Route profile
DEN→SAN
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Denver to San Diego. · 853 miles
Right now
Current conditions at both ends of this route.
Aviation weather is not currently a factor. FAA operational data — ground stops, ground delay programs and closures — is not currently available to FlyerIntel.
Aviation weather is not currently a factor. FAA operational data — ground stops, ground delay programs and closures — is not currently available to FlyerIntel.
Airport conditions describe the airfield, not any individual flight. An airport operating normally is not a guarantee that a specific flight will depart on time.
Route reliability
July 2023 – June 2026
Better than 47% of comparable major US routes (4,577 compared)
Calculated from 16,924 flights. How this is calculated
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – June 2026
Best time to fly
On-time arrival rate by scheduled local departure time.
DEN → SAN flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 88.3% of the time, against 63.9% for 6–9 PM departures — a gap of 24.4 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – June 2026 · Buckets with fewer than 120 flights are not scored.
Airlines on this route
Performance by the carrier that actually operated the flight.
| Carrier | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Severe |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 7,213 | 71.7% | 0.82% | 0 min | 7.8% |
| United Airlines | 6,420 | 80.6% | 0.87% | -7 min | 6.7% |
| Frontier Airlines | 2,515 | 74.5% | 1.71% | -6 min | 8.0% |
| Alaska Airlines | 433 | 82.9% | 1.15% | -10 min | 5.4% |
| SkyWest Airlines | 343 | 75.0% | 0.87% | -5 min | 4.4% |
Alaska Airlines arrived on time 11.2 percentage points more often than Southwest Airlines on this route.
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – June 2026 · Carriers with fewer than 200 flights on this route are not listed.
Individual flights on this route
The same route is not equally reliable at every hour. These are the flight numbers with enough operating history to judge separately.
| Flight | Scheduled | Operations | On time |
|---|---|---|---|
| UA1281 United Airlines | 3:55 PM | 1,031 | 82.8% |
| UA2309 United Airlines | 7:45 AM | 1,018 | 87.7% |
| UA540 United Airlines | 7:40 PM | 1,008 | 69.9% |
| UA1302 United Airlines | 1:25 PM | 658 | 87.8% |
| F92817 Frontier Airlines | 5:35 AM | 653 | 82.5% |
| F94989 Frontier Airlines | 10:29 PM | 592 | 69.9% |
| UA1835 United Airlines | 9:00 PM | 360 | 65.4% |
| F92711 Frontier Airlines | 10:29 PM | 322 | 73.8% |
| UA1940 United Airlines | 11:33 AM | 316 | 82.0% |
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – June 2026 · Flight numbers with fewer than 270 operations on this route, or no longer scheduled, are not listed.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 8.0 percentage points.
By month
July is historically the weakest month and November the strongest, a spread of 17.4 percentage points.
Historical trend
On-time arrival rate by month.
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-07 to 2026-06), on-time arrivals averaged 75.6% against 76.0% in the 12 months before — broadly unchanged.
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – June 2026
Data and methodology
All figures on this page are calculated by FlyerIntel from 16,924 DEN → SAN flight records published by the US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, covering July 2023 – June 2026. A flight is counted as delayed when it arrives 15 or more minutes after its scheduled arrival time, following BTS methodology. Cancelled and diverted flights have no arrival time and are excluded from on-time rates rather than counted as late.