Airport month record

SMFAPR

Sacramento International in April 2026

Departures: 4,672
Month: April 2026
National, same month: 79.8%
Carriers: 7

Historical statistics for April 2026, not live status or a forecast for this year’s April. For today’s conditions at SMF, see live FAA status.

SMF in April lands a B+, 4 points better than the national rate of 79.8%. About one flight in six arrives 15 minutes late or worse, and those flights are late by about 50 minutes on average. That is a workable record, not a spotless one. That rests on 4,672 flights, of which United Airlines flew 379 at 92.0% on time.

United Airlines is the most reliable of the three carriers covered here at 92.0% on time across 379 flights.

On time

83.8%

Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 4,643 completed departures

Avg delay

50 min

Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights

Cancelled

0.41%

Nationally in April: 0.90%

Whole year

82.1%

SMF across all twelve months

These figures cover 4,672 departures from Sacramento International in April 2026. On time means an arrival less than 15 minutes after the scheduled gate time, the DOT's threshold, and the national comparison uses every US departure in the same month rather than the whole year.

Against the year

April next to SMF's other months

Against SMF's own year, April ran 2 points better than the twelve-month rate of 82.1%, which makes it number five of twelve months, best first. Either side of it, March ran 84.2% on time and May 81.8%, so this month sits in line with its neighbours.

SMF month by month
Month	Flights	On time	Avg delay	Cancelled	Grade
July 2025	5,494	78.9%	63 min	0.69%	B+
August 2025	5,089	82.7%	58 min	0.53%	B+
September 2025	4,804	84.7%	56 min	0.35%	B+
October 2025	4,937	81.5%	54 min	0.38%	B+
November 2025	4,662	81.8%	57 min	1.78%	B
December 2025	4,531	79.2%	59 min	0.75%	B+
January 2026	4,130	85.0%	67 min	1.33%	A
February 2026	3,935	85.3%	58 min	0.25%	A+
March 2026	4,630	84.2%	61 min	0.91%	B+
April 2026 (this page)	4,672	83.8%	50 min	0.41%	B+
May 2026	4,945	81.8%	57 min	0.36%	B+
June 2026	4,900	78.0%	52 min	0.51%	B+

Departure window

The best time of day to leave SMF in April

Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 19 points, against 11 points between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.

5am–8am1,004 flights94.8%
8am–11am809 flights88.8%
11am–2pm837 flights81.5%
2pm–5pm684 flights75.7%
5pm–8pm579 flights79.6%
8pm–5am759 flights77.0%

Scale runs 65% to 100%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.

Book the early departure. Flights leaving between 5am–8am arrive on time 94.8% of the time, against 75.7% for the afternoon window. That is 19 points of difference for no extra money, and it comes from the same aircraft having had no earlier flight to fall behind on. The 5am–8am window is the busiest, with 1,004 flights scheduled in it.

Across the week, Wednesday is the strongest day at 89.2% on time and Thursday the weakest at 77.2%. 12 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.

Carrier by carrier

Which airlines ran best at SMF in April

The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. United Airlines arrives on time 92.0% of the time; Southwest Airlines manages 81.3%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 2,646 flights means less than a ten-point one.

Carriers at SMF in April 2026
Airline	Flights	On time	Avg delay	Cancelled	Grade
Southwest Airlines	2,646	81.3%	43 min	0.30%	B+
SkyWest Airlines	687	85.6%	60 min	0.15%	A+
United Airlines	379	92.0%	62 min	0.26%	A+
Alaska Airlinesthin sample	326	85.5%	41 min	0.31%	A+
American Airlinesthin sample	308	83.0%	81 min	1.30%	B
Delta Air Linesthin sample	259	93.4%	95 min	0.77%	A+
Frontier Airlinesthin sample	51	75.5%	86 min	3.92%	B−

United leads Southwest by 11 points. Real, but small enough that a better departure time on the weaker carrier can outweigh it.

