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 3% of the time at 7 am and 64% of the time at 5 pm.

Nonstops


United	ORD	SFO	4h 52m	71%	1.1%	3,828	Flying now
American	ORD	SFO	4h 47m	63%	1.8%	1,769	Flying now
Alaska	ORD	SFO	4h 48m	56%few flights	5.3%	19	Not flying now

Best connections, one ticket

Most reliable Quickest (80%+ on time)

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


United Details →	ORD 08:40 → IAD 11:52UA 2277	2h 59m Dulles	IAD 14:51 → SFO 17:38UA 2862	10h 58m	99%	81%
United Details →	ORD 08:51 → IAH 11:51UA 535	3h 39m Houston	IAH 15:30 → SFO 17:35UA 589	10h 44m	100%	80%
United Details →	ORD 06:05 → BOS 09:29UA 1186	2h 06m Boston	BOS 11:35 → SFO 15:02UA 1074	10h 57m	98%	79%
United Details →	ORD 08:45 → DFW 11:29UA 528	3h 52m Dallas-Fort Worth	DFW 15:21 → SFO 17:13UA 454	10h 28m	100%	78%
United Details →	ORD 15:53 → IAD 19:02UA 2437	3h 19m Dulles	IAD 22:21 → SFO 01:15 +1UA 367	11h 22m	94%	77%
United Details →	ORD 06:30 → IAD 09:24UA 1689	3h 16m Dulles	IAD 12:40 → SFO 15:27UA 1434	10h 57m	100%	77%
United Details →	ORD 13:00 → LAX 15:34UA 1363	1h 36m Los Angeles	LAX 17:10 → SFO 18:38UA 233	7h 38m	93%	77%
American Details →	ORD 17:10 → LAX 19:33AA 1437	2h 59m Los Angeles	LAX 22:32 → SFO 23:59AA 6510 · flown by SkyWest	8h 49m	96%	77%
Tight connection: often missed
American Details →	ORD 17:10 → LAX 19:33AA 1437	1h 02m Los Angeles	LAX 20:35 → SFO 22:06AA 6260 · flown by SkyWest	7h 01m	58%	36%
American Details →	ORD 13:25 → DFW 15:59AA 1120	1h 53m Dallas-Fort Worth	DFW 17:52 → SFO 19:39AA 3072	8h 14m	74%	28%
American Details →	ORD 08:10 → LAX 10:35AA 2012	59m Los Angeles	LAX 11:34 → SFO 13:08AA 6188 · flown by SkyWest	6h 58m	69%	26%

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 17m · leaves 05:30 1%

DEN · 58m · leaves 05:00 3%

EWR · 1h 20m · leaves 07:10 5%

Afternoon and evening

MIA · 51m · leaves 14:24 63%

DCA · 47m · leaves 14:00 64%

PHX · 59m · leaves 14:25 67%

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 814 ORD 11:05 → GEG Alaska AS 3070 GEG 16:21 → SFO Connection details →	3h 10m	9h 40m	96%	82%
American AA 3022 ORD 06:00 → BOS United UA 1074 BOS 11:35 → SFO Connection details →	2h 01m	11h 02m	97%	78%
American AA 2718 ORD 12:02 → LAX United UA 233 LAX 17:10 → SFO Connection details →	2h 42m	8h 36m	93%	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