Route profile
DEN→DAL
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Denver to Dallas, 651 miles.
Right now
Aviation weather is not currently a factor.
Aviation weather is not currently a factor.
Route reliability
July 2023 – July 2026
Better than 30% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 9,965 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
DEN → DAL arrives on time 72.5% of the time; the return trip, DAL → DEN, arrives on time 73.6% of the time.
DEN → DAL spends 20.8 minutes on the ground on a 651-mile trip: 15.6 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at DEN and 5.3 minutes from touchdown to gate at DAL.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
On-time performance swings unusually widely by time of day here, wider than 98% of 4,023 comparable routes.
91.1% on time for 5–9 AM departures, against 54.1% for 6–9 PM.
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · Ranked against every other route with the same kind of figure and at least 4,023 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where DEN to DAL differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
DEN to DAL struggles most at 8 PM: 52.4% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 15.2 points behind the 67.6% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 15 points.
Thursday is the day DEN to DAL slips furthest against routes of similar length, 70.0% on time where they average 76.9%, 6.9 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 6.8 points.
In June, DEN to DAL runs 13 points below routes of similar length, 59.5% on time to 72.5%. Against all other routes the gap is 13.2 points.
Southwest Airlines’ flights on DEN to DAL arrive on time 72.5% of the time, 5.3 points below the 77.8% it manages on its routes of similar length. Against all other routes the gap is 5 points.
DEN to DAL against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 8 PM departures | 52.4% | routes of similar length | 67.6% | −15.2 pts | 744 here, 97,523 there |
| Weekday: Thursday | 70.0% | routes of similar length | 76.9% | −6.9 pts | 1,445 here, 311,003 there |
| Month: June | 59.5% | routes of similar length | 72.5% | −13.0 pts | 829 here, 173,562 there |
| Airline: Southwest Airlines | 72.5% | routes of similar length | 77.8% | −5.3 pts | 9,785 here, 489,705 there |
Each comparison pools the flights of other routes, with this route’s own left out. Similar length means within 15% of this route’s 651 miles, with at least 5 such routes. A bucket is set against the most comparable group that has enough flights: similar length, then the same origin (at least 3 routes), then all other routes. Hours, weekdays and months appear only where both sides have 120 completed flights, and airlines where both have 600. The gap must be at least 2 points and 2 standard errors, and only the largest gap each way is kept per measure. These are differences in the flights counted, not causes.
Why DEN → DAL flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
DEN → DAL cancelled 137 of 9,965 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 73. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 64.2% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 113 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 137 cancelled departures carrying a reason code.
What each reason means
Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.
88 cancellations, 64.2% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
35 cancellations, 25.5% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
14 cancellations, 10.2% of the total.
A terminal evacuation, a security breach, screening equipment failure, or screening queues over 29 minutes.
0 cancellations, 0.0% of the total.
Reason codes are the operating airline’s own filing with US DOT, not an independent finding of fault. With only one or two carriers on the route, the split mostly reflects how they file. Ordinary bad weather is filed under air traffic, so weather’s full share is larger than its bar.
137 coded cancellations were recorded on DEN → DAL; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
50 min late
against a median of 1 min early
Percentiles over 9,965 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at DAL after arriving from DEN.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 46% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 27% | High risk |
| 60 min | 17% | High risk |
| 90 min | 7.9% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 4.4% | Low risk |
This is one leg of a connection. Gate changes and the next flight's own schedule matter too. And a connection can fail before delay is even the question — this route cancels 1.37% of the time and diverts 0.43% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 9,785 arrivals on this route that landed later than the connection time less 30 minutes to reach the next gate.