Route by route

Busiest routes out of SMF in April

Routes from SMF in April 2026
Route	Flights	On time	Avg delay	Cancelled	Grade
SMF to LAX · Los Angeles	471	88.0%	50 min	0.64%	A+
SMF to SAN · San Diego	452	76.8%	37 min	0.66%	B+
SMF to SEA · Seattle	369	85.6%	45 min	0.00%	A+
SMF to PHX · Phoenixthin sample	339	85.3%	51 min	0.00%	A+
SMF to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample	312	79.8%	67 min	0.00%	B+
SMF to DEN · Denverthin sample	290	86.9%	42 min	0.00%	A+
SMF to BUR · Burbankthin sample	223	89.5%	47 min	1.35%	A
SMF to SNA · Santa Anathin sample	189	80.9%	37 min	0.53%	B+
SMF to ONT · Ontariothin sample	184	83.7%	44 min	0.00%	B+
SMF to SLC · Salt Lake Citythin sample	173	87.8%	68 min	0.58%	A+
SMF to PDX · Portlandthin sample	158	88.6%	65 min	0.00%	A+
SMF to ORD · Chicagothin sample	149	81.7%	120 min	2.01%	B
SMF to LGB · Long Beachthin sample	142	89.4%	43 min	0.00%	A+
SMF to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample	135	82.4%	59 min	1.48%	B
SMF to SFO · San Franciscothin sample	119	60.2%	64 min	0.84%	D+
SMF to ATL · Atlantathin sample	86	97.6%	76 min	1.16%	A
SMF to BOI · Boisethin sample	63	82.5%	19 min	0.00%	B+
SMF to HNL · Honoluluthin sample	60	66.7%	31 min	0.00%	C+
SMF to MDW · Chicagothin sample	60	90.0%	27 min	0.00%	A+
SMF to DAL · Dallasthin sample	58	85.7%	41 min	1.72%	A
SMF to IAH · Houstonthin sample	56	92.9%	75 min	0.00%	A+
SMF to PSP · Palm Springsthin sample	49	89.8%	45 min	0.00%	A+
SMF to GEG · Spokanethin sample	47	68.1%	60 min	0.00%	C+
SMF to KOA · Kailua-Konathin sample	43	69.8%	34 min	0.00%	C+
SMF to OGG · Kahuluithin sample	38	78.9%	22 min	0.00%	B+

Delay causes

What held SMF up in April

One category carries most of the weight here. Late-arriving aircraft accounts for 48% of the 38,000 delay minutes carriers reported, and the remaining four split what is left. The split is by minutes rather than by flights, so a few very long delays count for as much as many short ones.

Late-arriving aircraft
48%
Carrier
35%
National Airspace System
16%
Extreme weather
1%
Security
0%

48% of delay minutes trace back to a late-arriving aircraft, meaning the plane was already behind before it got here. That is a cascade, and cascades start small and grow through the day. Across 38,000 reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 48 to one. It is the strongest argument for booking the first departure of the morning, when the aircraft has been sitting at the gate overnight with nothing to inherit. The split is drawn from 37,805 reported delay minutes.

Cancellations are rare at 0.41%, below the national 0.90% and low enough to earn the plus on the grade. Roughly one flight in 100 is called off; the risk here is arriving late, not not arriving.

Badly late arrivals are rare here: only 3.3% land an hour or more behind schedule, against 6.4% nationally. Connections built on this flight are about as safe as US domestic connections get, though a cancelled flight still ignores every layover you give it.

What to do with this

Flying from SMF in April

For a April trip through SMF: expect 83.8% on time and 0.41% cancelled, going by April 2026. The 5am–8am window was the strongest part of the day.

Sacramento International (SMF), the whole year
SMF in July78.9%
SMF in August82.7%
SMF in September84.7%
SMF in October81.5%
SMF in November81.8%
SMF in December79.2%
SMF in January85.0%
SMF in February85.3%
SMF in March84.2%
SMF in May81.8%
SMF in June78.0%

Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, on-time performance data, July 2025 to June 2026. Last updated 15 September 2026; recomputed monthly. How this data is collected.

Key figures