Itineraries flown on 20+ days in the Jun 6 – Jul 31, 2026 schedule · each leg’s record Aug 2025 – Jul 2026

Connect in the morning. The same one-hour layover misses 8% of the time at 10 am and almost half the time at 8 pm.

Nonstops


United	SJC	ORD	4h 24m	92%	1.7%	293	Flying now
Southwest	OAK	MDW	4h 05m	85%	0.2%	505	Flying now
Southwest	SJC	MDW	4h 05m	85%	0.2%	519	Flying now
United	SFO	ORD	4h 26m	78%	0.9%	3,830	Flying now
Southwest	SFO	MDW	4h 05m	74%	1.2%	485	Flying now
American	SFO	ORD	4h 27m	73%	1.8%	1,768	Flying now
American	SJC	ORD	–	100%few flights	0.0%	8	Not flying now
Alaska	SFO	ORD	4h 23m	53%few flights	5.3%	19	Not flying now

Best connections, one ticket

Most reliable Quickest (80%+ on time)

Ranked by chance you reach Chicago on time. Total trip = scheduled departure to arrival, layover included (Chicago is 2 h ahead of San Francisco). Layovers up to 4 hours. Pick a connection for the details.


United Details →	SFO 21:13 → TPA 05:38UA 649	2h 12m Tampa	TPA 07:50 → ORD 10:00 +1UA 2804	10h 47m	99%	96%
United Details →	SFO 23:59 → AUS 05:46UA 1807	2h 34m Austin	AUS 08:20 → ORD 11:17 +1UA 202	9h 18m	100%	94%
United Details →	SFO 23:59 → DFW 05:45UA 1722	4h 00m Dallas-Fort Worth	DFW 09:45 → ORD 12:26 +1UA 1114	10h 27m	100%	92%
United Details →	SFO 21:25 → BOS 06:21UA 796	1h 54m Boston	BOS 08:15 → ORD 10:12 +1UA 1834	10h 47m	98%	91%
United Details →	SFO 23:05 → IAD 07:30UA 1083	3h 01m Dulles	IAD 10:31 → ORD 11:53 +1UA 1252	10h 48m	98%	90%
Delta Details →	SFO 22:55 → DTW 06:30DL 335	3h 45m Detroit	DTW 10:15 → ORD 10:50 +1DL 3673 · flown by SkyWest	9h 55m	100%	89%
American Details →	SFO 23:49 → CLT 08:05AA 1580	2h 56m Charlotte	CLT 11:01 → ORD 12:19 +1AA 2908	10h 30m	100%	89%
United Details →	SFO 16:47 → SAN 18:39UA 1561	3h 46m San Diego	SAN 22:25 → ORD 04:36 +1UA 1457	9h 49m	99%	88%
Tight connection: often missed
American Details →	SFO 13:39 → LAX 15:19AA 6188 · flown by SkyWest	1h 06m Los Angeles	LAX 16:25 → ORD 23:00AA 2718	7h 21m	50%	31%
American Details →	SFO 11:24 → DFW 17:14AA 1849	1h 24m Dallas-Fort Worth	DFW 18:38 → ORD 21:22AA 1424	7h 58m	69%	26%
American Details →	SFO 11:24 → MIA 20:05AA 2565	49m Miami	MIA 20:54 → ORD 23:30AA 1881	10h 04m	47%	24%

Same layover, different day-part

How often the first flight arrives too late to connect (45 min minimum), for one-ticket layovers of 45–80 minutes.

Morning

DEN · 1h 15m · leaves 08:20 0%

IAH · 1h 00m · leaves 05:00 3%

LAX · 1h 05m · leaves 09:15 6%

Afternoon and evening

SEA · 48m · leaves 14:55 62%

DFW · 48m · leaves 15:37 69%

LAS · 1h 05m · leaves 13:20 80%

Delays build through the day, so an afternoon first leg eats the layover. A short connection is fine early in the morning and a gamble later on.

Mixing airlines

One ticketMiss it and the airline rebooks you; bags go through. 45 min is enough.

Separate ticketsMiss it and you buy a new ticket. Re-check bags, clear security again: we require 90 min.


American AA 1580 SFO 23:49 → CLT Southwest WN 4529 CLT 11:35 → MDW Connection details →	3h 30m	10h 46m	100%	96%
United UA 2117 SFO 21:17 → PIT American AA 4625 PIT 08:02 → ORD Connection details →	2h 43m	9h 43m	100%	94%
United UA 1939 SFO 21:23 → CMH Southwest WN 1197 CMH 09:00 → MDW Connection details →	3h 45m	9h 47m	100%	93%

Rank all connections, any airlines →

Regional partners count as the airline that sells them: SkyWest flying Delta Connection is one Delta ticket.

How these are worked out. Makes the connection: share of the last year’s flights where the first flight arrived with at least 45 minutes to spare (90 on separate tickets). Arrives on time: first flight not cancelled × connection made × second flight not cancelled and arriving within 15 minutes. Not yet counted: the second flight also leaving late (which helps), gate-to-gate distance at the hub, and rebooking after a missed connection.

About this data: US DOT on-time records, Aug 2025 – Jul 2026, all US airlines; regional flights count under the airline that sells them. Schedules (which flights and connections exist, and their times) are as of Jun 6 – Jul 31, 2026; seasonal flights outside that window aren’t ranked. Rebuilt monthly. JSON