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 7% of the time at 7 am and 35% of the time at 9 pm.

Nonstops


Delta	DTW	LAX	4h 51m	78%	0.8%	1,962	Flying now
Spirit	DTW	LAX	5h 04m	80%	1.4%	485	Not flying now
American	DTW	LAX	–	100%few flights	0.0%	2	Not flying now

Best connections, one ticket

Most reliable Quickest (80%+ on time)

Ranked by chance you reach Los Angeles on time. Total trip = scheduled departure to arrival, layover included (Los Angeles is 3 h behind Detroit). Layovers up to 4 hours. Pick a connection for the details.


Delta Details →	DTW 17:40 → SLC 19:38DL 765	3h 07m Salt Lake City	SLC 22:45 → LAX 23:46DL 2014	9h 06m	98%	95%
Delta Details →	DTW 06:17 → ATL 08:12DL 1611	3h 18m Atlanta	ATL 11:30 → LAX 13:05DL 326	9h 51m	98%	91%
Delta Details →	DTW 08:54 → PDX 10:41DL 2171	2h 44m Portland	PDX 13:25 → LAX 15:51DL 2766	9h 57m	100%	90%
Southwest Details →	DTW 05:30 → DEN 06:35WN 1778	3h 00m Denver	DEN 09:35 → LAX 11:05WN 1569	8h 35m	98%	90%
Alaska Details →	DTW 07:01 → SEA 09:00AS 344	3h 38m Seattle	SEA 12:38 → LAX 15:25AS 502	11h 24m	100%	88%
United Details →	DTW 06:15 → IAH 08:11UA 1229	1h 42m Houston	IAH 09:53 → LAX 11:30UA 469	8h 15m	100%	88%
Frontier Details →	DTW 08:00 → DEN 09:16F9 2211	3h 16m Denver	DEN 12:32 → LAX 14:09F9 2341	9h 09m	98%	88%
American Details →	DTW 07:00 → CLT 08:54AA 1439	3h 02m Charlotte	CLT 11:56 → LAX 13:55AA 1213	9h 55m	99%	88%
Tight connection: often missed
Delta Details →	DTW 14:43 → MIA 18:04DL 866	56m Miami	MIA 19:00 → LAX 21:42DL 450	9h 59m	72%	59%
United Details →	DTW 14:10 → ORD 14:47UA 5381 · flown by SkyWest	1h 00m Chicago	ORD 15:47 → LAX 18:20UA 576	7h 10m	71%	52%
Delta Details →	DTW 12:30 → SAN 14:12DL 2155	48m San Diego	SAN 15:00 → LAX 16:04DL 4002 · flown by SkyWest	6h 34m	57%	41%

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

MDW · 1h 15m · leaves 08:40 4%

DEN · 1h 15m · leaves 05:30 5%

IAD · 1h 20m · leaves 10:13 6%

Afternoon and evening

DEN · 57m · leaves 16:42 66%

BWI · 55m · leaves 17:45 73%

MDW · 50m · leaves 20:25 79%

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.


Delta DL 935 DTW 12:25 → SLC United UA 5456 SLC 16:42 → LAX Connection details →	2h 23m	8h 28m	98%	95%
Delta DL 2741 DTW 12:25 → MCI United UA 5489 MCI 16:26 → LAX Connection details →	3h 02m	8h 45m	98%	93%
Delta DL 3229 DTW 07:00 → SLC Southwest WN 3746 SLC 11:20 → LAX Connection details →	2h 26m	8h 15m	98%	92%

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