Flight profile · United Airlines

UA1781

Des Moines (DSM) to Denver (DEN) · scheduled 5:15 PM – 6:18 PM

FlyerIntel does not track flights in the air. This page describes how UA1781 has historically performed, which is a different and more useful question when you are deciding what to book. For today’s status, check with United Airlines.

How UA1781 performs

466 operations, 2024-09-26 to 2026-06-30.

On-time arrivals
74.0%
342 of 462 completed
Cancellation rate
0.43%
2 cancelled
Median arrival delay
-2 min
Average 15.3 min
Severe delays
12.3%
Arrived 60+ minutes late
Delay when late
80 min
Average, when 15+ min late
Departure punctuality
79.1%
Left the gate on time

UA1781 arrived on time 74.0% of the time, against 81.6% for all DSMDEN flights — this specific departure is 7.6 percentage points worse than the route as a whole. Against United Airlines’s own flights on this route it is 4.1 points worse.

Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · 466 operations between 2024-09-26 to 2026-06-30

Against the rest of the route

On timeCancelledMedian delaySevereFlights
UA178174.0%0.43%-2 min12.3%466
United Airlines on DSMDEN78.1%1.23%-4 min9.1%2,693
All DSMDEN flights81.6%0.99%-7 min6.8%6,950

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · 2024-09-26 to 2026-06-30

Other routes UA1781 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.

RouteOperatedFlightsOn time
ORDDSM Chicago to Des Moines2026-06-252026-06-305
OMAIAH Omaha to Houston2026-03-052026-03-2824
PNSIAH Pensacola to Houston2026-02-122026-03-0421
SFODTW San Francisco to Detroit2026-01-062026-02-1132
SFOSNA San Francisco to Santa Ana2026-01-112026-02-085
EWRDFW Newark to Dallas–Fort Worth2025-12-182026-01-0519
CLEDEN Cleveland to Denver2025-07-012025-07-3127
ECPDEN Panama City Beach to Denver2025-03-082025-07-269
DENMCI Denver to Kansas City2025-05-222025-06-2535
IAHOMA Houston to Omaha2024-08-192024-09-2537
MSPIAH Minneapolis to Houston2024-09-082024-09-081
EWRSFO Newark to San Francisco2024-07-012024-08-1849
STLEWR St. Louis to Newark2024-07-022024-08-1842
IADMSY Washington to New Orleans2024-06-272024-06-304
LASEWR Las Vegas to Newark2024-03-312024-06-2688
EWRBUF Newark to Buffalo2024-03-072024-03-3024
MCOEWR Orlando to Newark2024-03-072024-03-3024
EWRIAD Newark to Washington2023-10-292024-03-0687
ORDFLL Chicago to Fort Lauderdale2023-12-212024-01-0819
SFOLAX San Francisco to Los Angeles2023-11-012023-11-2723
IAHMSP Houston to Minneapolis2023-09-292023-10-2716
ABQIAH Albuquerque to Houston2023-10-142023-10-163
ORDBNA Chicago to Nashville2023-09-052023-09-1511
EWRCHS Newark to Charleston2023-08-012023-08-044
IAHEWR Houston to Newark2023-07-012023-07-3131

Because the same number has served different journeys, the statistics above describe only the route UA1781 currently operates. Blending them would produce an average of two different flights.

Data and methodology

Calculated by FlyerIntel from 466 records of UA1781 operating DSMDEN, 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.

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