Route profile
EWR→DEN
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Newark to Denver, 1,605 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 29% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 9,885 flights. How this is calculated
EWR → DEN arrives on time 77.7% of the time; the return trip, DEN → EWR, arrives on time 75.0% of the time, a 2.7-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
EWR → DEN spends 34.7 minutes on the ground on a 1,605-mile trip: 24.8 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at EWR and 9.8 minutes from touchdown to gate at DEN.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What sets this route apart
Where EWR to DEN differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
EWR to DEN is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 1 PM: 83.2% arrive on time, 8.1 points ahead of the 75.1% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 6.1 points.
Saturday is the day EWR to DEN slips furthest against routes of similar length, 75.0% on time where they average 78.8%, 3.8 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 4.1 points.
EWR to DEN holds up on Sundays better than routes of similar length do: 78.9% on time to their 75.4%, a 3.5 points lead. Against all other routes the gap is 4.1 points.
March is kinder to EWR to DEN than to routes of similar length: 85.9% on time against 78.3%, 7.6 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 8 points.
In July, EWR to DEN runs 4 points below routes of similar length, 65.9% on time to 69.9%. Against all other routes the gap is 3.8 points.
EWR to DEN against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 1 PM departures | 83.2% | routes of similar length | 75.1% | +8.1 pts | 256 here, 95,442 there |
| Weekday: Saturday | 75.0% | routes of similar length | 78.8% | −3.8 pts | 1,360 here, 212,218 there |
| Weekday: Sunday | 78.9% | routes of similar length | 75.4% | +3.5 pts | 1,375 here, 235,917 there |
| Month: March | 85.9% | routes of similar length | 78.3% | +7.6 pts | 773 here, 132,378 there |
| Month: July | 65.9% | routes of similar length | 69.9% | −4.0 pts | 1,095 here, 189,973 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 1,605 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 EWR → DEN flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
EWR → DEN cancelled 205 of 9,885 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 48. The reason filed most often was the airline, 53.7% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 90 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 205 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.
110 cancellations, 53.7% of the total.
Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.
85 cancellations, 41.5% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
10 cancellations, 4.9% 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.
205 coded cancellations were recorded on EWR → DEN; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
53 min late
against a median of 8 min early
EWR → DEN has an average that understates its risk: a typical arrival is 8 min early, but the worst tenth are 61 minutes worse than that. If the trip has something unmissable at the end of it, the median is the wrong number to plan against.
Percentiles over 9,885 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at DEN after arriving from EWR.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 36% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 22% | High risk |
| 60 min | 15% | High risk |
| 90 min | 8.8% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 5.8% | Some 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 2.07% of the time and diverts 0.41% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 9,639 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 53 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 9,885 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
EWR → DEN flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 88.6% of the time, against 68.1% for 6–9 PM departures, a gap of 20.5 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 5 AM: too few flights to score
- 6 AM: 92.4% on time from 907 flights
- 7 AM: 85.3% on time from 1,026 flights
- 8 AM: 87.8% on time from 328 flights
- 9 AM: 81.2% on time from 660 flights
- 10 AM: 82.1% on time from 466 flights
- 11 AM: 80.1% on time from 414 flights
- 12 PM: 83.4% on time from 716 flights
- 1 PM: 83.2% on time from 266 flights
- 2 PM: 74.8% on time from 953 flights
- 3 PM: 72.0% on time from 1,033 flights
- 4 PM: 70.7% on time from 689 flights
- 5 PM: 68.3% on time from 416 flights
- 6 PM: 67.4% on time from 673 flights
- 7 PM: 64.7% on time from 392 flights
- 8 PM: 71.1% on time from 578 flights
- 9 PM: 68.1% on time from 327 flights
- 10 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why EWR → DEN 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 EWR → DEN. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on EWR → DEN, at 40.1%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 88.6% of the time and 6–9 PM departures 68.1%.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Airlines | 9,885 | 77.7% | 2.07% | -8 min | 9.0% |
Other ways to fly New York to Denver
Airport pairs in the same two city markets, as the DOT defines them.
| Route | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LGA→DEN New York to Denver | 14,618 | 76.6% | 2.08% | -8 min | 56 |
| EWR→DEN this route Newark to Denver | 9,885 | 77.7% | 2.07% | -8 min | 57 |
Flying to DEN from the New York area? Compare EWR, LGA, JFK for DEN, with the same test for what counts as a real difference.
Flights on this route
Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Friday the least, a gap of 6.9 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 77.1%
- Feb: 77.9%
- Mar: 85.9%
- Apr: 80.1%
- May: 76.4%
- Jun: 70.0%
- Jul: 65.9%
- Aug: 75.1%
- Sep: 85.2%
- Oct: 80.4%
- Nov: 82.1%
- Dec: 80.5%
July is historically the weakest month and March the strongest, a spread of 20.0 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 55.0% from 279 flights
- August 2023: 79.6% from 278 flights
- September 2023: 85.3% from 297 flights
- October 2023: 83.9% from 306 flights
- November 2023: 91.2% from 239 flights
- December 2023: 93.3% from 253 flights
- January 2024: 83.0% from 221 flights
- February 2024: 88.3% from 198 flights
- March 2024: 88.9% from 237 flights
- April 2024: 76.2% from 240 flights
- May 2024: 68.0% from 278 flights
- June 2024: 64.0% from 270 flights
- July 2024: 66.9% from 280 flights
- August 2024: 68.7% from 280 flights
- September 2024: 84.2% from 274 flights
- October 2024: 87.1% from 279 flights
- November 2024: 78.5% from 266 flights
- December 2024: 77.8% from 280 flights
- January 2025: 76.4% from 255 flights
- February 2025: 64.9% from 224 flights
- March 2025: 86.9% from 269 flights
- April 2025: 73.8% from 241 flights
- May 2025: 71.2% from 236 flights
- June 2025: 70.0% from 231 flights
- July 2025: 67.4% from 309 flights
- August 2025: 76.8% from 310 flights
- September 2025: 86.1% from 298 flights
- October 2025: 70.6% from 300 flights
- November 2025: 77.4% from 266 flights
- December 2025: 71.6% from 279 flights
- January 2026: 73.7% from 251 flights
- February 2026: 82.1% from 219 flights
- March 2026: 82.3% from 275 flights
- April 2026: 88.9% from 270 flights
- May 2026: 88.5% from 291 flights
- June 2026: 75.3% from 300 flights
- July 2026: 72.8% from 306 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 78.7% against 75.8% in the 12 months before — improving by 2.9 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 9,885 EWR → DEN 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