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

No clear winner: Southwest’s MCI → MSY flights land within a few points of 78% on time whatever the hour.

Nonstops (seasonal or thin)


Southwest	MCI	MSY	1h 55m	78%	0.3%	364	Flying now

Best connections, one ticket

Most reliable Quickest (80%+ on time)

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


Southwest Details →	MCI 05:55 → DEN 06:45WN 2545	1h 15m Denver	DEN 08:00 → MSY 11:45WN 1642	5h 47m	95%	91%
United Details →	MCI 06:00 → ORD 07:58UA 5485 · flown by SkyWest	2h 27m Chicago	ORD 10:25 → MSY 12:55UA 1850	6h 55m	93%	86%
Southwest Details →	MCI 06:30 → HOU 08:35WN 4456	2h 10m Houston	HOU 10:45 → MSY 12:00WN 2051	5h 30m	100%	86%
United Details →	MCI 06:00 → DEN 06:56UA 355	2h 54m Denver	DEN 09:50 → MSY 13:39UA 2273	7h 39m	98%	86%
United Details →	MCI 06:16 → IAH 08:25UA 740	3h 30m Houston	IAH 11:55 → MSY 13:14UA 2385	6h 58m	98%	85%
American Details →	MCI 05:30 → ORD 07:31AA 3845 · flown by Envoy	1h 34m Chicago	ORD 09:05 → MSY 11:44AA 4748 · flown by Republic	6h 10m	97%	84%
Delta Details →	MCI 05:38 → ATL 08:44DL 1204	2h 21m Atlanta	ATL 11:05 → MSY 11:42DL 2542	6h 04m	99%	84%
Southwest Details →	MCI 06:20 → LAS 07:20WN 276	55m Las Vegas	LAS 08:15 → MSY 13:50WN 2280	7h 30m	92%	81%
Tight connection: often missed
American Details →	MCI 12:15 → CLT 15:43AA 2052	51m Charlotte	CLT 16:34 → MSY 17:41AA 2203	5h 24m	75%	34%
Southwest Details →	MCI 16:15 → DEN 17:05WN 2549	2h 00m Denver	DEN 19:05 → MSY 22:48WN 3301	6h 30m	67%	23%
American Details →	MCI 19:53 → DFW 21:41AA 2047	49m Dallas-Fort Worth	DFW 22:30 → MSY 23:58AA 1472	4h 05m	57%	22%

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

IAH · 1h 20m · leaves 06:16 4%

DEN · 1h 15m · leaves 05:55 5%

ATL · 1h 01m · leaves 07:00 6%

Afternoon and evening

DFW · 49m · leaves 19:53 43%

DAL · 1h 05m · leaves 19:25 46%

BNA · 1h 10m · leaves 17:30 56%

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 3845 MCI 05:30 → ORD United UA 1850 ORD 10:25 → MSY Connection details →	2h 54m	7h 25m	97%	91%
Southwest WN 2546 MCI 06:55 → DEN United UA 2273 DEN 09:50 → MSY Connection details →	2h 05m	6h 44m	100%	89%
Southwest WN 2209 MCI 05:00 → MCO Frontier F9 3553 MCO 10:57 → MSY Connection details →	2h 12m	6h 51m	98%	83%

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