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 70-minute layover misses 1% of the time at 7 am and 35% of the time at 6 pm.

Nonstops


United	ORD	SMF	4h 38m	71%	1.4%	988	Flying now
American	ORD	SMF	4h 39m	62%	2.0%	354	Flying now

Best connections, one ticket

Most reliable Quickest (80%+ on time)

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


United Details →	ORD 05:30 → IAH 08:18UA 2310	1h 42m Houston	IAH 10:00 → SMF 12:07UA 2773	8h 37m	99%	93%
United Details →	ORD 05:00 → DEN 06:42UA 2666	1h 18m Denver	DEN 08:00 → SMF 09:35UA 2149	6h 35m	99%	93%
United Details →	ORD 10:30 → LAX 13:09UA 1044	3h 21m Los Angeles	LAX 16:30 → SMF 18:06UA 5858 · flown by SkyWest	9h 36m	99%	91%
Delta Details →	ORD 06:30 → MSP 08:06DL 1717	2h 17m Minneapolis	MSP 10:23 → SMF 12:11DL 1701	7h 41m	95%	89%
American Details →	ORD 12:02 → LAX 14:28AA 2718	2h 50m Los Angeles	LAX 17:18 → SMF 18:51AA 6346 · flown by SkyWest	8h 49m	99%	85%
Delta Details →	ORD 07:35 → LAX 10:01DL 1556	2h 04m Los Angeles	LAX 12:05 → SMF 13:32DL 3812 · flown by SkyWest	7h 58m	95%	84%
United Details →	ORD 08:40 → DEN 10:31UA 526	3h 04m Denver	DEN 13:35 → SMF 15:10UA 662	8h 30m	100%	83%
Alaska Details →	ORD 08:02 → SEA 10:37AS 587	3h 39m Seattle	SEA 14:16 → SMF 16:11AS 681	10h 09m	98%	81%
Tight connection: often missed
Delta Details →	ORD 15:55 → MSP 17:40DL 1533	1h 05m Minneapolis	MSP 18:45 → SMF 20:37DL 574	6h 42m	65%	50%
American Details →	ORD 17:34 → PHX 19:19AA 3261	1h 29m Phoenix	PHX 20:48 → SMF 22:42AA 2048	7h 08m	72%	49%
American Details →	ORD 16:51 → DFW 19:28AA 2988	1h 31m Dallas-Fort Worth	DFW 20:59 → SMF 22:33AA 3314	7h 42m	68%	38%

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

DEN · 1h 18m · leaves 05:00 1%

PDX · 1h 15m · leaves 07:20 11%

DFW · 1h 00m · leaves 05:00 11%

Afternoon and evening

SEA · 1h 01m · leaves 15:43 31%

MSP · 1h 05m · leaves 15:55 35%

SLC · 49m · leaves 19:37 72%

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 2373 ORD 06:00 → LAX Southwest WN 265 LAX 12:15 → SMF Connection details →	3h 48m	9h 35m	100%	88%
American AA 2520 ORD 10:30 → SEA Delta DL 4043 SEA 17:00 → SMF Connection details →	3h 52m	10h 31m	99%	87%
United UA 2361 ORD 07:00 → LAX Delta DL 3812 LAX 12:05 → SMF Connection details →	2h 32m	8h 33m	99%	87%

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