DEN → MSP Flight Reliability

Right now

Origin · DENNo disruption reported

Aviation weather is not currently a factor.

Updated 07:53 UTC

Denver airport profile →

Destination · MSPNo disruption reported

Aviation weather is not currently a factor.

Updated 07:53 UTC

Minneapolis airport profile →

Route reliability

July 2023 – July 2026

Route Reliability Score

68/ 100Good

Better than 57% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)

Calculated from 18,829 flights. How this is calculated

On-time arrivals

77.5%

14,485 of 18,689

Cancellation rate

0.63%

118 cancelled

Median arrival delay

-5 min

Average 7.3 min

Severe delays

7.4%

60+ minutes late

Delay when late

61 min

Average, when 15+ min late

Flights analyzed

18,829

5 carriers

DEN → MSP arrives on time 77.5% of the time; the return trip, MSP → DEN, arrives on time 79.5% of the time, a 2.0-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.

DEN → MSP spends 22.7 minutes on the ground on a 680-mile trip: 16.9 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at DEN and 5.8 minutes from touchdown to gate at MSP.

Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026

What stands out

Every day of the week performs about the same on this route, steadier than 96% of 4,467 comparable routes.

79.7% on time on the best day (Saturday) against 75.8% on the worst (Friday).

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 4,467 in the comparison.

Why DEN → MSP flights are cancelled

July 2023 – July 2026

DEN → MSP cancelled 118 of 18,829 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 160. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 45.8% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 349 scheduled flights.

Share of cancellations

Weather45.8%

Airline44.1%

Air traffic10.2%

Security0.0%

Of 118 cancelled departures carrying a reason code.

What each reason means

Extreme weather1 in 349

Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.

54 cancellations, 45.8% of the total.

The airline1 in 362

Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.

52 cancellations, 44.1% of the total.

The air traffic system1 in 1,569

Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.

12 cancellations, 10.2% of the total.

Security—

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. Ordinary bad weather is filed under air traffic, so weather’s full share is larger than its bar.

118 coded cancellations were recorded on DEN → MSP; the section appears from 50.

When it goes wrong

July 2023 – July 2026

One arrival in ten is worse than

45 min late

against a median of 5 min early

Arrived an hour or more late7.4%

Typical delay when late61 min

Cancelled0.63%

Landed somewhere else0.12%

Percentiles over 18,829 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.

Will your connection be tight enough?

Layovers at MSP after arriving from DEN.

Connection buffer and chance of missing by layover length, DEN → MSP arrivals
Connection time	Chance of missing	Reads as
30 min	38%	Likely to miss
45 min	22%	High risk
60 min	14%	Some risk
90 min	7.3%	Some risk
120 min	4.2%	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 0.63% of the time and diverts 0.12% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.

Chance of missing is the share of 18,689 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 45 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 18,829 operations.

Any other layover length: connection checker.

Best time to fly

DEN → MSP flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 90.6% of the time, against 66.4% for 9 PM–5 AM departures, a gap of 24.2 percentage points.

By day and hour

On-time arrival rate for each weekday and scheduled departure hour, in local time at the departure airport (DEN).

Hour of departure matters more than day of the week: hourly averages sit a typical 8.5 points from the route-wide rate, weekday averages 1.5 points.

On-time arrival rate for DEN to MSP by weekday and scheduled departure hour, local time. Each button reads out one slot.
Hour	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
6 AM–7 AM
7 AM–8 AM
8 AM–9 AM
9 AM–10 AM
10 AM–11 AM
11 AM–12 PM
12 PM–1 PM
1 PM–2 PM
2 PM–3 PM
3 PM–4 PM
4 PM–5 PM
5 PM–6 PM
6 PM–7 PM
7 PM–8 PM
8 PM–9 PM
9 PM–10 PM

On-time rate, % · stronger color, fewer on time

60–69
70–79
80–89
90–99

Fewer than 120 flights, not scored

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · On time is arrival within 15 minutes of schedule. Cells round to whole percentages; the table shows one decimal.

No slot is named best or worst: too few reach 500 flights. Departures before 6 AM and after 10 PM (459 flights) are not drawn: no slot in those hours has enough flights to score.

