Historical on-time performance
Denver to Sacramento
909 miData through May 2026Source: US DOT · BTS
Flights on DEN–SMF arrive on time 73% of the time over the last 12 months.
On-time rate73%arrived within 15 min
p90 delay50 min1 in 10 flights is worse (tail risk)
Cancelled0.4%of scheduled flights
based on 3,667 flights over the last 12 months. On-time means arriving within 15 minutes (BTS standard).
By airline
How each carrier compares
- United AirlinesbestOn-time80%Medianon timep9040 minCancel0.3%Flights1,802
- Southwest AirlinesOn-time66%Medianon timep9060 minCancel0.4%Flights1,865
Why flights run late
Delay causes
- Airline32%
- Weather1%
- Air traffic (NAS)9%
- Late aircraft58%
- Security0%
Most delay minutes here are attributed to Late aircraft.
When flights don't go
Why flights were cancelled
- Airline46%
- Weather15%
- Air traffic (NAS)38%
- Security0%
Most cancellations here are attributed to Airline. Shares are among 13 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 DEN → 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 — 89% on time.
- Mornings89% on time · p90 15 min · 2,793 flights
- Middays79% on time · p90 30 min · 3,075 flights
- Afternoons73% on time · p90 50 min · 1,957 flights
- Evenings63% on time · p90 65 min · 2,039 flights
- Overnights59% on time · p90 75 min · 1,997 flights
Best day of week
On-time rates are fairly even by day on this route — ranging from 71% to 78% on time.
- Wednesdays78% on time · p90 35 min · 1,673 flights
- Tuesdays78% on time · p90 40 min · 1,620 flights
- Mondays74% on time · p90 45 min · 1,820 flights
- Saturdays74% on time · p90 45 min · 1,441 flights
- Sundays73% on time · p90 45 min · 1,694 flights
- Fridays72% on time · p90 50 min · 1,844 flights
- Thursdays71% on time · p90 55 min · 1,771 flights
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