United AirlinesUA
live
Direct flights from Houston (IAH) to Sacramento (SMF): 7 nonstop departures observed each week across 1 airline. The median arrival is 12 minutes early. No cancellations were recorded across the 3 tracked flights. The nonstop covers 2,586 km, an estimated 3 hours 49 minutes in the air. Measured by Pro Flight Search from live flight boards at Houston and Sacramento. Updated 18 August 2026 at 22:57 UTC.
IAH
Houston
smooth · +0
SMF
Sacramento
smooth · +0
2,586 km · ~3h 49m est.
Running clean · 1 airline · 7x weekly · nonstop
100 / 100
route health from live IAH and SMF delay boards
Median arrival delay is −12 min. 0 of 3 tracked legs cancelled in the sample. Will a delayed flight be cancelled? →
Search live fares for this route →Median arrival−12 minacross the last 3 operated legs
Flight time~3h 49mestimated from route distance
Weekly departures7x1 direct airline on the leg
Current nonstop fares
IAH → SMF · one way · economy · 1 adult
TodayChecking…Direct airline fares
TomorrowChecking…Direct airline fares
In one weekChecking…Direct airline fares
The week
scheduled departures · origin local time06121824
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Sun
United Airlines
Each mark is a scheduled departure at its origin-local time, observed operating in the last 7 days. Today is highlighted.
Who flies it
observed on the boards · 7 daysHistory
operated legs · board outcomesActual board outcomes rather than schedules, paired departure and arrival per flight and day.
Full board history, day by day →
Airports right now
live boardsWeather lens
Current conditions put the pressure at SMF: 38% odds of a 15+ minute delay, measured from this route's own weather-matched delay history. See live delays → · Weather risk by airport →
next sweep in 120s
How the Houston to Sacramento route actually runs
Pro Flight Search tracks every published board update for nonstop IAH to SMF flights: schedules, estimates, gate pushes and actual departures. The verdict above comes from operated flights, so it reflects what this route does rather than what the timetable promises. Fares link straight to the operating airline with no markups.
Planning around a delay? Live airport delays · Weather delay risk map · Will a delayed flight be cancelled? · Do planes make up time in the air? · How we measure
Cite this data
Journalists, bloggers, and researchers may cite this page with attribution and a link to Pro Flight Search.
Suggested citation
Pro Flight Search — Houston (IAH) to Sacramento (SMF) route reliability, measured from operated flights on official airport boards.
Canonical URL
How we measure this →
https://proflightsearch.com/search-flights/IAH-SMF
IAH to SMF questions
Is IAH–SMF running on time right now?
Smooth skies ahead. Both endpoints currently score the same, route health score 100/100. The airports section above carries the live status and delay window at both ends.
How long is the flight from IAH to SMF?
Great-circle distance is 2,586 km. With typical jet cruise speed plus taxi, climb and descent, expect roughly 213–252 min gate-to-gate on this route.
How often does IAH–SMF fly?
United Airlines runs the route with about 14 flights a week (daily). Since one carrier owns the route, a single disruption tends to ripple through the day.
What does the route health score measure?
A blend of departure-side delay at IAH and arrival-side delay at SMF, computed from rolling delay windows (refreshed every 40 minutes) with a daily-rollup fallback. Current MVFR, IFR, or LIFR endpoint weather caps the score when flight rules can limit throughput. Higher is healthier: 100 means operations are clean at both ends.
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