The worst tenth of arrivals on this route land at least 50 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 9,965 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
DEN → DAL flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 91.1% of the time, against 54.1% for 6–9 PM departures, a gap of 37.0 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 4 AM: too few flights to score
- 5 AM: 94.0% on time from 693 flights
- 6 AM: 92.6% on time from 752 flights
- 7 AM: 89.0% on time from 755 flights
- 8 AM: 88.4% on time from 549 flights
- 9 AM: 83.7% on time from 594 flights
- 10 AM: 78.0% on time from 650 flights
- 11 AM: 72.1% on time from 331 flights
- 12 PM: 78.4% on time from 591 flights
- 1 PM: 72.3% on time from 692 flights
- 2 PM: 67.3% on time from 486 flights
- 3 PM: 62.2% on time from 518 flights
- 4 PM: 59.9% on time from 495 flights
- 5 PM: 58.9% on time from 507 flights
- 6 PM: 56.7% on time from 744 flights
- 7 PM: 53.4% on time from 857 flights
- 8 PM: 52.4% on time from 751 flights
- 9 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why DEN → DAL runs late
July 2023 – July 2026
the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late
crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control
airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control
weather severe enough to stop this flight specifically
screening or terminal security incidents
Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for DEN → DAL. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on DEN → DAL, at 43.9%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 91.1% of the time and 6–9 PM departures 54.1%.
Airlines on this route
Carriers with at least 200 flights, by the airline that operated each one.
| Carrier | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Severe |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 9,965 | 72.5% | 1.37% | -1 min | 8.0% |
Other ways to fly Denver to Dallas–Fort Worth
Airport pairs in the same two city markets, as the DOT defines them.
| Route | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DEN→DFW Denver to Dallas–Fort Worth | 18,869 | 74.5% | 1.82% | -5 min | 51 |
| DEN→DAL this route Denver to Dallas | 9,965 | 72.5% | 1.37% | -1 min | 58 |
DEN → DAL is the most reliable pairing for this journey at 72.5% on time, against 74.5% for DEN → DFW.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Wednesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 8.3 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 78.1%
- Feb: 79.7%
- Mar: 77.0%
- Apr: 72.4%
- May: 65.4%
- Jun: 59.5%
- Jul: 64.1%
- Aug: 71.5%
- Sep: 77.2%
- Oct: 76.4%
- Nov: 78.0%
- Dec: 76.5%
June is historically the weakest month and February the strongest, a spread of 20.2 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 58.9% from 318 flights
- August 2023: 75.2% from 323 flights
- September 2023: 76.0% from 299 flights
- October 2023: 71.8% from 297 flights
- November 2023: 83.9% from 288 flights
- December 2023: 79.9% from 304 flights
- January 2024: 71.1% from 281 flights
- February 2024: 80.4% from 257 flights
- March 2024: 76.4% from 276 flights
- April 2024: 75.3% from 263 flights
- May 2024: 64.8% from 270 flights
- June 2024: 65.0% from 297 flights
- July 2024: 69.6% from 307 flights
- August 2024: 75.5% from 272 flights
- September 2024: 80.2% from 258 flights
- October 2024: 84.4% from 269 flights
- November 2024: 72.6% from 258 flights
- December 2024: 79.9% from 279 flights
- January 2025: 82.2% from 254 flights
- February 2025: 75.4% from 241 flights
- March 2025: 79.3% from 282 flights
- April 2025: 69.6% from 265 flights
- May 2025: 66.1% from 256 flights
- June 2025: 60.5% from 279 flights
- July 2025: 62.9% from 289 flights
- August 2025: 61.9% from 237 flights
- September 2025: 75.3% from 223 flights
- October 2025: 73.0% from 237 flights
- November 2025: 76.5% from 234 flights
- December 2025: 68.8% from 253 flights
- January 2026: 81.8% from 250 flights
- February 2026: 83.5% from 234 flights
- March 2026: 75.0% from 270 flights
- April 2026: 72.4% from 252 flights
- May 2026: 65.2% from 256 flights
- June 2026: 52.1% from 264 flights
- July 2026: 65.1% from 273 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 70.7% against 74.0% in the 12 months before — declining by 3.3 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 9,965 DEN → DAL flight records from the US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, covering July 2023 – July 2026. Late means 15 or more minutes past scheduled arrival; cancelled and diverted flights are left out of on-time rates.
Full methodology · Data sources · Report a problem
Related research: How Long a Layover Needs to Be · Two Airlines on One Route · Best Time of Day to Fly From Major US Airports
Analysis last recomputed