View as tableHide table

On-time arrival rate (%) with flights beneath, by scheduled departure hour and weekday for DEN to MSP. A dash means fewer than 120 flights, which are not scored.
Hour	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
6 AM–7 AM	92.1% on time217 flights	92.0% on time177 flights	93.3% on time179 flights	92.5% on time216 flights	90.0% on time229 flights	90.8% on time207 flights	89.3% on time201 flights
7 AM–8 AM	90.0% on time141 flights	115 flights, too few to score	117 flights, too few to score	90.4% on time136 flights	97.0% on time134 flights	69 flights, too few to score	87.3% on time151 flights
8 AM–9 AM	85.1% on time121 flights	91.4% on time139 flights	91.1% on time135 flights	113 flights, too few to score	87.6% on time122 flights	76 flights, too few to score	91.6% on time120 flights
9 AM–10 AM	84.6% on time246 flights	84.8% on time257 flights	89.1% on time251 flights	85.1% on time244 flights	83.8% on time243 flights	81.4% on time222 flights	84.7% on time255 flights
10 AM–11 AM	89.1% on time120 flights	84.2% on time133 flights	79.0% on time138 flights	79.8% on time124 flights	86.4% on time125 flights	92 flights, too few to score	82.0% on time130 flights
11 AM–12 PM	81.4% on time192 flights	78.7% on time176 flights	79.3% on time179 flights	76.4% on time192 flights	74.1% on time191 flights	79.2% on time180 flights	80.6% on time171 flights
12 PM–1 PM	66 flights, too few to score	72 flights, too few to score	71 flights, too few to score	51 flights, too few to score	60 flights, too few to score	26 flights, too few to score	57 flights, too few to score
1 PM–2 PM	81.1% on time246 flights	75.8% on time224 flights	80.1% on time228 flights	78.0% on time247 flights	76.8% on time244 flights	84.3% on time217 flights	84.3% on time217 flights
2 PM–3 PM	77.7% on time194 flights	84.8% on time146 flights	82.2% on time147 flights	72.8% on time192 flights	72.3% on time193 flights	81.6% on time142 flights	81.0% on time162 flights
3 PM–4 PM	70.8% on time137 flights	71.0% on time139 flights	72.0% on time143 flights	67.4% on time144 flights	67.6% on time149 flights	69.2% on time122 flights	79.3% on time167 flights
4 PM–5 PM	73.6% on time174 flights	77.5% on time169 flights	76.2% on time181 flights	72.7% on time187 flights	72.4% on time163 flights	79.6% on time157 flights	77.0% on time162 flights
5 PM–6 PM	67.2% on time269 flights	68.8% on time260 flights	71.3% on time259 flights	65.1% on time250 flights	67.1% on time258 flights	74.2% on time247 flights	70.0% on time277 flights
6 PM–7 PM	60.1% on time190 flights	71.3% on time167 flights	66.1% on time174 flights	64.6% on time175 flights	69.1% on time197 flights	75.0% on time130 flights	63.9% on time146 flights
7 PM–8 PM	81 flights, too few to score	113 flights, too few to score	112 flights, too few to score	83 flights, too few to score	78 flights, too few to score	22 flights, too few to score	78 flights, too few to score
8 PM–9 PM	65.2% on time252 flights	78.0% on time233 flights	71.6% on time217 flights	67.9% on time250 flights	61.3% on time240 flights	78.1% on time172 flights	67.0% on time239 flights
9 PM–10 PM	66.7% on time124 flights	84 flights, too few to score	94 flights, too few to score	67.2% on time124 flights	65.9% on time132 flights	107 flights, too few to score	67.3% on time164 flights

By departure window

5–9 AM90.6%

9 AM–12 PM82.4%

12–3 PM78.7%

3–6 PM71.5%

6–9 PM67.3%

9 PM–5 AM66.4%

By departure hour

12 AM

3 AM

6 AM

9 AM

12 PM

3 PM

6 PM

9 PM

Why DEN → MSP runs late

July 2023 – July 2026

Late-arriving aircraft49.6%

the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late

The airline33.4%

crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control

Air traffic control14.5%

airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control

Weather2.4%

weather severe enough to stop this flight specifically

Security0.1%

screening or terminal security incidents

Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for DEN → MSP. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.

Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on DEN → MSP, at 49.6%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 90.6% of the time and 9 PM–5 AM departures 66.4%.

