Airport month record
SMFMAR
Sacramento International in March 2026
- Departures
- 4,630
- Month
- March 2026
- National, same month
- 75.7%
- Carriers
- 7
Historical statistics for March 2026, not live status or a forecast for this year’s March. For today’s conditions at SMF, see live FAA status.
SMF in March earns a B+. More than four flights in five arrive inside the 15-minute window the DOT uses to define an on-time arrival, which puts it 9 points better than the national rate of 75.7%. When something does go wrong the average delay runs about an hour. That rests on 4,630 flights, of which SkyWest Airlines flew 691 at 83.5% on time.
Set against the rest of the country, SMF's March record is 9 points better than the US average of 75.7%. That gap is worth roughly 85 fewer late arrivals for every thousand flights.
Key figures
On time
84.2%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 4,579 completed departures
Avg delay
61 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
0.91%
Nationally in March: 2.90%
Whole year
82.1%
SMF across all twelve months
These figures cover 4,630 departures from Sacramento International in March 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
March next to SMF's other months
Against SMF's own year, March ran 2 points better than the twelve-month rate of 82.1%, which makes it number four of twelve months, best first. Either side of it, February ran 85.3% on time and April 83.8%, so this month sits in line with its neighbours.
| 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 (this page) | 4,630 | 84.2% | 61 min | 0.91% | B+ |
| April 2026 | 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 March
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 17 points, against half a point between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.
- 5am–8am1,016 flights91.6%
- 8am–11am815 flights89.8%
- 11am–2pm796 flights82.4%
- 2pm–5pm680 flights80.0%
- 5pm–8pm603 flights74.5%
- 8pm–5am720 flights81.9%
Scale runs 65% to 95%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.
Book the early departure. Flights leaving between 5am–8am arrive on time 91.6% of the time, against 74.5% for the evening window. That is 17 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 1,016 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Wednesday is the strongest day at 90.7% on time and Friday the weakest at 79.3%. 11 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at SMF in March
The two carriers here are closely matched: half a point separate the best from the worst. At that spread, schedule and price are better tie-breakers than reliability. Sample sizes are shown so you can see which rows are worth weighing.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 2,686 | 83.2% | 48 min | 0.71% | B+ |
| SkyWest Airlines | 691 | 83.5% | 67 min | 0.72% | B+ |
| United Airlinesthin sample | 340 | 90.2% | 108 min | 0.59% | A+ |
| American Airlinesthin sample | 303 | 82.8% | 104 min | 0.99% | B+ |
| Alaska Airlinesthin sample | 295 | 86.5% | 56 min | 1.36% | A |
| Delta Air Linesthin sample | 264 | 89.4% | 88 min | 3.03% | A− |
| Frontier Airlinesthin sample | 51 | 80.0% | 111 min | 1.96% | B |
No carrier stands out. SkyWest tops the table at 83.5%, half a point clear of the bottom, which is inside the range this kind of sample moves year to year.
Route by route
Busiest routes out of SMF in March
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SMF to SAN · San Diego | 469 | 80.7% | 51 min | 0.64% | B+ |
| SMF to LAX · Los Angeles | 450 | 83.7% | 64 min | 0.22% | B+ |
| SMF to PHX · Phoenixthin sample | 354 | 81.9% | 66 min | 0.28% | B+ |
| SMF to SEA · Seattlethin sample | 350 | 87.0% | 60 min | 1.43% | A |
| SMF to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample | 318 | 80.4% | 54 min | 0.63% | B+ |
| SMF to DEN · Denverthin sample | 291 | 84.5% | 89 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| SMF to BUR · Burbankthin sample | 223 | 85.2% | 59 min | 3.14% | A− |
| SMF to SNA · Santa Anathin sample | 195 | 82.8% | 42 min | 1.54% | B |
| SMF to ONT · Ontariothin sample | 184 | 87.0% | 58 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| SMF to SLC · Salt Lake Citythin sample | 169 | 90.3% | 48 min | 2.37% | A |
| SMF to PDX · Portlandthin sample | 158 | 87.3% | 49 min | 0.63% | A+ |
| SMF to LGB · Long Beachthin sample | 149 | 84.4% | 46 min | 1.34% | B |
| SMF to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample | 134 | 86.3% | 109 min | 0.75% | A+ |
| SMF to SFO · San Franciscothin sample | 114 | 78.1% | 40 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| SMF to ORD · Chicagothin sample | 113 | 77.1% | 105 min | 2.65% | B |
| SMF to ATL · Atlantathin sample | 89 | 88.0% | 86 min | 4.49% | A− |
| SMF to BOI · Boisethin sample | 64 | 85.9% | 57 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| SMF to PSP · Palm Springsthin sample | 62 | 90.3% | 89 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| SMF to HNL · Honoluluthin sample | 62 | 82.3% | 39 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| SMF to MDW · Chicagothin sample | 59 | 87.9% | 27 min | 1.69% | A |
| SMF to IAH · Houstonthin sample | 55 | 94.4% | 127 min | 1.82% | A |
| SMF to DAL · Dallasthin sample | 52 | 73.1% | 42 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| SMF to GEG · Spokanethin sample | 49 | 89.8% | 43 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| SMF to KOA · Kailua-Konathin sample | 44 | 97.7% | 49 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| SMF to OGG · Kahuluithin sample | 39 | 78.4% | 75 min | 5.13% | B− |
Delay causes
What held SMF up in March
One category carries most of the weight here. Late-arriving aircraft accounts for 45% of the 44,000 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.
- 45%Late-arriving aircraft
- 38%Carrier
- 14%National Airspace System
- 3%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
45% 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 44,000 reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 13 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 43,678 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations sit at 0.91% against a national 2.90%, which is ordinary. Diversions add another 0.19%.
Badly late arrivals are rare here: only 4.8% land an hour or more behind schedule, against 9.5% 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 March
For a March trip through SMF: expect 84.2% on time and 0.91% cancelled, going by March 2026. The 5am–8am window was the strongest part of the day.
Related
Where to go next
- 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 April83.8%
- 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.