Historical on-time performance
Sacramento to Santa Barbara
310 miData through May 2026Source: US DOT · BTS
Flights on SMF–SBA arrive on time 86% of the time over the last 12 months.
On-time rate86%arrived within 15 min
p90 delay15 min1 in 10 flights is worse (tail risk)
Cancelled1.2%of scheduled flights
based on 338 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 timep9015 minCancel1.2%Flights338
Why flights run late
Delay causes
- Airline34%
- Weather0%
- Air traffic (NAS)26%
- Late aircraft39%
- Security0%
Most delay minutes here are attributed to Late aircraft.
When flights don't go
Why flights were cancelled
- Airline25%
- Weather0%
- Air traffic (NAS)75%
- Security0%
Most cancellations here are attributed to Air traffic (NAS). Shares are among 4 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 → SBA
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 — 90% on time.
- Mornings90% on time · p90 5 min · 204 flights
- Afternoons85% on time · p90 20 min · 571 flights
- Middays81% on time · p90 20 min · 231 flights
Best day of week
On-time rates are fairly even by day on this route — ranging from 82% to 87% on time.
- Wednesdays87% on time · p90 15 min · 152 flights · limited
- Mondays87% on time · p90 15 min · 156 flights · limited
- Tuesdays86% on time · p90 15 min · 152 flights · limited
- Thursdays86% on time · p90 15 min · 155 flights · limited
- Saturdays84% on time · p90 20 min · 127 flights · limited
- Fridays82% on time · p90 25 min · 157 flights · limited
- Sundays82% on time · p90 30 min · 157 flights · limited
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