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 1 time in 10 at 10 am and 2 times in 5 at 7 pm.

Nonstops (seasonal or thin)


Delta	DTW	SNA	4h 53m	70%	0.6%	323	Flying now
Spirit	DTW	SNA	4h 49m	86%few flights	0.0%	22	Not 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 3 h behind Detroit). Layovers up to 4 hours. Pick a connection for the details.


United Details →	DTW 06:15 → IAH 08:11UA 1229	1h 19m Houston	IAH 09:30 → SNA 10:59UA 1383	7h 44m	100%	91%
Southwest Details →	DTW 05:30 → DEN 06:35WN 1778	1h 15m Denver	DEN 07:50 → SNA 09:15WN 1745	6h 45m	95%	89%
Alaska Details →	DTW 07:01 → SEA 09:00AS 344	2h 06m Seattle	SEA 11:06 → SNA 13:55AS 1357	9h 54m	96%	81%
Delta Details →	DTW 12:25 → SLC 14:19DL 935	3h 06m Salt Lake City	SLC 17:25 → SNA 18:30DL 3856 · flown by SkyWest	9h 05m	99%	81%
American Details →	DTW 17:56 → PHX 19:08AA 1790	1h 59m Phoenix	PHX 21:07 → SNA 22:26AA 2637	7h 30m	100%	81%
Delta Details →	DTW 07:00 → SLC 08:54DL 3229	2h 01m Salt Lake City	SLC 10:55 → SNA 11:56DL 1835	7h 56m	100%	81%
United Details →	DTW 08:00 → DEN 09:14UA 1846	2h 06m Denver	DEN 11:20 → SNA 12:51UA 1320	7h 51m	92%	80%
American Details →	DTW 05:37 → DFW 07:32AA 1108	2h 08m Dallas-Fort Worth	DFW 09:40 → SNA 10:52AA 2672	8h 11m	98%	79%
Tight connection: often missed
Delta Details →	DTW 16:46 → SEA 18:45DL 944	50m Seattle	SEA 19:35 → SNA 22:30DL 3932 · flown by SkyWest	8h 44m	61%	55%
American Details →	DTW 08:11 → PHX 09:24AA 3141	51m Phoenix	PHX 10:15 → SNA 11:43AA 2655	6h 32m	73%	45%
United Details →	DTW 18:20 → ORD 18:57UA 5264 · flown by SkyWest	48m Chicago	ORD 19:45 → SNA 22:19UA 308	6h 59m	46%	35%

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 15m · leaves 05:30 5%

ORD · 56m · leaves 10:33 7%

MSP · 1h 05m · leaves 09:00 11%

Afternoon and evening

MSP · 1h 08m · leaves 16:25 18%

SEA · 50m · leaves 16:46 39%

ORD · 48m · leaves 18:20 54%

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.


Southwest WN 4177 DTW 13:05 → LAS Delta DL 4179 LAS 18:06 → SNA Connection details →	3h 41m	9h 23m	100%	88%
Delta DL 1113 DTW 08:40 → DEN United UA 1707 DEN 13:25 → SNA Connection details →	3h 32m	9h 16m	99%	85%
Delta DL 728 DTW 12:31 → SEA Alaska AS 472 SEA 17:20 → SNA Connection details →	2h 50m	10h 37m	98%	84%

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