Flight profile · United Airlines
UA1281
Denver (DEN) to San Diego (SAN) · scheduled 3:55 PM – 5:37 PM
How UA1281 performs
1,031 operations, 2023-07-01 to 2026-06-30.
UA1281 arrived on time 82.8% of the time, against 75.9% for all DEN → SAN flights — this specific departure is 6.9 percentage points better than the route as a whole. Against United Airlines’s own flights on this route it is 2.2 points better.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · 1,031 operations between 2023-07-01 to 2026-06-30
Against the rest of the route
| On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Severe | Flights | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UA1281 | 82.8% | 1.55% | -7 min | 6.2% | 1,031 |
| United Airlines on DEN → SAN | 80.6% | 0.87% | -7 min | 6.7% | 6,420 |
| All DEN → SAN flights | 75.9% | 0.98% | -4 min | 7.3% | 16,924 |
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · 2023-07-01 to 2026-06-30
By day of week
Does UA1281 run worse on particular days?
Wednesday is historically the most reliable day and Thursday the least, a gap of 5.6 percentage points.
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · 2023-07-01 to 2026-06-30 · Days with fewer than 120 operations are not scored.
Other routes UA1281 has flown
A flight number is a slot in a schedule, and carriers reassign it. These are the other city pairs this number served in the analysis period.
| Route | Operated | Flights | On time |
|---|---|---|---|
| MSP→DEN Minneapolis to Denver | 2026-02-12 – 2026-03-04 | 21 | — |
| ORD→MSP Chicago to Minneapolis | 2026-02-12 – 2026-03-04 | 21 | — |
| CLE→DEN Cleveland to Denver | 2025-12-18 – 2026-01-05 | 19 | — |
| EWR→CLE Newark to Cleveland | 2025-10-26 – 2025-12-01 | 37 | — |
| RAP→DEN Rapid City to Denver | 2025-05-01 – 2025-08-18 | 110 | 76.9% |
| ORD→RAP Chicago to Rapid City | 2025-05-22 – 2025-06-25 | 35 | — |
| SEA→DEN Seattle to Denver | 2023-09-29 – 2024-09-25 | 68 | — |
| SAN→SFO San Diego to San Francisco | 2024-01-09 – 2024-03-06 | 58 | — |
Because the same number has served different journeys, the statistics above describe only the route UA1281 currently operates. Blending them would produce an average of two different flights.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 1,031 records of UA1281 operating DEN → SAN, published by the US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics. A flight counts as delayed when it arrives 15 or more minutes after schedule. Cancelled and diverted flights are excluded from the on-time rate and reported separately. Flight numbers are resolved as carrier plus number plus route, because the same number serves different routes over time.