Sacramento International in March 2026

81.2%departed on time

BTS: A flight is counted as on time if it arrived less than 15 minutes after its scheduled time. Only carriers with at least 0.5 percent of domestic scheduled passenger revenue report.

In March 2026, reporting carriers scheduled 4,630 domestic departures from Sacramento International (SMF). 81.2% left less than 15 minutes late and 83.3% reached their destination on time; 0.9% were cancelled.

Nationally that month, 72.8% of flights departed on time and 73.2% arrived on time, so SMF departures were 8.4 points above the national departure figure.

A year earlier, in March 2025, the airport had 4,827 departures with 83.6% leaving on time: a change of −2.4 points, with flights down 4%.

Flights arriving at SMF that month were on time 80.3% of the time (4,628 scheduled arrivals).

Of the delay minutes that carriers assigned to a BTS cause category that month, late-arriving aircraft 45%, air carrier 38% and national aviation system 14%.

On time 83.3%
Arrived 15+ minutes late 15.6%
Cancelled 0.9%
Diverted 0.2%

Every scheduled departure from SMF in March 2026, judged by arrival at the destination.

March 2026 against a year earlier, the airport's year and the nation

Measure	Mar 2026	Mar 2025	SMF, 12 months to Jul 2026	All reported flights, Mar 2026
Departed on time	81.2%	83.6%	80.0%	72.8%
Arrived on time	83.3%	84.8%	81.4%	73.2%
Cancelled	0.9%	0.5%	0.7%	2.9%
Average departure delay (late minutes only)	11.9 min	9.7 min	12.1 min	20.3 min
Scheduled departures a day	154	161	154	20,403
Scheduled departures	4,630	4,827	56,306	612,102

Airlines that month

Reporting carrier	Flights	Share	On time	Avg arrival delay	Cancelled
WN Southwest Airlines	2,686	58%	82.5%	2.0 min	0.7%
OO SkyWest Airlines	691	15%	82.9%	1.9 min	0.7%
UA United Airlines	340	7%	89.7%	-1.0 min	0.6%
AA American Airlines	303	7%	81.2%	6.3 min	1.0%
AS Alaska Airlines	295	6%	84.7%	-1.9 min	1.4%
DL Delta Air Lines	264	6%	86.0%	-4.0 min	3.0%
F9 Frontier Airlines	51	1%	78.4%	11.7 min	2.0%

Busiest routes that month

Route	Cities	Flights	On time	Avg arrival delay	Cancelled
SMF–SAN	Sacramento to San Diego	469	80.2%	6.6 min	0.6%
SMF–LAX	Sacramento to Los Angeles	450	83.6%	2.4 min	0.2%
SMF–PHX	Sacramento to Phoenix	354	81.6%	4.7 min	0.3%
SMF–SEA	Sacramento to Seattle	350	85.7%	-1.0 min	1.4%
SMF–LAS	Sacramento to Las Vegas	318	79.9%	4.7 min	0.6%
SMF–DEN	Sacramento to Denver	291	84.5%	6.2 min	0.0%
SMF–BUR	Sacramento to Burbank	223	82.5%	-1.4 min	3.1%
SMF–SNA	Sacramento to Santa Ana	195	81.5%	0.0 min	1.5%
SMF–ONT	Sacramento to Ontario	184	87.0%	-0.2 min	0.0%
SMF–SLC	Sacramento to Salt Lake City	169	88.2%	-8.3 min	2.4%
SMF–PDX	Sacramento to Portland	158	86.7%	-2.9 min	0.6%
SMF–LGB	Sacramento to Long Beach	149	83.2%	1.1 min	1.3%

By scheduled departure hour

On-time share:under 62%6270768288% and over

Share of departures that left less than 15 minutes late, by scheduled hour (local time), March 2026.

Delay causes

BTS cause category	Share of delay minutes	National, Mar 2026	Minutes
Air carrier	37.5%	33.5%	16,386
Late-arriving aircraft	44.7%	39.3%	19,518
National Aviation System	14.3%	21.0%	6,230
Extreme weather	3.4%	5.9%	1,498
Security	0.1%	0.2%	46

43,678 delay minutes on 722 flights that arrived 15 or more minutes late and carried a cause report. Carriers assign the categories; see what each category means.

Questions and answers

How many flights left SMF on time in March 2026?

81.2% of 4,630 scheduled domestic departures left less than 15 minutes late, and 83.3% reached their destination on time. The national figures that month were 72.8% and 73.2%.

How does that compare with a year earlier?

In March 2025, 83.6% of 4,827 departures left on time and 0.5% were cancelled, against 81.2% and 0.9% in March 2026.

Provenance

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance, file for March 2026; public domain. Domestic scheduled flights by reporting carriers, totals and averages only. The site's data runs through July 2026. Full record for SMF · methodology · corrections.