Itineraries flown on 20+ days in the Jun 6 – Jul 31, 2026 schedule · each leg’s record Aug 2025 – Jul 2026

No clear winner: airlines and hours on this route all land within a few points of 86% on time.

Nonstops (seasonal or thin)


Alaska	SMF	LIH	5h 37m	89%	0.0%	122	Flying now
Hawaiian	SMF	LIH	5h 39m	81%	2.3%	88	Not flying now

Best connections, any airlines

Most reliable Quickest (80%+ on time)

Ranked by chance you reach Lihue on time. Total trip = scheduled departure to arrival, layover included (Lihue is 3 h behind Sacramento). Layovers up to 4 hours. Pick a connection for the details.


Southwest Details →	SMF 09:00 → OGG 11:20WN 479	2h 35m Kahului	OGG 13:55 → LIH 14:50WN 3101	8h 50m	100%	91%
United Details →	SMF 06:00 → SFO 06:54UA 1954	2h 11m San Francisco	SFO 09:05 → LIH 11:50UA 1384	8h 50m	97%	86%
Southwest Details →	SMF 06:15 → LAS 07:40WN 2178	1h 45m Las Vegas	LAS 09:25 → LIH 12:45WN 2262	9h 30m	100%	84%
Southwest + Unitedtwo ticketsDetails →	SMF 05:55 → DEN 09:15WN 3773	2h 45m Denver	DEN 12:00 → LIH 15:37UA 2307	12h 42m	100%	84%
Southwest Details →	SMF 08:30 → HNL 11:00WN 3781	2h 25m Honolulu	HNL 13:25 → LIH 14:15WN 1923	8h 45m	98%	83%
United + Deltatwo ticketsDetails →	SMF 10:13 → LAX 12:05UA 5220 · flown by SkyWest	2h 45m Los Angeles	LAX 14:50 → LIH 17:39DL 428	10h 26m	100%	82%
Southwest + Americantwo ticketsDetails →	SMF 05:10 → PHX 07:05WN 3815	3h 44m Phoenix	PHX 10:49 → LIH 14:36AA 697	12h 26m	98%	82%
Alaska Details →	SMF 12:57 → SEA 14:56AS 1476	3h 17m Seattle	SEA 18:13 → LIH 21:25AS 237	11h 28m	100%	76%

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

OGG · 1h 20m · leaves 08:30 5%

LAS · 55m · leaves 07:05 7%

SEA · 1h 19m · leaves 08:03 20%

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.

The table above includes two-ticket connections (marked “two tickets”), held to the 90-minute minimum. One ticket only →

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