Route profile
IND→DEN
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Indianapolis to Denver, 977 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 70% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 8,057 flights. How this is calculated
IND → DEN arrives on time 80.3% of the time; the return trip, DEN → IND, arrives on time 75.5% of the time, a 4.8-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
IND → DEN spends 22.7 minutes on the ground on a 977-mile trip: 13.4 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at IND and 9.3 minutes from touchdown to gate at DEN.
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 95% of 4,467 comparable routes.
81.9% on time on the best day (Tuesday) against 77.9% on the worst (Sunday).
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.
What sets this route apart
Where IND to DEN differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
IND to DEN is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 2 PM: 85.1% arrive on time, 11.6 points ahead of the 73.5% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 10.5 points.
IND to DEN struggles most at 9 PM: 58.5% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 7.4 points behind the 65.9% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 11 points.
IND to DEN holds up on Thursdays better than routes of similar length do: 80.5% on time to their 76.0%, a 4.5 points lead. Against all other routes the gap is 3.7 points.
July is kinder to IND to DEN than to routes of similar length: 75.1% on time against 68.4%, 6.7 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 5.4 points.
Frontier Airlines does better on IND to DEN than on its routes of similar length: 77.7% on time here, 73.3% there, 4.4 points apart. Against all other routes the gap is 6.5 points.
IND to DEN against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 2 PM departures | 85.1% | routes of similar length | 73.5% | +11.6 pts | 276 here, 188,721 there |
| Hour: 9 PM departures | 58.5% | routes of similar length | 65.9% | −7.4 pts | 313 here, 86,946 there |
| Weekday: Thursday | 80.5% | routes of similar length | 76.0% | +4.5 pts | 1,190 here, 459,029 there |
| Month: July | 75.1% | routes of similar length | 68.4% | +6.7 pts | 1,006 here, 339,328 there |
| Airline: Frontier Airlines | 77.7% | routes of similar length | 73.3% | +4.4 pts | 849 here, 161,851 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 977 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 IND → DEN flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
IND → DEN cancelled 52 of 8,057 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 155. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 48.1% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 322 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 52 cancelled departures carrying a reason code.
What each reason means
Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.
25 cancellations, 48.1% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
22 cancellations, 42.3% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
5 cancellations, 9.6% 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.
52 coded cancellations were recorded on IND → DEN; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
38 min late
against a median of 5 min early
Percentiles over 8,057 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at DEN after arriving from IND.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 37% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 19% | High risk |
| 60 min | 12% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 6.1% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 3.4% | 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 0.65% of the time and diverts 0.30% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 7,981 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 38 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 8,057 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
IND → DEN flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 91.4% of the time, against 59.7% for 9 PM–5 AM departures, a gap of 31.7 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 4 AM: too few flights to score
- 5 AM: 89.6% on time from 174 flights
- 6 AM: 94.1% on time from 754 flights
- 7 AM: 92.8% on time from 195 flights
- 8 AM: 88.3% on time from 635 flights
- 9 AM: 86.9% on time from 805 flights
- 10 AM: 86.4% on time from 359 flights
- 11 AM: 87.9% on time from 396 flights
- 12 PM: 88.3% on time from 226 flights
- 1 PM: 82.9% on time from 328 flights
- 2 PM: 85.1% on time from 280 flights
- 3 PM: 80.6% on time from 1,246 flights
- 4 PM: 71.1% on time from 398 flights
- 5 PM: 60.9% on time from 292 flights
- 6 PM: 70.0% on time from 594 flights
- 7 PM: 65.8% on time from 403 flights
- 8 PM: 72.1% on time from 577 flights
- 9 PM: 58.5% on time from 316 flights
- 10 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why IND → DEN runs late
July 2023 – July 2026
the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late
airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control
crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s 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 IND → DEN. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on IND → DEN, at 41.3%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 91.4% of the time and 9 PM–5 AM departures 59.7%.
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 | 4,509 | 79.8% | 0.38% | -4 min | 5.9% |
| United Airlines | 2,690 | 82.0% | 1.00% | -8 min | 6.2% |
| Frontier Airlines | 857 | 77.7% | 0.93% | -8 min | 8.4% |
Southwest Airlines flew 56.0% of the 8,056 flights listed.
United Airlines arrived on time 4.3 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.
| Flight | Scheduled | Operations | On time |
|---|---|---|---|
| UA1607 United Airlines | 8:00 AM | 1,105 | 86.5% |
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 4.0 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 79.5%
- Feb: 81.5%
- Mar: 81.8%
- Apr: 79.8%
- May: 78.1%
- Jun: 74.8%
- Jul: 75.1%
- Aug: 79.7%
- Sep: 85.8%
- Oct: 84.9%
- Nov: 86.0%
- Dec: 80.7%
June is historically the weakest month and November the strongest, a spread of 11.2 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 67.9% from 228 flights
- August 2023: 80.6% from 240 flights
- September 2023: 82.0% from 229 flights
- October 2023: 86.8% from 259 flights
- November 2023: 90.1% from 243 flights
- December 2023: 92.8% from 221 flights
- January 2024: 81.0% from 200 flights
- February 2024: 86.1% from 181 flights
- March 2024: 85.2% from 209 flights
- April 2024: 84.9% from 219 flights
- May 2024: 76.9% from 251 flights
- June 2024: 78.0% from 259 flights
- July 2024: 76.7% from 264 flights
- August 2024: 79.5% from 232 flights
- September 2024: 93.2% from 221 flights
- October 2024: 90.4% from 231 flights
- November 2024: 83.2% from 208 flights
- December 2024: 84.4% from 192 flights
- January 2025: 75.3% from 174 flights
- February 2025: 75.3% from 159 flights
- March 2025: 82.2% from 197 flights
- April 2025: 73.8% from 189 flights
- May 2025: 78.0% from 216 flights
- June 2025: 73.2% from 253 flights
- July 2025: 71.8% from 288 flights
- August 2025: 79.1% from 242 flights
- September 2025: 82.2% from 213 flights
- October 2025: 77.0% from 226 flights
- November 2025: 83.9% from 191 flights
- December 2025: 62.6% from 189 flights
- January 2026: 81.9% from 173 flights
- February 2026: 82.4% from 159 flights
- March 2026: 78.1% from 211 flights
- April 2026: 80.0% from 195 flights
- May 2026: 79.4% from 216 flights
- June 2026: 73.0% from 237 flights
- July 2026: 84.2% from 242 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 78.6% against 80.0% in the 12 months before — broadly unchanged.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 8,057 IND → 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