Historical on-time performance
Sacramento to Palm Springs
439 miData through May 2026Source: US DOT · BTS
Flights on SMF–PSP 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)
Cancelled0.2%of scheduled flights
based on 461 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 minCancel0.2%Flights461
Why flights run late
Delay causes
- Airline12%
- Weather2%
- Air traffic (NAS)9%
- Late aircraft78%
- Security0%
Most delay minutes here are attributed to Late aircraft.
When flights don't go
Why flights were cancelled
- Airline0%
- Weather0%
- Air traffic (NAS)100%
- Security0%
Most cancellations here are attributed to Air traffic (NAS). Shares are among 1 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 → PSP
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 — 93% on time.
- Mornings93% on time · p90 5 min · 308 flights
- Middays86% on time · p90 20 min · 297 flights
- Afternoons76% on time · p90 35 min · 153 flights · limited
- Evenings74% on time · p90 50 min · 579 flights
Best day of week
On-time rates are fairly even by day on this route — ranging from 75% to 85% on time.
- Tuesdays85% on time · p90 15 min · 164 flights · limited
- Wednesdays85% on time · p90 20 min · 163 flights · limited
- Saturdays84% on time · p90 20 min · 163 flights · limited
- Mondays83% on time · p90 30 min · 233 flights
- Sundays78% on time · p90 30 min · 227 flights
- Fridays77% on time · p90 45 min · 238 flights
- Thursdays75% on time · p90 40 min · 233 flights
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