Sacramento, CA · Airport profile
SMF
Sacramento International Airport
SMF right now
Current operating conditions, from live sources only.
Aviation weather is not currently a factor. FAA operational data — ground stops, ground delay programs and closures — is not currently available to FlyerIntel.
FAA operational data is not currently available to FlyerIntel. Why
Minimal operational impact. Conditions are not a notable factor for operations right now.
Forecast issued 05:20Z.
UpdatedSecurity wait data is not currently available for SMF. Why
Parking data is not currently available for SMF. Why
FlyerIntel shows live values only where a permitted source provides them. Sections without data are left empty rather than estimated.
Airport reliability
Departures from SMF, July 2023 – June 2026.
Better than 92% of major US airports covered by FlyerIntel (58 compared)
Calculated from 167,401 flights. How this is calculated
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – June 2026
Best time to fly from SMF
On-time arrival rate by scheduled local departure time.
Flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 92.1% of the time, against 74.9% for 6–9 PM departures — a gap of 17.2 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – June 2026 · Buckets with fewer than 120 flights are not scored.
International arrivals
How long passport control normally takes at this airport. This is the arrivals queue, not departure security.
| Terminal | Typical wait | Busy-hour wait | Worst recorded | Hours over 30 min |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main Terminal | 10 min | 19 min | 114 min | 1.1% |
Typical wait by hour — Main Terminal
Arrivals landing around 11 PM typically wait 13 min, against 4 min around 5 PM.
Source: US Customs and Border Protection · 2024-08-28 to 2026-08-28 · These are CBP passport control waits for arriving international passengers — a different queue from TSA departure screening. CBP publishes them about two days in arrears, so this describes what is normal rather than what is happening now.
What to expect at SMF
How busy the airport is through the day, from scheduled departure volume.
Scheduled departures by hour
The busiest hour is 6 AM, with about 15 departures a day, against roughly 4 at 9 PM. Counterintuitively, that peak is also more punctual than a typical hour here — early banks fly aircraft that have been on the ground overnight rather than ones inheriting the day’s delays.
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – June 2026 · Taxi-out is the time between leaving the gate and lifting off, averaged across departures and weighted by hour.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Friday the least, a gap of 6.9 percentage points.
By month
July is historically the weakest month and February the strongest, a spread of 7.7 percentage points.
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – June 2026
Airlines at SMF
Departure performance by operating carrier. Regional flights are reported by the carrier that operated them, not by the mainline brand.
| Carrier | Departures | On time | Cancelled | Median delay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines WN | 94,085 | 82.1% | 0.50% | -5 min |
| SkyWest Airlines OO | 26,560 | 85.5% | 0.48% | -9 min |
| United Airlines UA | 12,316 | 87.2% | 0.96% | -10 min |
| American Airlines AA | 10,697 | 82.3% | 1.52% | -10 min |
| Delta Air Lines DL | 9,991 | 90.1% | 0.67% | -12 min |
| Alaska Airlines AS | 4,771 | 81.5% | 0.99% | -5 min |
| Spirit Airlines NK | 3,120 | 80.6% | 1.41% | -6 min |
| Hawaiian Airlines HA | 2,419 | 81.9% | 0.83% | -4 min |
| Frontier Airlines F9 | 1,797 | 78.6% | 1.50% | -7 min |
| JetBlue B6 | 986 | 63.1% | 1.52% | 3 min |
| Envoy Air MQ | 659 | 86.6% | 0.30% | -9 min |
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – June 2026 · Carriers with fewer than 500 departures are not listed.
Routes from SMF
Ranked by FlyerIntel Route Reliability Score.
Most reliable
Busiest routes
| Destination | Flights | On time | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| SMF → LAX Los Angeles | 16,084 | 86.9% | 87 |
| SMF → SAN San Diego | 15,847 | 76.8% | 70 |
| SMF → LAS Las Vegas | 15,396 | 80.9% | 74 |
| SMF → SEA Seattle | 12,621 | 82.7% | 83 |
| SMF → DEN Denver | 11,820 | 83.8% | 79 |
| SMF → PHX Phoenix | 10,976 | 84.5% | 80 |
| SMF → BUR Burbank | 8,286 | 84.9% | 79 |
| SMF → SNA Santa Ana | 6,766 | 85.8% | 88 |
| SMF → SLC Salt Lake City | 6,123 | 89.0% | 86 |
| SMF → ONT Ontario | 5,998 | 85.9% | 86 |
| SMF → LGB Long Beach | 5,765 | 86.5% | 87 |
| SMF → PDX Portland | 5,475 | 83.4% | 82 |
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – June 2026 · Only routes with at least 750 flights are ranked.
Reliability over time
On-time arrival rate for departures, by month.
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – June 2026
Data and sources
Historical statistics
Every historical figure on this page is calculated by FlyerIntel from US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics on-time performance records covering July 2023 – June 2026, comprising 167,401 departures from SMF. A flight counts as delayed when it arrives 15 or more minutes after schedule.
Live conditions
Aviation weather comes from the NOAA Aviation Weather Center. Operational events come from the FAA where available. FlyerIntel shows the age of every live value and does not display data it cannot currently retrieve.
Latest observation for SMF: METAR KSMF 300853Z 16008KT 10SM CLR 17/11 A2987 RMK AO2 SLP113 T01720111 53002 (issued ).