Historical on-time performance
Sacramento to Chicago
1,781 miData through Dec 2025Source: US DOT · BTS
Flights on SMF–ORD arrive on time 76% of the time over the last 12 months.
On-time rate76%arrived within 15 min
p90 delay40 min1 in 10 flights is worse (tail risk)
Cancelled0.5%of scheduled flights
based on 1,171 flights over the last 12 months. On-time means arriving within 15 minutes (BTS standard).
By airline
How each carrier compares
- American AirlinesOn-time62%Median5 minp9070 minCancel0.5%Flights184
- United AirlinesbestOn-time79%Medianon timep9030 minCancel0.5%Flights987
Why flights run late
Delay causes
- Airline22%
- Weather2%
- Air traffic (NAS)42%
- Late aircraft35%
- Security0%
Most delay minutes here are attributed to Air traffic (NAS).
Over time
On-time trend
By season
On-time rate by month
When to fly
Best time to fly SMF → ORD
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 — 91% on time.
- Mornings91% on time · p90 10 min · 1,136 flights
- Middays87% on time · p90 20 min · 834 flights
- Overnights76% on time · p90 50 min · 836 flights
- Afternoons68% on time · p90 60 min · 692 flights
Best day of week
On-time rates are fairly even by day on this route — ranging from 79% to 84% on time.
- Tuesdays84% on time · p90 25 min · 487 flights
- Thursdays84% on time · p90 25 min · 504 flights
- Mondays83% on time · p90 25 min · 510 flights
- Saturdays82% on time · p90 25 min · 492 flights
- Wednesdays81% on time · p90 30 min · 499 flights
- Fridays80% on time · p90 30 min · 512 flights
- Sundays79% on time · p90 35 min · 515 flights
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