SNA to SMF flight delays
Santa Ana, CA (SNA) Sacramento, CA (SMF) · 404 miles
189 flights · March 2025 – August 2026 · US Bureau of Transportation Statistics
82.45%
Arrived on time
Within 15 minutes of schedule
0.53%
Cancelled
Share of scheduled flights
51 min
When late, late by
Average across delayed arrivals
10 min
Delay per flight
Averaged over every flight flown
What the record says about this route
This route does better than its own airport. Departures from SNA overall run 8.8 points less punctual than this particular one — so whatever congestion SNA has, this route is largely escaping it.
Only Southwest Airlines flies this route in the published record, so there is no choice to weigh — the route's figures and the airline's are the same figures.
Flights from Santa Ana to Sacramento keep to schedule more reliably than most. On a route this punctual the day you fly matters more than the airline you pick.
Which airline should you fly on this route?
Over March 2025 – August 2026, Southwest Airlines arrived on time most often on SNA to SMF.
Every airline on SNA 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 | 189 | 82.45% | 0.53% | 51 min | B |
The return leg
SMF to SNA Sacramento back to Santa Ana 81.48% on time BOther routes from Santa Ana
Common questions
Are flights from Santa Ana to Sacramento usually delayed?
82.45% of flights on the SNA to SMF route arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, so roughly 2 in every ten arrived late. That is better than the average route in this record.
Which airlines fly from Santa Ana to Sacramento?
Only Southwest Airlines appears in the published record on this route, with 189 flights and 82.45% arriving on time.
How often are SNA to SMF flights cancelled?
0.53% of scheduled flights did not operate — about 5 in every thousand. That is in the normal range.
When SNA to SMF flights are late, how late are they?
About 51 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 SNA to SMF during March 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 →