Historical on-time performance
Sacramento to Houston
1,609 miData through May 2026Source: US DOT · BTS
Flights on SMF–IAH arrive on time 89% of the time over the last 12 months.
On-time rate89%arrived within 15 min
p90 delay15 min1 in 10 flights is worse (tail risk)
Cancelled0.3%of scheduled flights
based on 677 flights over the last 12 months. On-time means arriving within 15 minutes (BTS standard).
By airline
How each carrier compares
- United AirlinesOn-time89%Medianon timep9015 minCancel0.3%Flights677
Why flights run late
Delay causes
- Airline26%
- Weather4%
- Air traffic (NAS)40%
- Late aircraft30%
- Security0%
Most delay minutes here are attributed to Air traffic (NAS).
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 SMF → IAH
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 — 94% on time.
- Mornings94% on time · p90 5 min · 1,069 flights
- Middays80% on time · p90 40 min · 632 flights
Best day of week
On-time rates are fairly even by day on this route — ranging from 87% to 93% on time.
- Saturdays93% on time · p90 5 min · 198 flights · limited
- Sundays89% on time · p90 10 min · 235 flights
- Mondays89% on time · p90 10 min · 258 flights
- Tuesdays88% on time · p90 15 min · 252 flights
- Wednesdays88% on time · p90 15 min · 259 flights
- Fridays88% on time · p90 15 min · 259 flights
- Thursdays87% on time · p90 15 min · 259 flights
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