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WanderNerd

Route Reliability

Chicago → Sacramento

ORDSMF · 1,781 miles · Chicago O'Hare International Airport to Sacramento International Airport

70
Usually Fine
WanderNerd Reliability Score
69%
Arrive within 15 minutes
14 min
Average arrival delay
0.9%
Cancelled
1,307
Flights in the data

Data through May 2026.

Who flies it best

Ranked by on-time arrivals. Historical results, not predictions.

  1. 1.United Airlines70%988 flights
  2. 2.American Airlines64%319 flights

What the data says

Morning flights do better here.

ORD–SMF flights departing between 6–9 AM arrived on time 91% of the time, versus 40% between 9 PM–12 AM.

Saturday is the weak spot.

ORD–SMF flights arrived on time 73% of the time on Tuesdays. On Saturdays: 65%.

United Airlines has a slight edge here.

United Airlines arrived on time 70% of the time on this route; American Airlines managed 64%.

Best historical flights

Ranked by on-time arrivals, minimum 100 flights. Past performance, not a promise.

Top flights by on-time rate

More flights on this route

The breakdown

On-time by weekday
  • Mon72%(185 flights)
  • Tue73%(186 flights)
  • Wed69%(184 flights)
  • Thu66%(184 flights)
  • Fri68%(185 flights)
  • Sat65%(178 flights)
  • Sun68%(191 flights)
On-time by departure window
  • 6–9 AM91%(76 flights)
  • 9 AM–12 PM78%(489 flights)
  • 12–3 PM81%(32 flights)
  • 3–6 PM69%(314 flights)
  • 6–9 PM52%(372 flights)
  • 9 PM–12 AM40%(10 flights)
On-time trend by month
77%
May

Jun 76% → May 77% on time

On-time arrival percentage by month
MonthOn-time percentageFlights
June 202576%119
July 202559%123
August 202566%121
September 202580%117
October 202573%122
November 202568%88
December 202559%75
January 202666%67
February 202677%56
March 202660%110
April 202663%146
May 202677%149

Based on 1,307 historical flights, because apparently we checked. Historical flight data: U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics, June 2025 – May 2026. Data through May 2026. How we calculate this.