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 5% of the time at 10 am and barely half the time at 4 pm.

Nonstops


United	IAD	SFO	5h 51m	79%	0.8%	2,691	Flying now
United	BWI	SFO	5h 50m	79%	0.9%	689	Flying now
United	DCA	SFO	5h 56m	77%	0.7%	727	Flying now
Alaska	DCA	SFO	5h 57m	69%	1.1%	363	Flying now
Southwest	BWI	SJC	5h 40m	64%	0.4%	242	Flying now
Southwest	BWI	SFO	6h 05m	56%	0.8%	365	Flying now
Alaska	IAD	SFO	5h 47m	76%few flights	0.0%	38	Not flying now

Best connections, one ticket

Most reliable Quickest (80%+ on time)

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


Southwest Details →	BWI 06:25 → LAS 08:25WN 973	3h 45m Las Vegas	LAS 12:10 → SJC 13:45WN 1242	10h 20m	100%	90%
Delta Details →	DCA 17:50 → SLC 20:37DL 820	2h 13m Salt Lake City	SLC 22:50 → OAK 23:50DL 3797 · flown by SkyWest	9h 01m	97%	90%
Alaska Details →	DCA 08:00 → SEA 10:58AS 1	3h 20m Seattle	SEA 14:18 → SJC 16:32AS 1366	11h 32m	99%	87%
Delta Details →	BWI 06:19 → MSP 07:56DL 2872	2h 09m Minneapolis	MSP 10:05 → SJC 12:05DL 2383	8h 46m	98%	86%
Delta Details →	BWI 07:10 → SLC 09:49DL 1176	1h 51m Salt Lake City	SLC 11:40 → SJC 12:38DL 1254	8h 28m	95%	85%
Delta Details →	BWI 05:40 → ATL 07:31DL 2950	2h 09m Atlanta	ATL 09:40 → SJC 11:36DL 809	8h 56m	98%	85%
Southwest Details →	BWI 06:20 → SAN 08:35WN 1086	3h 10m San Diego	SAN 11:45 → OAK 13:25WN 3517	10h 05m	100%	83%
United Details →	IAD 13:10 → LAX 15:42UA 1689	1h 28m Los Angeles	LAX 17:10 → SFO 18:38UA 233	8h 28m	98%	81%
Tight connection: often missed
United Details →	IAD 08:15 → ORD 09:36UA 1775	49m Chicago	ORD 10:25 → SFO 13:14UA 543	7h 59m	69%	43%
United Details →	IAD 17:42 → ORD 18:50UA 2497	1h 14m Chicago	ORD 20:04 → SFO 22:57UA 1495	8h 15m	67%	30%
United Details →	IAD 17:15 → MCI 19:03UA 2057	56m Kansas City	MCI 19:59 → SFO 21:50UA 1429	7h 35m	72%	17%

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

DFW · 1h 18m · leaves 05:00 3%

IAH · 1h 19m · leaves 06:00 3%

PHX · 1h 14m · leaves 07:49 4%

Afternoon and evening

PHL · 1h 14m · leaves 17:18 53%

SAN · 1h 00m · leaves 15:00 57%

IAH · 46m · leaves 15:03 60%

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.


American AA 1966 DCA 08:40 → LAX Delta DL 3822 LAX 14:32 → SJC Connection details →	3h 13m	10h 06m	99%	93%
Southwest WN 4322 BWI 07:10 → LAX Delta DL 3842 LAX 12:57 → SJC Connection details →	3h 22m	10h 09m	100%	90%
United UA 1689 IAD 13:10 → LAX Delta DL 3883 LAX 18:16 → SJC Connection details →	2h 34m	9h 25m	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