Route profile
DEN→SJC
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Denver to San Jose, 948 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 53% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 8,974 flights. How this is calculated
DEN → SJC arrives on time 76.0% of the time; the return trip, SJC → DEN, arrives on time 83.1% of the time, a 7.1-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
DEN → SJC spends 20.8 minutes on the ground on a 948-mile trip: 16.9 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at DEN and 3.9 minutes from touchdown to gate at SJC.
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.
92.3% on time for 5–9 AM departures, against 55.2% for 9 PM–5 AM.
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 SJC differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
DEN to SJC struggles most at 6 PM: 54.1% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 13.9 points behind the 68.0% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 14.5 points.
DEN to SJC is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 4 PM: 77.5% arrive on time, 9.1 points ahead of the 68.4% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 6.8 points.
Saturday is the day DEN to SJC slips furthest against routes of similar length, 73.8% on time where they average 77.9%, 4.1 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 5.3 points.
In June, DEN to SJC runs 9.4 points below routes of similar length, 62.3% on time to 71.7%. Against all other routes the gap is 10.4 points.
January is kinder to DEN to SJC than to routes of similar length: 82.3% on time against 78.0%, 4.3 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 3.2 points.
DEN to SJC against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 6 PM departures | 54.1% | routes of similar length | 68.0% | −13.9 pts | 442 here, 193,315 there |
| Hour: 4 PM departures | 77.5% | routes of similar length | 68.4% | +9.1 pts | 628 here, 158,564 there |
| Weekday: Saturday | 73.8% | routes of similar length | 77.9% | −4.1 pts | 1,071 here, 402,733 there |
| Month: June | 62.3% | routes of similar length | 71.7% | −9.4 pts | 746 here, 244,891 there |
| Month: January | 82.3% | routes of similar length | 78.0% | +4.3 pts | 644 here, 230,231 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 948 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.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
48 min late
against a median of 3 min early
Percentiles over 8,974 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at SJC after arriving from DEN.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 42% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 23% | High risk |
| 60 min | 15% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 7.4% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 3.9% | 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 0.48% of the time and diverts 0.04% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 8,927 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 8,974 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
DEN → SJC flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 92.3% of the time, against 55.2% for 9 PM–5 AM departures, a gap of 37.1 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 5 AM: too few flights to score
- 6 AM: 95.2% on time from 190 flights
- 7 AM: 90.7% on time from 398 flights
- 8 AM: 92.6% on time from 1,018 flights
- 9 AM: 80.5% on time from 423 flights
- 10 AM: 83.0% on time from 471 flights
- 11 AM: 80.0% on time from 907 flights
- 12 PM: 77.6% on time from 247 flights
- 1 PM: 81.1% on time from 781 flights
- 2 PM: 75.9% on time from 232 flights
- 3 PM: 74.2% on time from 544 flights
- 4 PM: 77.5% on time from 630 flights
- 5 PM: 63.1% on time from 198 flights
- 6 PM: 54.1% on time from 449 flights
- 7 PM: 69.1% on time from 1,334 flights
- 8 PM: 62.6% on time from 566 flights
- 9 PM: 55.2% on time from 536 flights
- 10 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why DEN → SJC 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 → SJC. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on DEN → SJC, at 55.4%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 92.3% of the time and 9 PM–5 AM departures 55.2%.
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 | 5,008 | 72.1% | 0.50% | 0 min | 7.9% |
| United Airlines | 3,649 | 80.7% | 0.47% | -8 min | 7.5% |
| Frontier Airlines | 263 | 81.7% | 0.38% | -5 min | 5.3% |
Southwest Airlines flew 56.1% of the 8,920 flights listed.
Frontier Airlines arrived on time 9.6 percentage points more often than Southwest Airlines on this route.
Other ways to fly Denver to San Francisco
Airport pairs in the same two city markets, as the DOT defines them.
| Route | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DEN→SFO Denver to San Francisco | 17,109 | 67.8% | 0.69% | 0 min | 50 |
| DEN→SJC this route Denver to San Jose | 8,974 | 76.0% | 0.48% | -3 min | 67 |
DEN → SJC is the most reliable pairing for this journey at 76.0% on time, against 67.8% for DEN → SFO.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Wednesday is historically the most reliable day and Saturday the least, a gap of 4.9 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 82.3%
- Feb: 76.0%
- Mar: 75.2%
- Apr: 75.2%
- May: 73.3%
- Jun: 62.3%
- Jul: 64.2%
- Aug: 74.7%
- Sep: 83.5%
- Oct: 82.3%
- Nov: 84.2%
- Dec: 82.0%
June is historically the weakest month and November the strongest, a spread of 21.9 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 62.2% from 254 flights
- August 2023: 72.4% from 278 flights
- September 2023: 79.7% from 252 flights
- October 2023: 77.9% from 258 flights
- November 2023: 85.4% from 255 flights
- December 2023: 88.3% from 258 flights
- January 2024: 76.3% from 226 flights
- February 2024: 73.6% from 209 flights
- March 2024: 70.7% from 219 flights
- April 2024: 78.9% from 224 flights
- May 2024: 76.8% from 272 flights
- June 2024: 68.5% from 288 flights
- July 2024: 74.5% from 281 flights
- August 2024: 79.0% from 306 flights
- September 2024: 88.3% from 298 flights
- October 2024: 87.4% from 293 flights
- November 2024: 78.9% from 289 flights
- December 2024: 83.1% from 272 flights
- January 2025: 84.4% from 243 flights
- February 2025: 77.1% from 214 flights
- March 2025: 78.9% from 228 flights
- April 2025: 76.2% from 240 flights
- May 2025: 73.2% from 266 flights
- June 2025: 62.9% from 241 flights
- July 2025: 58.9% from 250 flights
- August 2025: 71.8% from 234 flights
- September 2025: 81.8% from 264 flights
- October 2025: 80.8% from 246 flights
- November 2025: 89.1% from 249 flights
- December 2025: 73.1% from 218 flights
- January 2026: 86.8% from 183 flights
- February 2026: 77.4% from 178 flights
- March 2026: 76.0% from 172 flights
- April 2026: 68.9% from 167 flights
- May 2026: 68.5% from 197 flights
- June 2026: 53.6% from 221 flights
- July 2026: 59.6% from 231 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 74.1% against 77.7% in the 12 months before — declining by 3.6 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 8,974 DEN → SJC 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