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 2% of the time at 7 am and 37% of the time at 5 pm.

Nonstops


United	ORD	SAN	4h 30m	78%	0.4%	1,673	Flying now
Alaska	ORD	SAN	5h 00m	69%	2.3%	777	Flying now
American	ORD	SAN	4h 32m	68%	1.7%	1,389	Flying now
Frontier	ORD	SAN	4h 20m	68%few flights	0.0%	31	Not 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 (San Diego is 2 h behind Chicago). Layovers up to 4 hours. Pick a connection for the details.


United Details →	ORD 05:00 → DEN 06:42UA 2666	1h 01m Denver	DEN 07:43 → SAN 09:05UA 2309	6h 05m	98%	87%
United Details →	ORD 08:40 → DEN 10:31UA 526	2h 59m Denver	DEN 13:30 → SAN 14:55UA 1302	8h 15m	100%	87%
United Details →	ORD 05:30 → IAH 08:18UA 2310	1h 12m Houston	IAH 09:30 → SAN 10:51UA 2491	7h 21m	99%	84%
United Details →	ORD 06:30 → IAD 09:24UA 1689	3h 16m Dulles	IAD 12:40 → SAN 15:03UA 2163	10h 33m	100%	83%
Delta Details →	ORD 05:30 → ATL 08:33DL 1264	3h 20m Atlanta	ATL 11:53 → SAN 13:21DL 540	9h 51m	99%	83%
United Details →	ORD 10:54 → DEN 12:45UA 581	3h 10m Denver	DEN 15:55 → SAN 17:20UA 1281	8h 26m	97%	83%
United Details →	ORD 06:29 → IAH 09:18UA 1799	2h 42m Houston	IAH 12:00 → SAN 13:21UA 2399	8h 52m	100%	83%
United Details →	ORD 11:07 → IAD 14:12UA 1869	3h 48m Dulles	IAD 18:00 → SAN 20:23UA 2054	11h 16m	99%	82%
Tight connection: often missed
American Details →	ORD 11:40 → PHL 14:54AA 1743	46m Philadelphia	PHL 15:40 → SAN 18:22AA 1489	8h 42m	58%	45%
Delta Details →	ORD 13:00 → JFK 16:37DL 5035 · flown by Endeavor	53m New York	JFK 17:30 → SAN 20:34DL 709	9h 34m	67%	43%
American Details →	ORD 14:59 → DFW 17:36AA 2257	1h 26m Dallas-Fort Worth	DFW 19:02 → SAN 20:03AA 1243	7h 04m	72%	39%

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 12m · leaves 05:30 1%

DEN · 1h 01m · leaves 05:00 2%

SFO · 1h 18m · leaves 06:10 3%

Afternoon and evening

PDX · 53m · leaves 14:12 37%

DFW · 54m · leaves 13:25 56%

PHX · 57m · leaves 14:25 69%

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 2099 ORD 08:45 → SEA Delta DL 2613 SEA 15:25 → SAN Connection details →	3h 47m	11h 28m	98%	82%
United UA 341 ORD 07:00 → SEA Delta DL 2572 SEA 12:05 → SAN Connection details →	2h 25m	10h 04m	100%	81%
American AA 1437 ORD 17:10 → LAX Delta DL 3746 LAX 22:40 → SAN Connection details →	3h 07m	8h 30m	94%	80%

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