Flights Sacramento → Los Angeles
SMF → LAX
How long is the flight from Sacramento to Los Angeles?
The flight from Sacramento (SMF) to Los Angeles (LAX) takes 58 min on average. That is the median time recorded across 5 scheduled flights on this leg; the actual time varies by a few minutes with wind, routing and take-off queues.
Route overview
The flight route from Sacramento to Los Angeles has an on-time performance rate of 84%, with an average delay of 5.4 minutes per flight. Over the past year, there have been a total of 1323 flights on this route using various aircraft models including Canadair Regional Jet 700 and 900, as well as Boeing 737-300 and 800 series planes. The destination airport in Los Angeles, which opened in 1926, serves over 76 million passengers annually.
Your rights on this US flight (DOT)
US flights have no statutory cash compensation for delays. Under the US DOT rules, if your flight is cancelled or significantly changed and you decline rebooking, you're owed an automatic refund of the unused ticket. The tarmac-delay limit is 3 hours (domestic) / 4 hours (international). Amenities for controllable delays depend on each airline's contract of carriage.
US flight refund rules & checker →General information, not legal advice.
The Sacramento (SMF) → Los Angeles (LAX) route is operated by American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines. Across 3501 flights monitored in recent months, 84% arrived on time (within 15 min of schedule), with an average delay of 7 minutes. The cancellation rate is 0.23%. FlightGuard's average computed risk is 19.8/100 (medium), updated in real time from weather, ATC delays, strikes, NOTAMs, fuel and flight history. At Los Angeles the average ATFM delay is 5.5 minutes (main cause: atfm). Departing from Sacramento the average ATFM delay is 5.5 minutes.
Heading to Los Angeles: what to expect in this direction
Flying from Sacramento (SMF) to Los Angeles (LAX) heads south-east for about 600 km, a flight time of roughly 58m.
Departures from Sacramento on this leg cluster in the overnight window: about 47% of SMF-LAX flights take off then.
Air-traffic congestion: departing Sacramento the average ATFM delay is 5.5 min (atfm); arriving into Los Angeles it is 5.5 min (atfm).
Across 3,501 tracked SMF-LAX flights, 84% left on time with an average delay of 7 min and a 0.2% cancellation rate.
Route facts
Flights on this route
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Airline punctuality on this route
| Airline | On-time | Average delay | Cancellations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delta Air Lines (DL) | 85% | 1 min | 0.8% |
| Alaska Airlines (AS) | 85% | -1 min | 0.5% |
| United Airlines (UA) | 83% | 5 min | 1.3% |
| American Airlines (AA) | 79% | 6 min | 1.1% |
| Southwest Airlines (WN) | 75% | 5 min | 0.3% |
Airlines operating SMF-LAX
Airports
Frequently asked questions about SMF-LAX
The flight from Sacramento (SMF) to Los Angeles (LAX) takes 58 min on average. That is the median time recorded across 5 scheduled flights on this leg; the actual time varies by a few minutes with wind, routing and take-off queues.
On the Sacramento (SMF) -> Los Angeles (LAX) route, on-time performance is 84% with an average delay of 7 minutes, based on 3501 tracked flights.
The cancellation rate on Sacramento-Los Angeles is 0.23% across 3501 monitored flights.
The route is operated by 5 airlines: American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines.
Enter your flight number on FlightGuard for a real-time analysis based on 9 factors: weather at Los Angeles, ATC delays, strikes, NOTAMs, fuel, airline punctuality and recent trends.
US flights have no statutory cash compensation for delays. Under US DOT rules, if the airline cancels or significantly changes your flight and you decline rebooking, you're owed an automatic refund of the unused ticket. The tarmac-delay limit is 3 hours (domestic) / 4 hours (international). Meals or hotels for controllable delays depend on each airline's contract of carriage.
