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 4% of the time at 9 am and 36% of the time at 6 pm.

Nonstops


Frontier	DEN	SNA	2h 29m	89%	0.4%	280	Flying now
United	DEN	SNA	2h 30m	87%	0.4%	1,869	Flying now
Southwest	DEN	SNA	2h 25m	75%	0.1%	1,536	Flying now

Best connections, one ticket

Most reliable Quickest (80%+ on time)

Ranked by chance you reach Santa Ana on time. Total trip = scheduled departure to arrival, layover included (Santa Ana is 1 h behind Denver). Layovers up to 4 hours. Pick a connection for the details.


Southwest Details →	DEN 07:50 → SJC 09:25WN 494	3h 35m San Jose	SJC 13:00 → SNA 14:25WN 397	7h 35m	100%	90%
Southwest Details →	DEN 13:15 → OAK 14:50WN 3563	3h 45m Oakland	OAK 18:35 → SNA 20:05WN 3089	7h 50m	100%	88%
United Details →	DEN 05:00 → IAH 08:32UA 320	58m Houston	IAH 09:30 → SNA 10:59UA 1383	6h 59m	96%	87%
Southwest Details →	DEN 07:45 → OAK 09:25WN 1240	2h 40m Oakland	OAK 12:05 → SNA 13:35WN 3086	6h 50m	100%	84%
Southwest Details →	DEN 05:45 → LAS 06:40WN 3106	2h 35m Las Vegas	LAS 09:15 → SNA 10:25WN 187	5h 40m	100%	84%
Southwest Details →	DEN 15:50 → SMF 17:25WN 4096	3h 20m Sacramento	SMF 20:45 → SNA 22:15WN 3837	7h 27m	96%	84%
United Details →	DEN 07:42 → IAH 11:15UA 1720	1h 15m Houston	IAH 12:30 → SNA 14:03UA 2780	7h 21m	96%	82%
Delta Details →	DEN 15:55 → SLC 17:34DL 1623	3h 31m Salt Lake City	SLC 21:05 → SNA 22:05DL 1304	7h 10m	97%	82%
Tight connection: often missed
American Details →	DEN 18:56 → PHX 19:52AA 1638	1h 15m Phoenix	PHX 21:07 → SNA 22:26AA 2637	4h 30m	55%	44%
American Details →	DEN 15:11 → DFW 18:21AA 420	54m Dallas-Fort Worth	DFW 19:15 → SNA 20:22AA 806	6h 11m	64%	39%
American Details →	DEN 10:38 → DFW 13:40AA 1756	50m Dallas-Fort Worth	DFW 14:30 → SNA 15:40AA 2688	5h 58m	59%	34%

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

IAH · 58m · leaves 05:00 4%

PHX · 1h 05m · leaves 06:15 6%

PDX · 52m · leaves 08:00 17%

Afternoon and evening

DFW · 54m · leaves 15:11 36%

SMF · 1h 05m · leaves 15:50 48%

PHX · 1h 20m · leaves 18:55 52%

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.


United UA 1337 DEN 16:00 → PDX Alaska AS 518 PDX 19:59 → SNA Connection details →	2h 13m	7h 30m	93%	89%
United UA 1208 DEN 16:03 → SMF Southwest WN 3837 SMF 20:45 → SNA Connection details →	3h 04m	7h 14m	96%	88%
Southwest WN 3106 DEN 05:45 → LAS Delta DL 4078 LAS 08:45 → SNA Connection details →	2h 05m	5h 19m	100%	88%

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