Routes › Sacramento (SMF) › SMF to IAD
Route · 12 months to July 2026
Sacramento to Washington: on-time record
Sacramento International to Washington Dulles International
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. Data through July 2026; this is a monthly history, not live flight status.
94.2% of scheduled SMF to IAD flights arrived on time in the 12 months to July 2026. The figure covers 365 flights between Sacramento and Washington by carriers that report to BTS, a distance of 2,357 miles.
That is 18.2 points above the national on-time share of 76.0% for the same period and 12.8 points above the 81.4% recorded for all departures from SMF. Flights that did arrive were 15.8 minutes early on average, and 1.6% of scheduled flights were cancelled (national: 1.8%).
United Airlines is the only reporting carrier on the route, with 365 flights in the period.
The on-time share is up 5.7 points on the previous 12 months (88.5%); cancellations moved from 0.5% to 1.6%.
Of the delay minutes that carriers assigned to a BTS cause category on this route, national aviation system 53%, air carrier 43% and late-arriving aircraft 4%.
- On time 94.2%
- Arrived 15+ minutes late 3.8%
- Cancelled 1.6%
- Diverted 0.3%
Airlines on the route compared
| Reporting carrier | Flights | Share | On time | Avg arrival delay | Cancelled |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UA United Airlines | 365 | 100% | 94.2% | -15.8 min | 1.6% |
Carriers with at least 24 flights in the 12 months to July 2026. The on-time pill is green when a carrier is at or above the route's overall share. Regional carriers operate flights sold under larger airlines' brands; BTS lists the carrier that operated the flight.
Compared with the airports and the nation
| Measure | SMF to IAD | All departures from SMF | All arrivals at IAD | All reported flights |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arrived on time | 94.2% | 81.4% | 81.9% | 76.0% |
| Arrived 15+ minutes late | 3.8% | 17.7% | 16.5% | 21.9% |
| Cancelled | 1.6% | 0.7% | 1.4% | 1.8% |
| Diverted | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.3% |
| Average arrival delay | -15.8 min | 3.1 min | 3.5 min | 8.1 min |
| Delay minutes per 100 flights | 167 | 1,117 | 1,334 | 1,684 |
| Scheduled flights | 365 | 56,306 | 57,761 | 7,043,858 |
12 months to July 2026. Delay minutes count late arrivals only (an early arrival is zero), so the per-100-flights row is a normalised total rather than an average of early and late.
The return direction, IAD to SMF, recorded 80.3% on time across 365 flights in the same period.
Month by month
Year on year: on time 94.2% against 88.5% (+5.7 pts), cancelled 1.6% against 0.5%, flights 365 against 366.
By scheduled departure hour
Delay causes
Seasonality
| Calendar month | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Avg arrival delay | Years in sample |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 66 | 84.8% | 4.5% | -12.3 min | 3 |
| Feb | 56 | 92.9% | 0.0% | -17.7 min | 2 |
| Mar | 87 | 95.4% | 0.0% | -11.0 min | 3 |
| Apr | 90 | 90.0% | 0.0% | -4.9 min | 3 |
| May | 93 | 91.4% | 2.2% | -7.2 min | 3 |
| Jun | 91 | 90.1% | 3.3% | -10.7 min | 3 |
| Jul | 93 | 76.3% | 3.2% | 11.7 min | 3 |
| Aug | 93 | 82.8% | 1.1% | -0.5 min | 3 |
| Sep | 90 | 90.0% | 2.2% | -2.2 min | 3 |
| Oct | 92 | 96.7% | 0.0% | -13.5 min | 3 |
| Nov | 72 | 95.8% | 0.0% | -15.8 min | 3 |
| Dec | 76 | 90.8% | 0.0% | -7.6 min | 3 |
Each calendar month summed across the 36 months on file, so most rows combine three years. The pill compares the month with the route's own 12-month share.
Other routes from Sacramento (SMF)
| Route | Cities | Flights | On time | Avg arrival delay | Cancelled |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SMF–LAX | Sacramento to Los Angeles | 5,643 | 85.1% | 1.0 min | 0.4% |
| SMF–SAN | Sacramento to San Diego | 5,180 | 71.1% | 11.0 min | 1.0% |
| SMF–SEA | Sacramento to Seattle | 4,390 | 82.3% | -0.6 min | 0.3% |
| SMF–LAS | Sacramento to Las Vegas | 4,114 | 79.4% | 5.6 min | 0.6% |
| SMF–DEN | Sacramento to Denver | 3,845 | 82.7% | 2.7 min | 0.3% |
| SMF–PHX | Sacramento to Phoenix | 3,630 | 80.6% | 5.4 min | 0.6% |
| SMF–BUR | Sacramento to Burbank | 2,606 | 83.5% | 0.0 min | 1.8% |
| SMF–SNA | Sacramento to Santa Ana | 2,310 | 84.0% | 0.3 min | 0.3% |
All 45 routes and the airport record for SMF · airport record for IAD
Questions and answers
How often are flights from Sacramento to Washington on time?
94.2% of the 365 flights scheduled from SMF to IAD in the 12 months to July 2026 arrived less than 15 minutes after their scheduled time. The national share for the same period was 76.0%. Cancelled and diverted flights count as not on time.
Which airline has the highest on-time share from SMF to IAD?
United Airlines is the only reporting carrier with at least 60 flights on the route in the period, so there is no comparison to make.
What causes delays between Sacramento and Washington?
For flights that arrived 15 or more minutes late, carriers attributed the delay minutes as follows: national aviation system 53%, air carrier 43%, late-arriving aircraft 4%, extreme weather 0%, security 0%. The categories are the carriers' own reports to BTS; weather that slows the wider system is usually recorded under the National Aviation System rather than extreme weather.
What time of day has the highest on-time share from SMF?
Too few departure hours carry enough flights on this route to compare them.
Is it getting better?
The on-time share for the 12 months to July 2026 was 94.2%, up 5.7 points on the previous 12 months (88.5%). The monthly chart on this page shows each of the last 36 months. Across those months, October had the highest on-time share (96.7%) and July the lowest (76.3%).
Where does this data come from?
Every figure is computed from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance files, which list each scheduled domestic flight by the carriers required to report. This page covers August 2023 to July 2026. It shows totals and averages only; it is not a live flight-status service.
Provenance
Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance (1987 to present), monthly files August 2023 to July 2026, a US government work in the public domain. Figures are totals and averages over all scheduled flights by reporting carriers on the route; no individual flight or aircraft is identified. Times are local to the departure airport. The load factor and passenger counts from the BTS T-100 series are not included in this edition. See the methodology; report processing errors through corrections.