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 barely half the time at 6 pm.

Nonstops


United	ORD	SNA	4h 37m	77%	0.3%	1,041	Flying now
American	ORD	SNA	4h 28m	75%	1.8%	1,148	Flying now

Best connections, one ticket

Most reliable Quickest (80%+ on time)

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


Alaska Details →	ORD 14:12 → PDX 16:47AS 325	3h 12m Portland	PDX 19:59 → SNA 22:30AS 518	10h 18m	98%	93%
United Details →	ORD 05:00 → DEN 06:42UA 2666	58m Denver	DEN 07:40 → SNA 09:07UA 2666	6h 07m	97%	91%
United Details →	ORD 05:30 → IAH 08:18UA 2310	1h 12m Houston	IAH 09:30 → SNA 10:59UA 1383	7h 29m	99%	90%
United Details →	ORD 06:00 → DEN 07:42UA 2806	3h 38m Denver	DEN 11:20 → SNA 12:51UA 1320	8h 51m	100%	86%
United Details →	ORD 08:40 → DEN 10:31UA 526	2h 54m Denver	DEN 13:25 → SNA 14:56UA 1707	8h 16m	100%	86%
United Details →	ORD 06:29 → IAH 09:18UA 1799	3h 12m Houston	IAH 12:30 → SNA 14:03UA 2780	9h 34m	100%	86%
Delta Details →	ORD 13:00 → SEA 15:43DL 1564	3h 52m Seattle	SEA 19:35 → SNA 22:30DL 3932 · flown by SkyWest	11h 30m	96%	84%
Alaska Details →	ORD 08:02 → SEA 10:37AS 587	3h 12m Seattle	SEA 13:49 → SNA 16:41AS 773	10h 39m	98%	84%
Tight connection: often missed
United Details →	ORD 15:26 → SFO 18:18UA 1334	52m San Francisco	SFO 19:10 → SNA 20:55UA 589	7h 29m	56%	50%
American Details →	ORD 15:50 → DFW 18:28AA 2754	47m Dallas-Fort Worth	DFW 19:15 → SNA 20:22AA 806	6h 32m	50%	32%
American Details →	ORD 14:25 → PHX 16:09AA 1384	1h 12m Phoenix	PHX 17:21 → SNA 18:40AA 2685	6h 15m	43%	29%

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 · 58m · leaves 05:00 3%

ATL · 1h 19m · leaves 06:35 7%

Afternoon and evening

DFW · 47m · leaves 15:50 50%

MSP · 48m · leaves 15:55 55%

PHX · 1h 12m · leaves 14:25 57%

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 1994 ORD 09:00 → PDX Alaska AS 264 PDX 14:48 → SNA Connection details →	3h 10m	10h 19m	98%	90%
Alaska AS 579 ORD 13:01 → SEA Delta DL 3932 SEA 19:35 → SNA Connection details →	3h 53m	11h 29m	100%	88%
United UA 574 ORD 07:11 → LAS Frontier F9 1699 LAS 11:17 → SNA Connection details →	1h 58m	7h 23m	98%	85%

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