Flight profile · United Airlines
UA1889
Sacramento (SMF) to Denver (DEN) · scheduled 5:00 AM – 8:27 AM
How UA1889 performs
387 operations, 2025-05-01 to 2026-06-30.
UA1889 arrived on time 96.6% of the time, against 83.8% for all SMF → DEN flights — this specific departure is 12.8 percentage points better than the route as a whole. Against United Airlines’s own flights on this route it is 7.7 points better.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · 387 operations between 2025-05-01 to 2026-06-30
Against the rest of the route
| On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Severe | Flights | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UA1889 | 96.6% | 0.26% | -11 min | 0.8% | 387 |
| United Airlines on SMF → DEN | 89.0% | 0.78% | -11 min | 4.2% | 5,548 |
| All SMF → DEN flights | 83.8% | 0.63% | -7 min | 5.2% | 11,820 |
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · 2025-05-01 to 2026-06-30
Other routes UA1889 has flown
A flight number is a slot in a schedule, and carriers reassign it. These are the other city pairs this number served in the analysis period.
| Route | Operated | Flights | On time |
|---|---|---|---|
| DEN→GTF Denver to Great Falls | 2026-03-05 – 2026-03-28 | 24 | — |
| DEN→PHL Denver to Philadelphia | 2026-02-12 – 2026-03-04 | 21 | — |
| DEN→DTW Denver to Detroit | 2023-09-05 – 2025-12-17 | 730 | 84.7% |
| DEN→AVL Denver to Asheville | 2025-09-19 – 2025-09-21 | 2 | — |
| DEN→MIA Denver to Miami | 2025-05-22 – 2025-06-25 | 35 | — |
| DTW→ORD Detroit to Chicago | 2024-03-07 – 2024-03-29 | 20 | — |
| ORD→PHL Chicago to Philadelphia | 2024-03-07 – 2024-03-29 | 14 | — |
| DEN→MKE Denver to Milwaukee | 2023-07-01 – 2023-09-04 | 66 | — |
Because the same number has served different journeys, the statistics above describe only the route UA1889 currently operates. Blending them would produce an average of two different flights.
Why UA1889 runs late
Where US DOT attributed the delay minutes on this flight.
crew, maintenance, boarding, fuelling — within the carrier’s control
airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control
weather severe enough to stop this flight specifically
Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for UA1889 on SMF → DEN. A single late flight can carry more than one cause, and only delays of fifteen minutes or more are attributed at all.
Other departures on SMF → DEN
Same airports, same journey — and not the same odds of arriving on time.
| Flight | Airline | On time | Median arrival | Operations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UA2285 | United Airlines | 94.1% | 14 min early | 1,025 |
Every departure listed carries at least 600 operations, so the comparison is between figures that mean something. Schedules change; confirm the departure still operates before booking around this.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 387 records of UA1889 operating SMF → DEN, published by the US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics. A flight counts as delayed when it arrives 15 or more minutes after schedule. Cancelled and diverted flights are excluded from the on-time rate and reported separately. Flight numbers are resolved as carrier plus number plus route, because the same number serves different routes over time.