Route profile
DEN→PHX
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Denver to Phoenix, 602 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 45% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 28,387 flights. How this is calculated
DEN → PHX arrives on time 75.8% of the time; the return trip, PHX → DEN, arrives on time 78.7% of the time, a 2.8-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
DEN → PHX spends 24.9 minutes on the ground on a 602-mile trip: 18.4 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at DEN and 6.5 minutes from touchdown to gate at PHX.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
Why DEN → PHX flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
DEN → PHX cancelled 255 of 28,387 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 111. The reason filed most often was the airline, 52.9% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 210 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 255 cancelled departures carrying a reason code.
What each reason means
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
135 cancellations, 52.9% of the total.
Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.
92 cancellations, 36.1% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
28 cancellations, 11.0% 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. Ordinary bad weather is filed under air traffic, so weather’s full share is larger than its bar.
255 coded cancellations were recorded on DEN → PHX; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
48 min late
against a median of 4 min early
Percentiles over 28,387 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at PHX after arriving from DEN.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 41% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 23% | High risk |
| 60 min | 15% | High risk |
| 90 min | 7.7% | 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 0.90% of the time and diverts 0.09% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 28,107 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 48 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 28,387 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
DEN → PHX flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 85.9% of the time, against 63.5% for 9 PM–5 AM departures, a gap of 22.4 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 9.8 points from the route-wide rate, weekday averages 2.6 points.
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On-time rate, % · stronger color, fewer on time
- 50–59
- 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 5 AM and after 11 PM (168 flights) are not drawn: no slot in those hours has enough flights to score.
View as tableHide table
| Hour | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 AM–6 AM | 115 flights, too few to score | 78 flights, too few to score | 66 flights, too few to score | 91.7% on time123 flights | 90.1% on time123 flights | 90 flights, too few to score | 104 flights, too few to score |
| 6 AM–7 AM | 91.0% on time247 flights | 92.4% on time146 flights | 92.7% on time153 flights | 91.8% on time256 flights | 93.6% on time240 flights | 91.6% on time147 flights | 90.6% on time214 flights |
| 7 AM–8 AM | 85.6% on time365 flights | 85.9% on time362 flights | 85.2% on time359 flights | 84.8% on time362 flights | 81.1% on time356 flights | 86.6% on time329 flights | 83.7% on time363 flights |
| 8 AM–9 AM | 81.9% on time250 flights | 79.2% on time241 flights | 84.6% on time246 flights | 76.5% on time247 flights | 78.9% on time263 flights | 80.7% on time207 flights | 78.8% on time250 flights |
| 9 AM–10 AM | 86.8% on time252 flights | 84.8% on time245 flights | 88.6% on time255 flights | 86.7% on time264 flights | 86.0% on time254 flights | 87.9% on time199 flights | 87.7% on time243 flights |
| 10 AM–11 AM | 85.3% on time157 flights | 85.7% on time196 flights | 87.2% on time197 flights | 80.3% on time146 flights | 78.1% on time150 flights | 79.6% on time138 flights | 81.5% on time120 flights |
| 11 AM–12 PM | 80.4% on time322 flights | 86.8% on time314 flights | 88.5% on time315 flights | 79.6% on time314 flights | 82.4% on time318 flights | 82.7% on time273 flights | 83.4% on time308 flights |
