ON TIMEBOARD
SMF Sacramento / SBA Santa Barbara

SMF → SBA on time

Sacramento (Sacramento, CA) to Santa Barbara (Santa Barbara, CA). Every scheduled flight, September 2025 to August 2026.

On time
89%
arrived < 15 min late
Cancelled
0.8%
366 flights
Typical arrival
−12 min
median vs schedule
When late
+47 min
average delay
Flights / day
1
1 airline

89% of flights from Sacramento to Santa Barbara arrived on time over the past 12 months. That is better than the typical U.S. route. 4% of flights arrived more than an hour late or not at all.

How late?

The on-time rate treats a flight 20 minutes late the same as one 5 hours late. Here's the split for SMF → SBA: when a flight was late, it was under 45 minutes late 65% of the time. About 1 in 46 flights landed an hour or more late, and 1 in 366 three hours or more; 0.8% were cancelled outright.

Share of all 366 scheduled flights, past 12 months, by arrival time against schedule.

By airline

AirlineFlightsOn timeCancelledTypical arrival1h+ lateAvg when lateOperated by
Southwest Airlines36689%0.8%−12 min2.2%+47 minSouthwest Airlines

Airline = the name on the ticket. Regional flights (e.g. "Delta Connection") count under the ticketing airline, and the operator is listed.

Best time of day to fly

On-time rate by scheduled departure hour (local time at SMF). Delays build through the day as late planes knock on, so early flights usually do best.

40%70%100%7 a.m. departures: too few flights (71 flights)7a8 a.m. departures: 94% on time (111 flights)948a9 a.m. departures: too few flights (84 flights)9a10 a.m. departures: too few flights (13 flights)10a11 a.m. departures: too few flights (40 flights)11anoon departures: too few flights12p1 p.m. departures: too few flights (24 flights)1p
SMF → SBA, share of flights arriving on time, by departure hour. Hours with under 100 flights are greyed out.
82%+ on time76–82%68–76%under 68%too few flights

By month

Each calendar month pooled over 2023–2026.

40%70%100%Jan: too few flights (87 flights)JanFeb: too few flights (79 flights)FebMar: too few flights (88 flights)MarApr: too few flights (86 flights)AprMay: too few flights (88 flights)MayJun: too few flights (89 flights)JunJul: too few flights (92 flights)JulAug: too few flights (93 flights)AugSep: too few flights (89 flights)SepOct: too few flights (84 flights)OctNov: too few flights (89 flights)NovDec: too few flights (92 flights)Dec

By day of week

DayFlightsOn timeCancelled
Monday53——
Tuesday52——
Wednesday52——
Thursday52——
Friday52——
Saturday52——
Sunday53——

Why flights were late

Share of delay minutes on flights 15+ minutes late, as reported to BTS by the airlines.

Late inbound plane 40%Airline (crew, maintenance, ops) 37%Air traffic & airport (NAS) 23%

Cancellations: air traffic/airport 2 · airline 1

Month by month

Not enough months with data to draw a trend.

Questions

How often are flights from SMF to SBA on time?

89% of 366 scheduled flights from Sacramento, CA to Santa Barbara, CA arrived within 15 minutes of schedule between September 2025 and August 2026. 0.8% were cancelled.

Related

Domestic flights by the airlines that report to the U.S. DOT, plus their regional partners. "On time" means arriving less than 15 minutes after schedule; cancelled and diverted flights count as not on time. Past performance is a guide, not a forecast. Method.