Historical on-time performance
Washington to Sacramento
2,358 miData through May 2026Source: US DOT · BTS
Flights on IAD–SMF arrive on time 74% of the time over the last 12 months.
On-time rate74%arrived within 15 min
p90 delay55 min1 in 10 flights is worse (tail risk)
Cancelled0.6%of scheduled flights
based on 337 flights over the last 12 months. On-time means arriving within 15 minutes (BTS standard).
By airline
How each carrier compares
- United AirlinesOn-time74%Medianon timep9055 minCancel0.6%Flights337
Why flights run late
Delay causes
- Airline32%
- Weather13%
- Air traffic (NAS)14%
- Late aircraft40%
- Security0%
Most delay minutes here are attributed to Late aircraft.
When flights don't go
Why flights were cancelled
- Airline0%
- Weather100%
- Air traffic (NAS)0%
- Security0%
Most cancellations here are attributed to Weather. Shares are among 2 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 IAD → SMF
All airlines · rolling 36 months (2023-06 .. 2026-05).
Best day of week
On-time rates are fairly even by day on this route — ranging from 73% to 82% on time.
- Mondays82% on time · p90 75 min · 149 flights · limited
- Tuesdays82% on time · p90 35 min · 137 flights · limited
- Thursdays77% on time · p90 55 min · 149 flights · limited
- Fridays75% on time · p90 45 min · 139 flights · limited
- Sundays74% on time · p90 40 min · 149 flights · limited
- Saturdays73% on time · p90 60 min · 139 flights · limited
- Wednesdays73% on time · p90 55 min · 137 flights · limited
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