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 9 am and 1 time in 5 at 3 pm.

Nonstops (seasonal or thin)


Southwest	DSM	LAS	3h 15m	85%	0.3%	365	Flying now
Allegiant	DSM	LAS	3h 16m	76%	0.0%	230	Flying now

Best connections, one ticket

Most reliable Quickest (80%+ on time)

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


American Details →	DSM 05:45 → PHX 06:45AA 1795	3h 39m Phoenix	PHX 10:24 → LAS 11:37AA 2037	7h 52m	97%	87%
United Details →	DSM 06:20 → IAH 08:49UA 1982	3h 06m Houston	IAH 11:55 → LAS 13:13UA 1524	8h 53m	99%	86%
United Details →	DSM 05:50 → DEN 06:59UA 4777 · flown by SkyWest	1h 06m Denver	DEN 08:05 → LAS 09:07UA 2316	5h 17m	90%	84%
United Details →	DSM 06:00 → ORD 07:40UA 1856	3h 20m Chicago	ORD 11:00 → LAS 13:05UA 2440	9h 05m	96%	83%
Delta Details →	DSM 10:54 → MSP 12:06DL 4998 · flown by Endeavor	2h 45m Minneapolis	MSP 14:51 → LAS 16:10DL 1542	7h 16m	98%	82%
Southwest Details →	DSM 05:10 → MDW 06:30WN 1772	1h 00m Chicago	MDW 07:30 → LAS 09:20WN 347	6h 10m	93%	82%
Southwest Details →	DSM 06:10 → DEN 07:00WN 1769	4h 00m Denver	DEN 11:00 → LAS 11:55WN 1561	7h 45m	97%	80%
United Details →	DSM 11:34 → DEN 12:45UA 5288 · flown by SkyWest	3h 15m Denver	DEN 16:00 → LAS 17:03UA 716	7h 29m	100%	78%
Tight connection: often missed
American Details →	DSM 13:41 → CLT 17:11AA 1763	1h 19m Charlotte	CLT 18:30 → LAS 20:17AA 596	8h 36m	74%	51%
American Details →	DSM 16:48 → DFW 18:59AA 2421	1h 55m Dallas-Fort Worth	DFW 20:54 → LAS 21:47AA 1797	6h 57m	65%	35%
American Details →	DSM 19:03 → ORD 20:58AA 4973 · flown by SkyWest	1h 02m Chicago	ORD 22:00 → LAS 23:54AA 1880	6h 52m	58%	23%

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

ORD · 1h 20m · leaves 06:00 4%

ATL · 1h 11m · leaves 05:35 5%

MDW · 1h 00m · leaves 05:10 7%

Afternoon and evening

ATL · 52m · leaves 14:25 19%

CLT · 1h 19m · leaves 13:41 26%

ORD · 1h 02m · leaves 19:03 42%

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 4519 DSM 05:00 → ORD United UA 723 ORD 09:00 → LAS Connection details →	2h 21m	8h 08m	93%	77%
Southwest WN 1769 DSM 06:10 → DEN Frontier F9 1993 DEN 10:25 → LAS Connection details →	3h 25m	7h 19m	95%	76%
United UA 5288 DSM 11:34 → DEN Frontier F9 2349 DEN 16:25 → LAS Connection details →	3h 40m	7h 55m	100%	73%

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