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 15% of the time at 9 am and almost half the time at 6 pm.

Nonstops


United	ORD	DCA	2h 03m	71%	2.6%	4,083	Flying now
American	ORD	DCA	2h 00m	69%	3.6%	2,959	Flying now

Best connections, one ticket

Most reliable Quickest (80%+ on time)

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


United Details →	ORD 06:00 → DEN 07:42UA 2806	1h 48m Denver	DEN 09:30 → DCA 14:59UA 789	7h 59m	100%	89%
United Details →	ORD 05:30 → IAH 08:18UA 2310	1h 29m Houston	IAH 09:47 → DCA 13:57UA 2670	7h 27m	99%	86%
American Details →	ORD 06:10 → MIA 10:22AA 1380	1h 37m Miami	MIA 11:59 → DCA 14:44AA 1606	7h 34m	97%	82%
American Details →	ORD 06:00 → BOS 09:34AA 3022	2h 18m Boston	BOS 11:52 → DCA 13:44AA 4349 · flown by Republic	6h 44m	97%	80%
American Details →	ORD 06:00 → LGA 09:16AA 327	1h 31m New York	LGA 10:47 → DCA 12:17AA 4654 · flown by Republic	5h 17m	97%	80%
Delta Details →	ORD 06:30 → MSP 08:06DL 1717	2h 20m Minneapolis	MSP 10:26 → DCA 13:48DL 2983	6h 19m	95%	79%
American Details →	ORD 05:00 → DFW 07:30AA 760	1h 20m Dallas-Fort Worth	DFW 08:50 → DCA 12:52AA 1177	6h 52m	95%	76%
Delta Details →	ORD 05:30 → ATL 08:33DL 1264	2h 27m Atlanta	ATL 11:00 → DCA 12:42DL 737	6h 12m	98%	76%
Tight connection: often missed
American Details →	ORD 13:25 → DFW 15:59AA 1120	1h 16m Dallas-Fort Worth	DFW 17:15 → DCA 21:31AA 472	7h 06m	58%	35%
American Details →	ORD 10:50 → BOS 14:20AA 1563	59m Boston	BOS 15:19 → DCA 17:21AA 4380 · flown by Republic	5h 23m	57%	32%
American Details →	ORD 14:14 → MSY 16:37AA 2198	47m New Orleans	MSY 17:24 → DCA 21:00AA 5670 · flown by PSA	5h 57m	40%	16%

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

DFW · 1h 20m · leaves 05:00 5%

IAH · 1h 19m · leaves 07:35 5%

CLT · 1h 11m · leaves 05:07 7%

Afternoon and evening

LGA · 46m · leaves 13:14 51%

BOS · 58m · leaves 15:08 52%

MSY · 47m · leaves 14:14 60%

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.


United UA 1186 ORD 06:05 → BOS American AA 4349 BOS 11:52 → DCA Connection details →	2h 23m	6h 39m	98%	81%
United UA 284 ORD 06:00 → MCO American AA 2104 MCO 12:13 → DCA Connection details →	2h 33m	7h 31m	100%	76%
United UA 2232 ORD 07:00 → MSP Delta DL 2983 MSP 10:26 → DCA Connection details →	1h 45m	5h 49m	89%	75%

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