Historical on-time performance
Sacramento to Portland
479 miData through May 2026Source: US DOT · BTS
Flights on SMF–PDX arrive on time 81% of the time over the last 12 months.
On-time rate81%arrived within 15 min
p90 delay30 min1 in 10 flights is worse (tail risk)
Cancelled0.3%of scheduled flights
based on 1,957 flights over the last 12 months. On-time means arriving within 15 minutes (BTS standard).
By airline
How each carrier compares
- Alaska AirlinesbestOn-time90%Medianon timep9010 minCancel0.4%Flights262
- SkyWest AirlinesOn-time82%Medianon timep9025 minCancel0.6%Flights493
- Southwest AirlinesOn-time79%Medianon timep9035 minCancel0.1%Flights1,202
Why flights run late
Delay causes
- Airline25%
- Weather1%
- Air traffic (NAS)5%
- Late aircraft68%
- Security0%
Most delay minutes here are attributed to Late aircraft.
When flights don't go
Why flights were cancelled
- Airline0%
- Weather20%
- Air traffic (NAS)80%
- Security0%
Most cancellations here are attributed to Air traffic (NAS). 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 SMF → PDX
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 · 1,413 flights
- Middays86% on time · p90 20 min · 1,339 flights
- Afternoons83% on time · p90 25 min · 798 flights
- Evenings76% on time · p90 40 min · 1,161 flights
- Overnights70% on time · p90 50 min · 731 flights
Best day of week
On-time rates are fairly even by day on this route — ranging from 80% to 89% on time.
- Tuesdays89% on time · p90 15 min · 773 flights
- Saturdays86% on time · p90 25 min · 532 flights
- Wednesdays86% on time · p90 20 min · 762 flights
- Mondays83% on time · p90 30 min · 851 flights
- Thursdays81% on time · p90 25 min · 861 flights
- Fridays80% on time · p90 35 min · 871 flights
- Sundays80% on time · p90 30 min · 792 flights
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