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 50-minute layover misses 14% of the time at 10 am and 36% of the time at 8 pm.

Nonstops


Southwest	SMF	SNA	1h 30m	85%	0.3%	2,310	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. Layovers up to 4 hours. Pick a connection for the details.


Alaska Details →	SMF 14:55 → PDX 16:27AS 1600	3h 32m Portland	PDX 19:59 → SNA 22:30AS 518	7h 35m	98%	94%
Alaska Details →	SMF 11:46 → PDX 13:18AS 621	1h 30m Portland	PDX 14:48 → SNA 17:19AS 264	5h 33m	100%	90%
United Details →	SMF 08:50 → DEN 12:16UA 2285	1h 09m Denver	DEN 13:25 → SNA 14:56UA 1707	6h 06m	98%	84%
Southwest Details →	SMF 06:15 → LAS 07:40WN 2178	1h 35m Las Vegas	LAS 09:15 → SNA 10:25WN 187	4h 10m	100%	84%
Southwest Details →	SMF 05:10 → PHX 07:05WN 3815	2h 50m Phoenix	PHX 09:55 → SNA 11:15WN 3001	6h 05m	98%	83%
Alaska Details →	SMF 12:57 → SEA 14:56AS 1476	2h 24m Seattle	SEA 17:20 → SNA 20:08AS 472	7h 11m	95%	82%
Alaska Details →	SMF 10:23 → SEA 12:22AS 1468	1h 27m Seattle	SEA 13:49 → SNA 16:41AS 773	6h 18m	94%	81%
Delta Details →	SMF 09:45 → SLC 12:26DL 1367	2h 49m Salt Lake City	SLC 15:15 → SNA 16:11DL 1277	6h 26m	98%	81%
Tight connection: often missed
Alaska Details →	SMF 08:03 → SEA 10:09AS 795	57m Seattle	SEA 11:06 → SNA 13:55AS 1357	5h 52m	69%	58%
Southwest Details →	SMF 18:50 → LAS 20:20WN 3786	55m Las Vegas	LAS 21:15 → SNA 22:20WN 1590	3h 35m	73%	56%
United Details →	SMF 11:46 → SFO 12:53UA 5248 · flown by SkyWest	46m San Francisco	SFO 13:39 → SNA 15:31UA 5440 · flown by SkyWest	3h 45m	40%	31%

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 13m · leaves 05:55 0%

PHX · 1h 05m · leaves 05:10 6%

PDX · 51m · leaves 08:13 14%

Afternoon and evening

LAS · 1h 00m · leaves 17:50 44%

PHX · 50m · leaves 13:55 50%

DFW · 48m · leaves 14:55 51%

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 949 SMF 10:12 → PDX Alaska AS 264 PDX 14:48 → SNA Connection details →	3h 06m	7h 07m	98%	90%
Southwest WN 3773 SMF 05:55 → DEN United UA 1320 DEN 11:20 → SNA Connection details →	2h 05m	6h 56m	100%	88%
Southwest WN 2178 SMF 06:15 → LAS Frontier F9 1699 LAS 11:17 → SNA Connection details →	3h 37m	6h 19m	100%	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