Route profile
LAX→DEN
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Los Angeles to Denver, 862 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 76% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 23,682 flights. How this is calculated
LAX → DEN arrives on time 82.7% of the time; the return trip, DEN → LAX, arrives on time 78.9% of the time, a 3.7-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
LAX → DEN spends 26.8 minutes on the ground on an 862-mile trip: 17.0 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at LAX and 9.8 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 93% of 4,467 comparable routes.
85.0% on time on the best day (Tuesday) against 80.5% on the worst (Friday).
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.
Why LAX → DEN flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
LAX → DEN cancelled 168 of 23,682 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 141. The reason filed most often was the airline, 63.1% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 223 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 168 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.
106 cancellations, 63.1% of the total.
Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.
55 cancellations, 32.7% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
7 cancellations, 4.2% 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.
168 coded cancellations were recorded on LAX → DEN; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
36 min late
against a median of 8 min early
Percentiles over 23,682 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at DEN after arriving from LAX.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 31% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 17% | High risk |
| 60 min | 11% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 6.0% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 3.6% | 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 0.71% of the time and diverts 0.28% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 23,447 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 36 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 23,682 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
LAX → DEN flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 90.9% of the time, against 60.8% for 9 PM–5 AM departures, a gap of 30.1 percentage points.
By day and hour
On-time arrival rate for each weekday and scheduled departure hour, in local time at the departure airport (LAX).
Hour of departure matters more than day of the week: hourly averages sit a typical 7.7 points from the route-wide rate, weekday averages 1.5 points.
| Hour | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
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| 8 PM–9 PM |
On-time rate, % · stronger color, fewer on time
- 65–69
- 70–74
- 75–79
- 80–84
- 85–89
- 90–94
- 95–99
- 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 after 9 PM (320 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 | 97.7% on time267 flights | 96.4% on time226 flights | 96.4% on time226 flights | 94.7% on time267 flights | 96.3% on time274 flights | 94.9% on time279 flights | 96.7% on time277 flights |
| 6 AM–7 AM | 91.9% on time177 flights | 87.6% on time169 flights | 92.0% on time177 flights | 87.9% on time175 flights | 88.2% on time171 flights | 85.6% on time134 flights | 93.3% on time166 flights |
| 7 AM–8 AM | 91.3% on time197 flights | 89.0% on time201 flights | 91.8% on time208 flights | 92.4% on time199 flights | 90.7% on time198 flights | 91.0% on time210 flights | 94.0% on time201 flights |
| 8 AM–9 AM | 87.9% on time489 flights | 90.5% on time490 flights | 87.8% on time477 flights | 90.7% on time487 flights | 86.1% on time482 flights | 85.2% on time431 flights | 88.7% on time489 flights |
| 9 AM–10 AM | 82.1% on time147 flights | 85.4% on time138 flights | 87.9% on time149 flights | 89.0% on time147 flights | 82.7% on time150 flights | 83.7% on time130 flights | 114 flights, too few to score |
| 10 AM–11 AM | 112 flights, too few to score | 68 flights, too few to score | 58 flights, too few to score | 112 flights, too few to score | 113 flights, too few to score | 88 flights, too few to score | 109 flights, too few to score |
| 11 AM–12 PM | 93.8% on time149 flights | 88.4% on time148 flights | 90.9% on time155 flights | 84.8% on time153 flights | 84.8% on time151 flights | 86.4% on time154 flights | 89.9% on time170 flights |
| 12 PM–1 PM | 86.1% on time203 flights | 88.5% on time221 flights | 85.0% on time219 flights | 82.4% on time199 flights | 83.6% on time198 flights | 88.5% on time185 flights | 87.4% on time202 flights |
| 1 PM–2 PM | 79.2% on time155 flights | 80.8% on time154 flights | 78.3% on time159 flights | 74.3% on time149 flights | 77.5% on time153 flights | 82.4% on time131 flights | 110 flights, too few to score |
| 2 PM–3 PM | 72.6% on time382 flights | 75.8% on time381 flights | 75.7% on time395 flights | 74.6% on time383 flights | 72.6% on time381 flights | 76.9% on time338 flights | 74.6% on time383 flights |
