Itineraries flown on 20+ days in the Jun 6 – Jul 31, 2026 schedule · each leg’s record Aug 2025 – Jul 2026

No clear winner: airlines and hours on this route all land within a few points of 83% on time.

Nonstops


United	LAX	DEN	2h 27m	88%	0.1%	3,079	Flying now
Frontier	LAX	DEN	2h 36m	82%	0.6%	783	Flying now
American	LAX	DEN	2h 29m	82%	1.0%	864	Flying now
Delta	LAX	DEN	2h 28m	81%	1.0%	1,080	Flying now
Southwest	LAX	DEN	2h 20m	74%	0.4%	1,902	Flying now

Best connections, one ticket

Most reliable Quickest (80%+ on time)

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


Southwest Details →	LAX 06:00 → OAK 07:30WN 2415	50m Oakland	OAK 08:20 → DEN 11:45WN 3042	4h 45m	95%	95%
Southwest Details →	LAX 05:35 → LAS 06:50WN 2403	2h 05m Las Vegas	LAS 08:55 → DEN 11:50WN 247	5h 15m	100%	88%
United Details →	LAX 09:20 → SMF 10:56UA 5372 · flown by SkyWest	2h 04m Sacramento	SMF 13:00 → DEN 16:26UA 1961	6h 06m	100%	85%
United Details →	LAX 09:00 → SAN 10:08UA 4643 · flown by SkyWest	2h 25m San Diego	SAN 12:33 → DEN 16:06UA 1565	6h 06m	98%	83%
Delta Details →	LAX 05:35 → SLC 08:30DL 2906	1h 45m Salt Lake City	SLC 10:15 → DEN 11:53DL 1553	5h 18m	98%	81%
Southwest Details →	LAX 05:05 → PHX 06:30WN 116	2h 20m Phoenix	PHX 08:50 → DEN 11:35WN 3261	5h 30m	100%	80%
United Details →	LAX 10:02 → SUN 13:16UA 5980 · flown by SkyWest	1h 22m Hailey	SUN 14:38 → DEN 16:45UA 5268 · flown by SkyWest	5h 43m	100%	79%
United Details →	LAX 17:10 → SFO 18:38UA 233	1h 18m San Francisco	SFO 19:56 → DEN 23:43UA 2019	5h 33m	90%	79%
Tight connection: often missed
Alaska Details →	LAX 11:23 → PDX 13:44AS 1355	46m Portland	PDX 14:30 → DEN 18:09AS 1809	5h 46m	67%	43%
Frontier Details →	LAX 18:57 → SFO 20:30F9 4593	1h 09m San Francisco	SFO 21:39 → DEN 01:34 +1F9 3440	5h 33m	57%	34%
United Details →	LAX 18:45 → SFO 20:10UA 2681	50m San Francisco	SFO 21:00 → DEN 00:47 +1UA 301	5h 02m	29%	25%

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

OAK · 50m · leaves 06:00 5%

SMF · 1h 05m · leaves 09:30 7%

SFO · 56m · leaves 06:00 8%

Afternoon and evening

PHX · 1h 17m · leaves 13:56 14%

SLC · 1h 06m · leaves 17:05 17%

SFO · 50m · leaves 18:45 71%

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 2403 LAX 05:35 → LAS United UA 1315 LAS 09:37 → DEN Connection details →	2h 47m	6h 06m	100%	93%
Southwest WN 116 LAX 05:05 → PHX American AA 1757 PHX 08:32 → DEN Connection details →	2h 02m	5h 22m	100%	89%
Delta DL 2906 LAX 05:35 → SLC United UA 2004 SLC 10:39 → DEN Connection details →	2h 09m	5h 49m	97%	87%

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