| 12 PM–1 PM | 81.7% on time266 flights | 84.1% on time222 flights | 82.1% on time234 flights | 81.5% on time254 flights | 80.4% on time257 flights | 80.4% on time241 flights | 81.8% on time236 flights |
| 1 PM–2 PM | 81.5% on time218 flights | 83.7% on time245 flights | 84.6% on time241 flights | 81.4% on time222 flights | 80.1% on time207 flights | 87.8% on time157 flights | 78.1% on time251 flights |
| 2 PM–3 PM | 72.1% on time206 flights | 73.0% on time207 flights | 75.5% on time205 flights | 68.8% on time210 flights | 72.6% on time220 flights | 78.7% on time233 flights | 67.6% on time188 flights |
| 3 PM–4 PM | 71.8% on time190 flights | 78.8% on time200 flights | 70.5% on time203 flights | 64.4% on time183 flights | 69.5% on time176 flights | 74.8% on time152 flights | 70.1% on time174 flights |
| 4 PM–5 PM | 75.5% on time258 flights | 74.9% on time252 flights | 72.7% on time246 flights | 68.8% on time256 flights | 72.1% on time265 flights | 72.9% on time279 flights | 70.6% on time257 flights |
| 5 PM–6 PM | 66.2% on time214 flights | 70.0% on time181 flights | 63.3% on time198 flights | 62.4% on time214 flights | 60.0% on time208 flights | 75.6% on time128 flights | 57.6% on time211 flights |
| 6 PM–7 PM | 62.8% on time301 flights | 69.5% on time246 flights | 63.8% on time265 flights | 57.0% on time315 flights | 61.4% on time302 flights | 68.9% on time213 flights | 58.7% on time313 flights |
| 7 PM–8 PM | 64.3% on time308 flights | 76.5% on time244 flights | 69.3% on time243 flights | 63.1% on time290 flights | 64.6% on time311 flights | 70.8% on time301 flights | 67.2% on time306 flights |
| 8 PM–9 PM | 62.4% on time203 flights | 73.4% on time180 flights | 63.8% on time222 flights | 55.9% on time205 flights | 54.8% on time211 flights | 117 flights, too few to score | 55.4% on time226 flights |
| 9 PM–10 PM | 64.2% on time205 flights | 73.6% on time159 flights | 69.4% on time210 flights | 60.7% on time217 flights | 65.6% on time223 flights | 63.6% on time147 flights | 61.5% on time247 flights |
| 10 PM–11 PM | 56.9% on time175 flights | 107 flights, too few to score | 83 flights, too few to score | 57.9% on time177 flights | 58.7% on time181 flights | 113 flights, too few to score | 62.1% on time206 flights |
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 4 AM: too few flights to score
- 5 AM: 92.7% on time from 699 flights
- 6 AM: 91.9% on time from 1,403 flights
- 7 AM: 84.7% on time from 2,496 flights
- 8 AM: 80.0% on time from 1,704 flights
- 9 AM: 86.9% on time from 1,712 flights
- 10 AM: 83.0% on time from 1,104 flights
- 11 AM: 83.4% on time from 2,164 flights
- 12 PM: 81.7% on time from 1,710 flights
- 1 PM: 82.2% on time from 1,541 flights
- 2 PM: 72.7% on time from 1,469 flights
- 3 PM: 71.5% on time from 1,278 flights
- 4 PM: 72.5% on time from 1,813 flights
- 5 PM: 64.3% on time from 1,354 flights
- 6 PM: 62.6% on time from 1,955 flights
- 7 PM: 67.7% on time from 2,003 flights
- 8 PM: 60.7% on time from 1,364 flights
- 9 PM: 65.2% on time from 1,408 flights
- 10 PM: 62.6% on time from 1,042 flights
- 11 PM: 54.4% on time from 165 flights
Why DEN → PHX 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 → PHX. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on DEN → PHX, at 50.0%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 85.9% of the time and 9 PM–5 AM departures 63.5%.
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 PHX: 4.0 times the normal rate at DEN and 3.9 times at PHX. Cancelled in bad weather against normal hours: DEN 2.8% against 0.7%, PHX 2.5% against 0.6%. 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 | PHX |
|---|---|---|
| Cancelled in bad weather | 2.8% | 2.5% |
| Cancelled in normal hours | 0.7% | 0.6% |
| Arrived on time, bad weather | 51.5% | 53.7% |
| Arrived on time, normal hours | 78.8% | 80.6% |
| Departures in bad weather | 92,610 | 6,215 |
United Airlines (1.5% cancelled against 3.5% for the other carriers at DEN) and Southwest Airlines (2.4% cancelled against 3.1% for the other carriers at DEN) cancelled fewer departures from DEN in bad weather than the other carriers there did in the same months. None of the route’s other carriers was clearly worse. One more carrier flies this route but has too few bad-weather departures from DEN to compare.
