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 5% of the time at 8 am and 38% of the time at 7 pm.

Nonstops


United	DCA	DEN	4h 12m	80%	0.5%	364	Flying now
Frontier	DCA	DEN	4h 07m	80%	0.9%	982	Flying now

Best connections, one ticket

Most reliable Quickest (80%+ on time)

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


United Details →	DCA 07:15 → ORD 08:28UA 2638	2h 26m Chicago	ORD 10:54 → DEN 12:45UA 581	7h 30m	100%	97%
Southwest Details →	DCA 06:00 → MCO 08:20WN 4580	1h 25m Orlando	MCO 09:45 → DEN 11:35WN 2630	7h 35m	98%	88%
American Details →	DCA 05:00 → CLT 06:26AA 365	1h 13m Charlotte	CLT 07:39 → DEN 09:10AA 1754	6h 10m	95%	87%
Delta Details →	DCA 06:59 → ATL 08:51DL 330	3h 59m Atlanta	ATL 12:50 → DEN 14:04DL 957	9h 05m	99%	86%
American Details →	DCA 05:00 → MIA 07:56AA 1178	1h 01m Miami	MIA 08:57 → DEN 11:19AA 1739	8h 19m	93%	86%
United Details →	DCA 08:25 → ORD 09:43UA 1061	3h 13m Chicago	ORD 12:56 → DEN 14:46UA 1150	8h 21m	100%	85%
Delta Details →	DCA 06:00 → ATL 07:48DL 410	3h 57m Atlanta	ATL 11:45 → DEN 12:59DL 706	8h 59m	100%	84%
United Details →	DCA 08:30 → EWR 09:52UA 4430 · flown by GoJet	3h 38m Newark	EWR 13:30 → DEN 15:53UA 577	9h 23m	98%	83%
Tight connection: often missed
Delta Details →	DCA 17:00 → JFK 18:39DL 5713 · flown by Republic	1h 11m New York	JFK 19:50 → DEN 22:45DL 424	7h 45m	75%	47%
United Details →	DCA 17:55 → EWR 19:28UA 4180 · flown by GoJet	1h 31m Newark	EWR 20:59 → DEN 23:28UA 1792	7h 33m	72%	45%
American Details →	DCA 20:06 → ORD 21:42AA 2903	52m Chicago	ORD 22:34 → DEN 00:17 +1AA 1387	6h 10m	70%	37%

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

DFW · 1h 13m · leaves 05:00 3%

IAH · 1h 19m · leaves 06:00 3%

CLT · 1h 13m · leaves 05:00 5%

Afternoon and evening

BOS · 56m · leaves 17:25 54%

EWR · 46m · leaves 16:30 56%

MCO · 1h 00m · leaves 17:25 68%

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 3273 DCA 07:45 → MCO United UA 1520 MCO 12:50 → DEN Connection details →	2h 36m	9h 06m	99%	92%
Delta DL 1193 DCA 06:00 → MSP United UA 2232 MSP 11:34 → DEN Connection details →	3h 55m	8h 45m	98%	90%
Southwest WN 2739 DCA 06:55 → TPA United UA 645 TPA 12:45 → DEN Connection details →	3h 25m	9h 52m	100%	90%

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