Historical on-time performance
Chicago to Sacramento
1,790 miData through May 2026Source: US DOT · BTS
Flights on MDW–SMF arrive on time 70% of the time over the last 12 months.
On-time rate70%arrived within 15 min
p90 delay50 min1 in 10 flights is worse (tail risk)
Cancelled0.8%of scheduled flights
based on 636 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 timep9050 minCancel0.8%Flights636
Why flights run late
Delay causes
- Airline31%
- Weather3%
- Air traffic (NAS)15%
- Late aircraft50%
- 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 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 MDW → 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 — 83% on time.
- Mornings83% on time · p90 20 min · 641 flights
- Evenings73% on time · p90 35 min · 216 flights
- Afternoons73% on time · p90 40 min · 228 flights
- Middays70% on time · p90 45 min · 288 flights
- Overnights52% on time · p90 75 min · 440 flights
Best day of week
On-time rates are fairly even by day on this route — ranging from 66% to 76% on time.
- Thursdays76% on time · p90 35 min · 282 flights
- Saturdays75% on time · p90 45 min · 220 flights
- Wednesdays73% on time · p90 45 min · 285 flights
- Tuesdays71% on time · p90 50 min · 285 flights
- Mondays68% on time · p90 45 min · 280 flights
- Sundays67% on time · p90 45 min · 178 flights · limited
- Fridays66% on time · p90 60 min · 283 flights
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