Historical on-time performance
Dallas to Sacramento
1,442 miData through May 2026Source: US DOT · BTS
Flights on DAL–SMF arrive on time 70% of the time over the last 12 months.
On-time rate70%arrived within 15 min
p90 delay45 min1 in 10 flights is worse (tail risk)
Cancelled0.8%of scheduled flights
based on 661 flights over the last 12 months. On-time means arriving within 15 minutes (BTS standard).
By airline
How each carrier compares
- Southwest AirlinesOn-time70%Medianon timep9045 minCancel0.8%Flights661
Why flights run late
Delay causes
- Airline29%
- Weather2%
- Air traffic (NAS)7%
- Late aircraft62%
- Security0%
Most delay minutes here are attributed to Late aircraft.
When flights don't go
Why flights were cancelled
- Airline40%
- Weather60%
- Air traffic (NAS)0%
- Security0%
Most cancellations here are attributed to Weather. Shares are among 5 cancellations with a reported cause (BTS reports causes from June 2003).
Over time
On-time trend
By season
On-time rate by month
When to fly
Best time to fly DAL → SMF
All airlines · rolling 36 months (2023-06 .. 2026-05).
Best time of day
Mornings are the most reliable time of day to fly this route — 88% on time.
- Mornings88% on time · p90 15 min · 561 flights
- Middays81% on time · p90 20 min · 301 flights
- Afternoons74% on time · p90 45 min · 126 flights · limited
- Evenings65% on time · p90 50 min · 305 flights
- Overnights58% on time · p90 55 min · 497 flights
Best day of week
On-time rates are fairly even by day on this route — ranging from 70% to 79% on time.
- Wednesdays79% on time · p90 25 min · 233 flights
- Saturdays77% on time · p90 30 min · 262 flights
- Tuesdays76% on time · p90 35 min · 235 flights
- Thursdays72% on time · p90 45 min · 260 flights
- Fridays71% on time · p90 35 min · 262 flights
- Mondays71% on time · p90 45 min · 260 flights
- Sundays70% on time · p90 55 min · 278 flights
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