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 17% of the time at 9 am and barely half the time at 6 pm.

Nonstops (seasonal or thin)


United	ORD	SJC	4h 55m	69%	1.7%	293	Flying now
American	ORD	SJC	–	88%few flights	0.0%	8	Not flying now

Best connections, any airlines

Most reliable Quickest (80%+ on time)

Ranked by chance you reach San Jose on time. Total trip = scheduled departure to arrival, layover included (San Jose is 2 h behind Chicago). Layovers up to 4 hours. Pick a connection for the details.


American + Alaskatwo ticketsDetails →	ORD 08:00 → PDX 10:32AA 2284	3h 58m Portland	PDX 14:30 → SJC 16:25AS 3210 · flown by SkyWest	10h 25m	99%	95%
American + Southwesttwo ticketsDetails →	ORD 05:00 → PHX 06:32AA 2434	3h 08m Phoenix	PHX 09:40 → SJC 11:35WN 3336	8h 35m	97%	91%
American + Deltatwo ticketsDetails →	ORD 09:02 → LAX 11:24AA 1979	3h 08m Los Angeles	LAX 14:32 → SJC 15:46DL 3822 · flown by SkyWest	8h 44m	95%	90%
Delta Details →	ORD 07:35 → LAX 10:01DL 1556	2h 56m Los Angeles	LAX 12:57 → SJC 14:19DL 3842 · flown by SkyWest	8h 44m	100%	90%
United + Southwesttwo ticketsDetails →	ORD 07:11 → LAS 09:19UA 574	2h 51m Las Vegas	LAS 12:10 → SJC 13:45WN 1242	8h 34m	99%	90%
United + Alaskatwo ticketsDetails →	ORD 07:00 → PDX 09:34UA 2300	2h 11m Portland	PDX 11:45 → SJC 13:35AS 1632	8h 35m	99%	87%
United + Deltatwo ticketsDetails →	ORD 08:55 → SLC 11:39UA 1972	3h 32m Salt Lake City	SLC 15:11 → SJC 16:07DL 1260	9h 12m	99%	87%
Alaska Details →	ORD 08:02 → SEA 10:37AS 587	3h 41m Seattle	SEA 14:18 → SJC 16:32AS 1366	10h 30m	98%	87%
Tight connection: often missed
Alaska Details →	ORD 14:12 → PDX 16:47AS 325	53m Portland	PDX 17:40 → SJC 19:32AS 2113 · flown by Horizon	7h 20m	63%	51%
American Details →	ORD 17:34 → PHX 19:19AA 3261	1h 32m Phoenix	PHX 20:51 → SJC 22:41AA 1197	7h 07m	74%	45%
American Details →	ORD 08:30 → DFW 11:04AA 1555	56m Dallas-Fort Worth	DFW 12:00 → SJC 13:35AA 436	7h 03m	68%	41%

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

ATL · 1h 07m · leaves 05:30 9%

PHX · 55m · leaves 07:25 17%

SAN · 1h 01m · leaves 06:20 25%

Afternoon and evening

LAX · 1h 02m · leaves 14:42 31%

PDX · 53m · leaves 14:12 37%

MSP · 50m · leaves 15:55 53%

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.

The table above includes two-ticket connections (marked “two tickets”), held to the 90-minute minimum. One ticket only →

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