Historical on-time performance
Detroit to Sacramento
2,013 miData through May 2026Source: US DOT · BTS
Flights on DTW–SMF arrive on time 80% of the time over the last 12 months.
On-time rate80%arrived within 15 min
p90 delay30 min1 in 10 flights is worse (tail risk)
Cancelled0.0%of scheduled flights
based on 181 flights over the last 12 months. On-time means arriving within 15 minutes (BTS standard).
By airline
How each carrier compares
- Delta Air LinesOn-time80%Medianon timep9030 minCancel0.0%Flights181
Why flights run late
Delay causes
- Airline74%
- Weather2%
- Air traffic (NAS)15%
- Late aircraft9%
- Security0%
Most delay minutes here are attributed to Airline.
When flights don't go
Why flights were cancelled
- Airline100%
- Weather0%
- Air traffic (NAS)0%
- Security0%
Most cancellations here are attributed to Airline. Shares are among 1 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 DTW → SMF
All airlines · rolling 36 months (2023-06 .. 2026-05).
Best time of day
On-time rates are fairly even by time of day on this route — ranging from 57% to 88% on time.
- Mornings88% on time · p90 15 min · 130 flights · limited
- Evenings87% on time · p90 20 min · 148 flights · limited
- Overnights57% on time · p90 55 min · 124 flights · limited
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