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WanderNerd

Route Reliability

Sacramento → San Diego

SMFSAN · 480 miles · Sacramento International Airport to San Diego International Airport

76
Usually Fine
WanderNerd Reliability Score
75%
Arrive within 15 minutes
11 min
Average arrival delay
1.2%
Cancelled
5,485
Flights in the data

Data through May 2026.

Who flies it best

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

  1. 1.Alaska Airlines79%1,663 flights
  2. 2.Southwest Airlines73%3,822 flights

What the data says

Morning-you made the right choice.

SMF–SAN flights departing between 6–9 AM arrived on time 90% of the time, versus 48% between 9 PM–12 AM.

Friday is doing you no favors.

SMF–SAN flights arrived on time 85% of the time on Tuesdays and just 67% on Fridays. That gap is worth planning around.

Alaska Airlines has a slight edge here.

Alaska Airlines arrived on time 79% of the time on this route; Southwest Airlines managed 73%.

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%(845 flights)
  • Tue85%(720 flights)
  • Wed82%(701 flights)
  • Thu69%(817 flights)
  • Fri67%(846 flights)
  • Sat81%(597 flights)
  • Sun70%(880 flights)
On-time by departure window
  • 3–6 AM86%(28 flights)
  • 6–9 AM90%(1048 flights)
  • 9 AM–12 PM81%(1172 flights)
  • 12–3 PM73%(1014 flights)
  • 3–6 PM67%(996 flights)
  • 6–9 PM63%(1042 flights)
  • 9 PM–12 AM48%(106 flights)
On-time trend by month
71%
May

Jun 73% → May 71% on time

On-time arrival percentage by month
MonthOn-time percentageFlights
June 202573%446
July 202573%463
August 202578%443
September 202581%411
October 202574%434
November 202570%463
December 202565%462
January 202678%402
February 202677%410
March 202681%495
April 202677%478
May 202671%499

Based on 5,485 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.