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 80-minute layover misses 2% of the time at 9 am and 18% of the time at 4 pm.

Nonstops


United	LAX	SAN	1h 01m	88%	1.2%	1,093	Flying now
Delta	LAX	SAN	1h 00m	84%	0.7%	1,354	Flying now

Best connections, one ticket

Most reliable Quickest (80%+ on time)

Ranked by chance you reach San Diego on time. Total trip = scheduled departure to arrival, layover included. Layovers up to 4 hours. Pick a connection for the details.


Delta Details →	LAX 11:41 → SLC 14:30DL 1194	2h 40m Salt Lake City	SLC 17:10 → SAN 18:06DL 1252	6h 25m	99%	83%
United Details →	LAX 10:55 → DEN 14:27UA 2061	1h 28m Denver	DEN 15:55 → SAN 17:20UA 1281	6h 25m	97%	83%
Delta Details →	LAX 05:35 → SLC 08:30DL 2906	2h 45m Salt Lake City	SLC 11:15 → SAN 12:17DL 1296	6h 42m	99%	82%
Alaska Details →	LAX 07:00 → PDX 09:21AS 668	1h 25m Portland	PDX 10:46 → SAN 13:27AS 1394	6h 27m	98%	82%
United Details →	LAX 08:47 → DEN 12:13UA 1912	1h 17m Denver	DEN 13:30 → SAN 14:55UA 1302	6h 08m	94%	81%
Delta Details →	LAX 17:05 → SLC 19:59DL 2311	2h 56m Salt Lake City	SLC 22:55 → SAN 23:50DL 1202	6h 48m	98%	80%
Southwest Details →	LAX 05:55 → DEN 09:20WN 2943	1h 12m Denver	DEN 10:32 → SAN 12:00WN 1700	6h 02m	98%	78%
United Details →	LAX 17:10 → SFO 18:38UA 233	2h 22m San Francisco	SFO 21:00 → SAN 22:49UA 1863	5h 39m	97%	77%
Tight connection: often missed
Alaska Details →	LAX 13:28 → SFO 14:51AS 1522	1h 33m San Francisco	SFO 16:24 → SAN 18:09AS 3337 · flown by SkyWest	4h 41m	73%	42%
United Details →	LAX 07:30 → SFO 09:06UA 1372	59m San Francisco	SFO 10:05 → SAN 11:51UA 2177	4h 21m	49%	33%
Southwest Details →	LAX 14:45 → DEN 18:05WN 2392	1h 10m Denver	DEN 19:15 → SAN 20:40WN 1703	5h 55m	52%	10%

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 12m · leaves 05:55 2%

SLC · 1h 05m · leaves 07:15 7%

SEA · 1h 16m · leaves 06:00 8%

Afternoon and evening

SEA · 56m · leaves 16:25 35%

DEN · 1h 10m · leaves 14:45 48%

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.


American AA 4957 LAX 07:42 → DEN United UA 1302 DEN 13:30 → SAN Connection details →	2h 16m	7h 13m	99%	85%
Southwest WN 2391 LAX 10:00 → DEN United UA 1281 DEN 15:55 → SAN Connection details →	2h 35m	7h 20m	100%	83%
Southwest WN 2943 LAX 05:55 → DEN United UA 1940 DEN 11:15 → SAN Connection details →	1h 55m	6h 46m	98%	81%

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