# Minimum connection time: who sets it and what it protects > Minimum connection time is a booking rule. It decides what an airline may sell on one ticket, and it says nothing about your inbound flight. By Derek Johnson. Updated Nov 7, 2026. Source: https://skycapapp.com/articles/leaving/minimum-connection-time/ Minimum connection time is the shortest gap between two flights that an airline may sell on one ticket at a given airport. It's a booking rule, set by the airlines themselves. It doesn't promise that you'll make the flight, and it takes no account of whether your first flight is running late. When a website offers you a 38-minute connection, that means the gap passed a filter. It tells you the itinerary was legal to sell on the day it was sold. That's all it tells you. ## Who sets it The system runs through IATA, the airlines' trade association. IATA's user guide says minimum connecting times are governed by Resolution 765, and that ticketing outlets and automated reservations systems must observe them. The numbers come from the airlines at each airport. A local connecting-times group or airline operating committee agrees a value and submits it to IATA. IATA's station standard covers more than 400 of the most connected airports, by its own account. On top of that standard, each airline can file exceptions. It can ask for less time between its own gates, or more on a route it knows is awkward. The guide's worked examples show how many layers there are, down to exceptions by aircraft type and by season. In one example, a Delta connection at Amsterdam falls back to the airport standard of 50 minutes because no exception applies. The DOT doesn't set these values. I couldn't find a federal rule that does. ## What it protects IATA defines the term as "the shortest time interval required in order to transfer a passenger and his luggage" between flights. Two words in that sentence matter. "Required" is measured on schedules. IATA says the time is based on the scheduled arrival and departure of the two flights. So the filter ran once, against timetables, possibly months before you flew. "Luggage" is the part people forget. The minimum covers moving you and your bag, so on an ordinary day your suitcase is meant to make the flight too. What it protects, in practice, is the airline's schedule. A filtered itinerary is one the airline believes it can operate on an ordinary day, and rebook on the days it can't. ## What it ignores Your inbound delay is the big one. If your first flight is 30 minutes late, the filter doesn't run again. Your row doesn't figure in it. Getting off from row 30 of a full 737 takes longer than from row 5, and the rule treats those people alike. Nor does the hour. In a year of public flight records, about 21% of 45-minute pairs at big hubs left under 40 minutes between gate arrival and gate departure, and in the evening it was 28%. [How long a 45-minute connection really is](/articles/leaving/45-minute-connection) has the method and the table by hub. The minimum is also the same for someone on the last flight home and someone with three more flights to choose from that evening. ## Two tickets are a different thing Everything above applies to one ticket. If you buy two separate tickets, nothing checks the gap. American's agency guidance says as much: on separate tickets, the minimum connecting time usually won't be enough. You may also need to collect your bag and go back through security, and rebooking a missed second flight is between you and that airline. My rule is three hours between separate tickets at a US airport, and I'd spend the night before anything I can't move. That's opinion, and a cautious one. ## Why it's hard to look up The tables are sold to airlines and booking systems, so they're rarely printed where a passenger can read them. Airline contracts don't help: Delta's says only that it isn't responsible for making connections, and Southwest's says it doesn't guarantee them. The practical test is the one the system uses. If an airline's own site will sell you the itinerary on one ticket, the gap meets the minimum. That's the floor, and you get to decide whether to book something higher. A late inbound is what breaks most tight connections, and [late aircraft](/articles/late/late-aircraft) covers how to spot one early. The rest of the trip to the gate is in [Leaving for the airport](/articles/leaving/). > Once you've saved both flights, Skycap shows the real gap as it changes, using the latest time for each. If the first flight runs late, the number shrinks in front of you and it says so. [How connections work](/app/features#before) ## Questions people ask **Who sets minimum connection time?** Airlines at each airport agree a standard value, through a local group or airline committee, and submit it to IATA. An airline can then file its own exceptions. **Can I book a connection shorter than the minimum?** Not on one ticket through normal booking systems, which won't offer it. Two separate tickets can be any length, and no airline has checked that gap. **Does the airline have to hold my connecting flight if the gap was at the minimum?** No. Delta and Southwest both say in their contracts that they don't guarantee connections. On one ticket, you get rebooked under the airline's rules. **Where can I look up the minimum connection time for an airport?** You usually can't. The tables are licensed to booking systems and airlines. The practical test is whether an airline will sell the itinerary on one ticket. ## Sources - [IATA, Minimum Connecting Time user guide, v1.1](https://www.iata.org/contentassets/638f0938b3dd451b872a1d8357755421/minimum-connecting-time-user-guide_version-1.1.pdf) - [IATA, Station Standard Minimum Connecting Time](https://www.iata.org/en/publications/manuals/station-standard-minimum-connecting-time-mct/) - [Delta, Contract of Carriage, revised Aug 18 2026](https://www.delta.com/us/en/legal/contract-of-carriage-dgr) - [Southwest Airlines, Contract of Carriage, effective Nov 6 2026](https://www.southwest.com/swa-resources/pdfs/corporate-commitments/contract-of-carriage.pdf) - [American Airlines, through checked baggage on separate tickets](https://saleslink.aa.com/en-US/resources/html/through-checked-bag-policy.html)