 | 103 | 0 | 0 | OO,WN |
| Jul 2025 | 465 | 129 | 1 | 1 | OO,WN |
| Jun 2025 | 450 | 125 | 4 | 0 | OO,WN |
| May 2025 | 443 | 83 | 1 | 0 | OO,WN |
| Apr 2025 | 430 | 96 | 3 | 1 | OO,WN |
| Mar 2025 | 427 | 88 | 3 | 3 | OO,WN,F9 |
| Feb 2025 | 366 | 74 | 2 | 0 | OO,WN,F9 |
| Jan 2025 | 391 | 55 | 6 | 3 | OO,WN,F9 |
| Dec 2024 | 442 | 113 | 18 | 4 | F9,NK,OO,WN |
| Nov 2024 | 464 | 109 | 0 | 0 | OO,NK,WN,F9 |
| Oct 2024 | 494 | 157 | 12 | 3 | OO,WN,NK,F9 |
| Sep 2024 | 468 | 123 | 0 | 1 | WN,OO,F9,NK |
| Aug 2024 | 501 | 113 | 2 | 1 | F9,NK,WN,OO |
| Jul 2024 | 492 | 140 | 1 | 0 | NK,OO,WN |
| Jun 2024 | 473 | 131 | 5 | 0 | NK,OO,WN |
| May 2024 | 460 | 79 | 0 | 0 | NK,OO,WN |
| Apr 2024 | 442 | 79 | 0 | 0 | NK,OO,WN |
| Mar 2024 | 422 | 93 | 1 | 1 | OO,WN |
| Feb 2024 | 379 | 73 | 4 | 0 | OO,WN |
| Jan 2024 | 412 | 69 | 5 | 2 | WN,OO |
SMF–SAN seasonal on-time pattern
Best: February (87.2%) · weakest: December (77.6%)
Strongest calendar month
February
87.2% on-time · ~361 flights/mo
Busiest calendar month
July
~463 flights/mo avg
Weakest calendar month
December
77.6% on-time · ~399 flights/mo
Cancellation Rate
0.9%
97 of 10,543 flights
Diversion Rate
0.2%
26 of 10,543 flights
Explore origin & destination
On-time and delay data for the airports this route connects.
SMF - Sacramento
Full on-time, delay-cause, and seasonal performance for Sacramento, CA.
SMF on-time profileSAN - San Diego
Full on-time, delay-cause, and seasonal performance for San Diego, CA.
SAN on-time profileCompare the two airports
See SMF and SAN side by side on delays, cancellations, and reliability.
Compare SMF vs SANOrigin-hub reliability standing
Mid-pack among SMF departures
From SMF, this corridor sits with 14 other 75–85% on-time routes out of 35 tracked departures, not the hub's reliability leaders (20 at ≥85%) and not the softest ( 1 below 75%). Destination: San Diego · fleet on-time rank #2491 of 4927.
Similar routes
Other BTS-tracked routes with comparable performance or trip length to SMF–SAN.
Routes with a similar on-time rate
What the Data Says About SMF to SAN
30,193 tracked flights put the SMF to SAN pairing (Sacramento to San Diego) at a 81.7% on-time rate, squarely in line with the wider network. Delays that do occur run 57.6 minutes on average. Across the 480-mile route and its 16 carriers, the trailing 24 months show 0.9% cancelled and 0.2% diverted (10,543 flights sampled).
The monthly split is wide on this route: Jan 2025 posted the strongest performance at 86% on-time, while Dec 2025 came in at just 67% - a 19-point swing worth factoring into travel timing.
On the multi-year calendar, SMF–SAN peaks in February at 87.2% on-time while July carries the heaviest traffic (~463 flights per month) ; the softest month is December at 77.6%, a 9.6-point swing that repeats because the corridor's weather and holiday mix stays stable year to year.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where does SMF to SAN rank among US routes by traffic? ▼
How often are flights delayed from SMF to SAN? ▼
What is the cancellation rate for SMF to SAN? ▼
How far is the flight from SMF to SAN? ▼
When is the best time to fly from SMF to SAN? ▼
Airports on this route
Data source
Data Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), On-Time Performance Data. Statistics reflect cumulative performance across all available reporting periods.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Using SMF–SAN data
SMF–SAN is mid-pack at 81.7% on-time; month and carrier mix move more than the corridor headline.
- Compare SMF and SAN airport profiles: delay causes and top routes differ even on the same corridor. SMF airport
- If your dates flex, February (87.2% on-time) beats December (77.6%) on this corridor. Seasonal chart
- 4 other routes post a similar 81.7% on-time rate; compare before you commit to this pairing. Similar routes
On-time rate reflects the BTS historical average across all reporting carriers on this origin–destination pair, not any single flight or booking recommendation.
Every figure on PlainFlights is rendered directly from BTS On-Time Performance data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page aggregates this specific route's on-time performance and monthly trend, live from the dataset. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.