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 9 am and barely half the time at 8 pm.

Nonstops


United	DTW	SFO	5h 21m	71%	0.7%	408	Flying now
Delta	DTW	SFO	5h 01m	67%	0.7%	1,388	Flying now

Best connections, one ticket

Most reliable Quickest (80%+ on time)

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


United Details →	DTW 10:13 → IAD 11:50UA 3500 · flown by Republic	3h 01m Dulles	IAD 14:51 → SFO 17:38UA 2862	10h 25m	97%	80%
United Details →	DTW 10:55 → IAH 12:57UA 6251 · flown by Mesa	2h 33m Houston	IAH 15:30 → SFO 17:35UA 589	9h 40m	97%	78%
United Details →	DTW 05:30 → ORD 05:53UA 3483 · flown by Republic	1h 37m Chicago	ORD 07:30 → SFO 10:19UA 1116	7h 49m	95%	77%
Delta Details →	DTW 05:17 → ATL 07:10DL 2375	1h 15m Atlanta	ATL 08:25 → SFO 10:20DL 693	8h 08m	94%	75%
United Details →	DTW 06:00 → IAD 07:34UA 4058 · flown by Mesa	1h 01m Dulles	IAD 08:35 → SFO 11:19UA 1147	8h 19m	88%	75%
United Details →	DTW 06:15 → IAH 08:11UA 1229	1h 24m Houston	IAH 09:35 → SFO 11:35UA 2358	8h 20m	100%	73%
Delta Details →	DTW 07:25 → ATL 09:26DL 965	3h 30m Atlanta	ATL 12:56 → SFO 14:50DL 750	10h 29m	99%	71%
JetBlue Details →	DTW 06:00 → JFK 07:47B6 1419	2h 43m New York	JFK 10:30 → SFO 14:08B6 215	11h 08m	98%	71%
Tight connection: often missed
Delta Details →	DTW 14:01 → BOS 16:10DL 1171	55m Boston	BOS 17:05 → SFO 20:51DL 1655	9h 52m	65%	44%
United Details →	DTW 15:15 → EWR 17:10UA 3611 · flown by Republic	50m Newark	EWR 18:00 → SFO 21:28UA 1844	9h 13m	69%	40%
United Details →	DTW 18:20 → ORD 18:57UA 5264 · flown by SkyWest	1h 07m Chicago	ORD 20:04 → SFO 22:57UA 1495	7h 37m	74%	30%

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 13m · leaves 05:30 5%

ATL · 1h 15m · leaves 05:17 6%

CLT · 46m · leaves 07:00 7%

Afternoon and evening

DFW · 1h 15m · leaves 19:51 43%

BOS · 55m · leaves 17:57 50%

MDW · 55m · leaves 20:25 73%

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 634 DTW 12:38 → LAX United UA 233 LAX 17:10 → SFO Connection details →	2h 42m	9h 00m	97%	80%
Delta DL 1529 DTW 16:15 → IAH United UA 1609 IAH 21:59 → SFO Connection details →	3h 39m	10h 50m	97%	77%
Delta DL 1163 DTW 07:05 → BOS United UA 1074 BOS 11:35 → SFO Connection details →	2h 28m	10h 57m	98%	77%

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