BNA to SMF flight delays
Nashville, TN (BNA) Sacramento, CA (SMF) · 1,917 miles
346 flights · January 2025 – August 2026 · US Bureau of Transportation Statistics
67.06%
Arrived on time
Within 15 minutes of schedule
0.58%
Cancelled
Share of scheduled flights
42 min
When late, late by
Average across delayed arrivals
16 min
Delay per flight
Averaged over every flight flown
What the record says about this route
The season swings this route hard. In November it ran 35.9 points more punctual than in June — a difference bigger than the one between the best and worst airlines on most routes. If the date is flexible, it is worth more than the carrier.
The two directions do not behave alike. SMF to BNA arrives on time 22.5 points more often than the outbound. Delay accumulates through the flying day, so whichever direction is scheduled later tends to carry the worse record — which is an argument for booking the morning departure if the choice exists.
The route has been getting worse. The later months run 8.1 points less punctual than the earlier ones. A drift of that size is rarely weather; it is more often an airline adding frequencies faster than the airports can absorb them.
This is a late route. Flights from Nashville to Sacramento miss their scheduled arrival often enough that a tight connection at the far end is a connection at risk.
Which airline should you fly on this route?
Over January 2025 – August 2026, Southwest Airlines arrived on time most often on BNA to SMF. Flights ran closest to schedule in January and worst in June.
Every airline on BNA to SMF
Ranked by how many flights each one operated. A carrier with fewer than 100 flights in the period is listed but not graded.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Avg delay | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 346 | 67.06% | 0.58% | 42 min | D |
Month by month
Share of flights that arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, by month flown.
The return leg
SMF to BNA Sacramento back to Nashville 89.53% on time AOther routes from Nashville
Common questions
Are flights from Nashville to Sacramento usually delayed?
67.06% of flights on the BNA to SMF route arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, so roughly 3 in every ten arrived late. That is worse than the average route in this record.
Which airlines fly from Nashville to Sacramento?
Only Southwest Airlines appears in the published record on this route, with 346 flights and 67.06% arriving on time.
How often are BNA to SMF flights cancelled?
0.58% of scheduled flights did not operate — about 6 in every thousand. That is in the normal range.
What is the best month to fly Nashville to Sacramento?
November, when 80% of flights arrived on time. The worst was June at 44.1%.
When BNA to SMF flights are late, how late are they?
About 42 minutes on average across the flights that arrived more than 15 minutes behind schedule.
What these figures do and do not tell you
Everything on this page is counted from the flights that actually operated on BNA to SMF during January 2025 – August 2026, as reported by the airlines to the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics. "On time" is the federal definition: arriving at the gate within 15 minutes of the scheduled time.
A route's record is a description of the past, not a forecast. Weather, air traffic control and the aircraft's earlier flights that day drive most delays, and none of them are predictable from a historical rate. What the record does tell you is whether this route runs late more often than others, and which carrier on it has the better history — which is the part you can actually act on when you book.
Cancellations are counted separately from delays because they are a different problem for a traveller: a late flight still gets you there. How the grade is calculated →