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 84% on time.

Nonstops


United	SMF	DEN	2h 25m	90%	0.5%	1,793	Flying now
Frontier	SMF	DEN	2h 31m	82%	0.0%	183	Flying now
Southwest	SMF	DEN	2h 20m	79%	0.2%	1,869	Flying now

Best connections, one ticket

Most reliable Quickest (80%+ on time)

Ranked by chance you reach Denver on time. Total trip = scheduled departure to arrival, layover included (Denver is 1 h ahead of Sacramento). Layovers up to 4 hours. Pick a connection for the details.


Southwest Details →	SMF 05:40 → BOI 08:05WN 3760	2h 20m Boise	BOI 10:25 → DEN 12:20WN 699	5h 40m	100%	91%
Southwest Details →	SMF 06:15 → LAS 07:40WN 2178	1h 15m Las Vegas	LAS 08:55 → DEN 11:50WN 247	4h 35m	100%	88%
Alaska Details →	SMF 16:43 → SAN 18:20AS 2406 · flown by Horizon	1h 41m San Diego	SAN 20:01 → DEN 23:30AS 1619	5h 47m	92%	87%
Southwest Details →	SMF 08:05 → SLC 10:40WN 3827	1h 40m Salt Lake City	SLC 12:20 → DEN 13:50WN 1478	4h 45m	100%	85%
United Details →	SMF 05:15 → IAH 11:01UA 2863	1h 32m Houston	IAH 12:33 → DEN 14:17UA 2168	8h 02m	98%	85%
Southwest Details →	SMF 05:00 → SEA 06:55WN 4920	55m Seattle	SEA 07:50 → DEN 11:25WN 3397	5h 25m	91%	85%
United Details →	SMF 23:43 → ORD 05:54UA 1148	1h 11m Chicago	ORD 07:05 → DEN 08:55 +1UA 1217	8h 12m	92%	82%
Delta Details →	SMF 05:30 → SLC 08:11DL 1526	2h 04m Salt Lake City	SLC 10:15 → DEN 11:53DL 1553	5h 23m	98%	82%
Tight connection: often missed
American Details →	SMF 15:05 → ORD 21:35AA 2627	59m Chicago	ORD 22:34 → DEN 00:17 +1AA 1387	8h 11m	67%	36%
United Details →	SMF 19:03 → SFO 20:10UA 5961 · flown by SkyWest	50m San Francisco	SFO 21:00 → DEN 00:47 +1UA 301	4h 44m	31%	26%
Southwest Details →	SMF 16:40 → PHX 18:35WN 3231	55m Phoenix	PHX 19:30 → DEN 22:20WN 3267	4h 40m	36%	18%

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

DAL · 1h 15m · leaves 05:05 5%

ORD · 1h 05m · leaves 23:10 6%

MDW · 1h 05m · leaves 23:50 7%

Afternoon and evening

ORD · 59m · leaves 15:05 33%

PHX · 55m · leaves 16:40 64%

SFO · 50m · leaves 19:03 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.


Southwest WN 3829 SMF 06:10 → SNA United UA 2843 SNA 10:20 → DEN Connection details →	2h 45m	6h 33m	100%	99%
Southwest WN 4099 SMF 05:20 → PDX United UA 2375 PDX 08:50 → DEN Connection details →	2h 00m	6h 04m	100%	96%
Southwest WN 4774 SMF 15:15 → SAN Alaska AS 1619 SAN 20:01 → DEN Connection details →	3h 16m	7h 15m	97%	94%

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