Historical on-time performance
Sacramento to Long Beach
387 miData through Dec 2025Source: US DOT · BTS
Flights on SMF–LGB arrive on time 86% of the time over the last 12 months.
On-time rate86%arrived within 15 min
p90 delay20 min1 in 10 flights is worse (tail risk)
Cancelled0.3%of scheduled flights
based on 1,991 flights over the last 12 months. On-time means arriving within 15 minutes (BTS standard).
By airline
How each carrier compares
- Southwest AirlinesOn-time86%Medianon timep9020 minCancel0.3%Flights1,991
Why flights run late
Delay causes
- Airline21%
- Weather1%
- Air traffic (NAS)13%
- Late aircraft65%
- Security0%
Most delay minutes here are attributed to Late aircraft.
Over time
On-time trend
By season
On-time rate by month
When to fly
Best time to fly SMF → LGB
All airlines · rolling 36 months (2023-01 .. 2025-12).
Best time of day
Mornings are the most reliable time of day to fly this route — 92% on time.
- Mornings92% on time · p90 5 min · 1,841 flights
- Middays89% on time · p90 15 min · 1,326 flights
- Afternoons81% on time · p90 25 min · 1,047 flights
- Evenings79% on time · p90 30 min · 1,499 flights
Best day of week
On-time rates are fairly even by day on this route — ranging from 82% to 91% on time.
- Tuesdays91% on time · p90 10 min · 852 flights
- Wednesdays90% on time · p90 10 min · 853 flights
- Saturdays88% on time · p90 20 min · 644 flights
- Mondays86% on time · p90 20 min · 883 flights
- Sundays84% on time · p90 25 min · 739 flights
- Thursdays82% on time · p90 30 min · 869 flights
- Fridays82% on time · p90 25 min · 873 flights
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