Historical on-time performance
Minneapolis to Sacramento
1,517 miData through May 2026Source: US DOT · BTS
Flights on MSP–SMF arrive on time 82% of the time over the last 12 months.
On-time rate82%arrived within 15 min
p90 delay30 min1 in 10 flights is worse (tail risk)
Cancelled0.5%of scheduled flights
based on 562 flights over the last 12 months. On-time means arriving within 15 minutes (BTS standard).
By airline
How each carrier compares
- Delta Air LinesOn-time82%Medianon timep9030 minCancel0.5%Flights562
Why flights run late
Delay causes
- Airline54%
- Weather2%
- Air traffic (NAS)21%
- Late aircraft23%
- Security0%
Most delay minutes here are attributed to Airline.
When flights don't go
Why flights were cancelled
- Airline67%
- Weather33%
- Air traffic (NAS)0%
- Security0%
Most cancellations here are attributed to Airline. Shares are among 3 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 MSP → 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 76% to 89% on time.
- Middays89% on time · p90 15 min · 387 flights
- Mornings88% on time · p90 15 min · 215 flights
- Evenings79% on time · p90 30 min · 806 flights
- Overnights76% on time · p90 40 min · 284 flights
Best day of week
On-time rates are fairly even by day on this route — ranging from 77% to 87% on time.
- Tuesdays87% on time · p90 20 min · 243 flights
- Wednesdays85% on time · p90 30 min · 243 flights
- Saturdays82% on time · p90 30 min · 198 flights · limited
- Sundays81% on time · p90 35 min · 252 flights
- Mondays81% on time · p90 25 min · 252 flights
- Fridays80% on time · p90 30 min · 251 flights
- Thursdays77% on time · p90 40 min · 253 flights
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