SMF to SFO flight delays
Sacramento, CA (SMF) San Francisco, CA (SFO) · 86 miles
1,378 flights · January 2025 – August 2026 · US Bureau of Transportation Statistics
64.62%
Arrived on time
Within 15 minutes of schedule
1.74%
Cancelled
Share of scheduled flights
68 min
When late, late by
Average across delayed arrivals
25 min
Delay per flight
Averaged over every flight flown
What the record says about this route
The season swings this route hard. In March it ran 27 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. SFO to SMF arrives on time 14.2 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.
This route does worse than its own airport. SMF as a whole runs 16.1 points more punctual than these flights, which points at something specific to the route — the time of day it is scheduled, or the aircraft that feed it — rather than the airport.
This is a late route. Flights from Sacramento to San Francisco 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, SkyWest Airlines arrived on time most often on SMF to SFO. Flights ran closest to schedule in March and worst in June.
Every airline on SMF to SFO
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SkyWest Airlines | 1,325 | 63.49% | 1.81% | 68 min | F |
| United Airlines | 53 | 92.45% | 0% | 54 min | — |
Month by month
Share of flights that arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, by month flown.
The return leg
SFO to SMF San Francisco back to Sacramento 78.86% on time COther routes from Sacramento
Common questions
Are flights from Sacramento to San Francisco usually delayed?
64.62% of flights on the SMF to SFO route arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, so roughly 4 in every ten arrived late. That is worse than the average route in this record.
Which airlines fly from Sacramento to San Francisco?
Only SkyWest Airlines appears in the published record on this route, with 1,325 flights and 63.49% arriving on time.
How often are SMF to SFO flights cancelled?
1.74% of scheduled flights did not operate — about 17 in every thousand. That is in the normal range.
What is the best month to fly Sacramento to San Francisco?
March, when 78.1% of flights arrived on time. The worst was June at 51.1%.
When SMF to SFO flights are late, how late are they?
About 68 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 SMF to SFO 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 →