How this route holds up in bad weather

July 2023 – July 2026

Bad weather raises cancellations by a similar amount at both ends of DEN to MSP: 4.0 times the normal rate at DEN and 3.1 times at MSP. Cancelled in bad weather against normal hours: DEN 2.8% against 0.7%, MSP 2.4% against 0.8%. Flights that did leave DEN in bad weather arrived on time 51.5% of the time, against 78.8% in normal hours.

Bad weather and normal hours at the airports

Scheduled departures, July 2023 – July 2026

Departures from DEN and MSP in hours of bad weather and in normal hours
Departures from	DEN	MSP
Cancelled in bad weather	2.8%	2.4%
Cancelled in normal hours	0.7%	0.8%
Arrived on time, bad weather	51.5%	65.6%
Arrived on time, normal hours	78.8%	83.5%
Departures in bad weather	92,610	42,174

Of the carriers on this route, United Airlines (1.5% cancelled against 3.5% for the other carriers at DEN) cancelled the fewest departures from DEN in bad weather and SkyWest Airlines (5.8% cancelled against 1.8% for the other carriers at DEN) the most.

This route’s airlines in bad weather at DEN

All departures from DEN

Cancellation rates in bad weather at DEN for the airlines that fly DEN to MSP, against the other carriers at DEN in the same months
Airline	Bad-weather departures	Cancelled	Other carriers
United Airlines	30,853	1.5%below the others	3.5%
Delta Air Lines	3,460	1.1%below the others	2.9%
Southwest Airlines	28,467	2.4%below the others	3.1%
Frontier Airlines	6,740	3.1%about level	2.8%
SkyWest Airlines	19,275	5.8%above the others	1.8%

These are airport figures, not route figures: every scheduled departure from DEN and MSP, to any destination, in hours the weather report called bad. The airline rows count each carrier’s departures from DEN on every route.

Weather source and limits. In full: DEN (airlines), MSP, What Weather Costs Each Airport, Who Cancels More When the Weather Turns, Airports That Change Places When Weather Turns.

Airlines on this route

Carriers with at least 200 flights, by the airline that operated each one.

Airlines on this route
Carrier	Flights	On time	Cancelled	Median delay	Severe
Southwest Airlines	6,108	73.7%	0.59%	-1 min	7.1%
Delta Air Lines	5,594	82.6%	0.63%	-8 min	5.7%
United Airlines	4,905	77.6%	0.51%	-5 min	8.7%
Frontier Airlines	1,934	73.0%	0.83%	-5 min	10.7%
SkyWest Airlines	288	88.7%	2.08%	-14 min	2.1%

Southwest Airlines flew 32.4% of the 18,829 flights listed. SkyWest Airlines cancelled 2.08% of its flights here against 0.51% for United Airlines.

SkyWest Airlines arrived on time 15.7 percentage points more often than Frontier Airlines on this route.

Flights on this route

Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.

Flights on this route
Flight	Scheduled	Operations	On time
UA732 United Airlines	1:25 PM	969	79.3%
F91292 Frontier Airlines	9:00 PM	795	66.3%
DL1129 Delta Air Lines	6:00 AM	784	90.0%
UA2076 United Airlines	5:55 PM	637	70.4%

DL1129 (6:00 AM) arrived on time 90.0% of the time, 23.7 points more often than F91292 (9:00 PM) at 66.3%.

Weekly and seasonal patterns

By day of week

Mon76.2%

Tue79.0%

Wed79.0%

Thu75.8%

Fri75.8%

Sat79.7%

Sun77.7%

Saturday is historically the most reliable day and Friday the least, a gap of 3.9 percentage points.

By month

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

June is historically the weakest month and November the strongest, a spread of 16.6 percentage points.

Reliability over time

July 2023 – July 2026

24

25

26

Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 78.5% against 77.0% in the 12 months before — improving by 1.5 percentage points.

Data and methodology

Calculated by FlyerIntel from 18,829 DEN → MSP 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

Analysis last recomputed September 26, 2026

DEN airport MSP airport Return direction MSP → DEN

DEN→MSP

Right now

Route reliability

What stands out

Why DEN → MSP flights are cancelled

Share of cancellations

What each reason means

When it goes wrong

Will your connection be tight enough?

Best time to fly

By day and hour

By departure window

By departure hour

Why DEN → MSP runs late

How this route holds up in bad weather

Bad weather and normal hours at the airports

This route’s airlines in bad weather at DEN

Airlines on this route

Flights on this route

Weekly and seasonal patterns

By day of week

By month

Reliability over time

Data and methodology