This route’s airlines in bad weather at DEN
All departures from DEN| Airline | Bad-weather departures | Cancelled | Other carriers |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Airlines | 30,853 | 1.5%below the others | 3.5% |
| Southwest Airlines | 28,467 | 2.4%below the others | 3.1% |
| American Airlines | 2,591 | 2.8%about level | 2.8% |
| Frontier Airlines | 6,740 | 3.1%about level | 2.8% |
These are airport figures, not route figures: every scheduled departure from DEN and PHX, 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), PHX, 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.
| Carrier | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Severe |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 13,028 | 73.3% | 1.18% | -1 min | 7.6% |
| United Airlines | 7,154 | 80.7% | 0.66% | -7 min | 6.9% |
| Frontier Airlines | 4,695 | 75.0% | 0.62% | -4 min | 9.2% |
| American Airlines | 2,993 | 77.2% | 0.77% | -6 min | 8.9% |
| Envoy Air | 424 | 70.1% | 0.47% | -4 min | 11.4% |
Southwest Airlines flew 46.0% of the 28,294 flights listed.
United Airlines arrived on time 10.6 percentage points more often than Envoy Air on this route.
Flights on this route
Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.
UA1481 (7:45 AM) arrived on time 83.8% of the time, 21.7 points more often than F94753 (10:29 PM) at 62.1%.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Thursday the least, a gap of 6.7 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 78.2%
- Feb: 79.1%
- Mar: 78.4%
- Apr: 77.2%
- May: 71.6%
- Jun: 64.7%
- Jul: 66.3%
- Aug: 74.8%
- Sep: 80.1%
- Oct: 78.6%
- Nov: 78.8%
- Dec: 82.1%
June is historically the weakest month and December the strongest, a spread of 17.4 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 65.1% from 736 flights
- August 2023: 75.1% from 756 flights
- September 2023: 78.0% from 711 flights
- October 2023: 75.7% from 772 flights
- November 2023: 81.6% from 798 flights
- December 2023: 81.5% from 802 flights
- January 2024: 73.9% from 801 flights
- February 2024: 76.1% from 765 flights
- March 2024: 77.6% from 894 flights
- April 2024: 73.7% from 825 flights
- May 2024: 70.4% from 813 flights
- June 2024: 66.4% from 712 flights
- July 2024: 72.3% from 732 flights
- August 2024: 74.8% from 718 flights
- September 2024: 84.5% from 749 flights
- October 2024: 85.0% from 826 flights
- November 2024: 80.3% from 798 flights
- December 2024: 88.4% from 813 flights
- January 2025: 80.6% from 800 flights
- February 2025: 78.4% from 763 flights
- March 2025: 80.6% from 966 flights
- April 2025: 73.2% from 841 flights
- May 2025: 68.4% from 718 flights
- June 2025: 61.2% from 647 flights
- July 2025: 61.2% from 658 flights
- August 2025: 74.6% from 612 flights
- September 2025: 77.3% from 665 flights
- October 2025: 74.9% from 802 flights
- November 2025: 74.4% from 767 flights
- December 2025: 76.1% from 775 flights
- January 2026: 80.2% from 736 flights
- February 2026: 82.9% from 722 flights
- March 2026: 77.0% from 918 flights
- April 2026: 84.8% from 824 flights
- May 2026: 75.7% from 768 flights
- June 2026: 66.1% from 683 flights
- July 2026: 66.0% from 701 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 76.0% against 77.0% in the 12 months before — broadly unchanged.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 28,387 DEN → PHX 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