| 3 PM–4 PM | 67.7% on time197 flights | 80.0% on time190 flights | 67.4% on time187 flights | 76.3% on time193 flights | 68.8% on time203 flights | 78.1% on time171 flights | 65.8% on time197 flights |
| 4 PM–5 PM | 70.6% on time311 flights | 76.4% on time239 flights | 78.9% on time239 flights | 68.2% on time297 flights | 70.1% on time303 flights | 76.5% on time252 flights | 73.7% on time272 flights |
| 5 PM–6 PM | 41 flights, too few to score | 42 flights, too few to score | 51 flights, too few to score | 51 flights, too few to score | 47 flights, too few to score | 38 flights, too few to score | 52 flights, too few to score |
| 6 PM–7 PM | 85.4% on time137 flights | 88.8% on time169 flights | 81.0% on time170 flights | 80.1% on time148 flights | 83.1% on time154 flights | 82.1% on time172 flights | 81.6% on time153 flights |
| 7 PM–8 PM | 78.0% on time269 flights | 83.8% on time241 flights | 82.2% on time253 flights | 75.7% on time271 flights | 78.0% on time275 flights | 86.2% on time232 flights | 75.5% on time283 flights |
| 8 PM–9 PM | 76.7% on time216 flights | 83.6% on time160 flights | 78.9% on time172 flights | 72.7% on time211 flights | 74.5% on time216 flights | 80.0% on time140 flights | 72.2% on time207 flights |
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 4 AM: too few flights to score
- 5 AM: 96.2% on time from 1,816 flights
- 6 AM: 89.6% on time from 1,169 flights
- 7 AM: 91.4% on time from 1,414 flights
- 8 AM: 88.2% on time from 3,345 flights
- 9 AM: 86.2% on time from 975 flights
- 10 AM: 83.7% on time from 660 flights
- 11 AM: 88.4% on time from 1,080 flights
- 12 PM: 85.9% on time from 1,427 flights
- 1 PM: 79.1% on time from 1,011 flights
- 2 PM: 74.7% on time from 2,643 flights
- 3 PM: 71.9% on time from 1,338 flights
- 4 PM: 73.1% on time from 1,913 flights
- 5 PM: 77.8% on time from 322 flights
- 6 PM: 83.2% on time from 1,103 flights
- 7 PM: 79.7% on time from 1,824 flights
- 8 PM: 76.5% on time from 1,322 flights
- 9 PM: 56.7% on time from 210 flights
- 10 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why LAX → 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 LAX → DEN. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on LAX → DEN, at 37.4%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 90.9% of the time and 9 PM–5 AM departures 60.8%.
How this route holds up in bad weather
July 2023 – July 2026
The harder-hit end is DEN, where the flight lands. Its figure counts departures from DEN, so it says more about how that airport copes than about this route. Bad weather cancels 4.0 times the normal rate at DEN against 1.3 times at LAX. Cancelled in bad weather against normal hours: LAX 1.0% against 0.8%, DEN 2.8% against 0.7%. 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 | LAX | DEN |
|---|---|---|
| Cancelled in bad weather | 1.0% | 2.8% |
| Cancelled in normal hours | 0.8% | 0.7% |
| Arrived on time, bad weather | 78.9% | 51.5% |
| Arrived on time, normal hours | 81.4% | 78.8% |
| Departures in bad weather | 60,639 | 92,610 |
Of the carriers on this route, Southwest Airlines (0.6% cancelled against 1.1% for the other carriers at LAX) cancelled the fewest departures from LAX in bad weather and Frontier Airlines (3.1% cancelled against 1.0% for the other carriers at LAX) the most.
This route’s airlines in bad weather at LAX
All departures from LAX| Airline | Bad-weather departures | Cancelled | Other carriers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 8,724 | 0.6%below the others | 1.1% |
| Delta Air Lines | 11,619 | 0.9%about level | 1.0% |
| SkyWest Airlines | 11,169 | 1.0%about level | 1.0% |
| United Airlines | 8,785 | 1.2%about level | 1.0% |
| Frontier Airlines | 1,064 | 3.1%above the others | 1.0% |
These are airport figures, not route figures: every scheduled departure from LAX and DEN, to any destination, in hours the weather report called bad. The airline rows count each carrier’s departures from LAX on every route.
Weather source and limits. In full: LAX (airlines), DEN, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Airlines | 9,748 | 86.9% | 0.72% | -10 min | 5.1% |
| Southwest Airlines | 6,275 | 78.2% | 0.75% | -5 min | 6.7% |
| SkyWest Airlines | 3,309 | 83.7% | 0.42% | -8 min | 5.9% |
| Delta Air Lines | 2,766 | 78.4% | 0.83% | -10 min | 8.4% |
| Frontier Airlines | 1,582 | 79.5% | 0.88% | -7 min | 7.3% |
United Airlines flew 41.2% of the 23,680 flights listed.
United Airlines arrived on time 8.7 percentage points more often than Southwest Airlines on this route.
Other ways to fly Los Angeles to Denver
Airport pairs in the same two city markets, as the DOT defines them.
| Route | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LAX→DEN this route Los Angeles to Denver | 23,682 | 82.7% | 0.71% | -8 min | 75 |
| SNA→DEN Santa Ana to Denver | 11,373 | 83.3% | 0.66% | -8 min | 77 |
Flying to DEN from the Los Angeles area? Compare LAX, SNA, BUR, ONT 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.
UA1912 (9:00 AM) arrived on time 90.5% of the time, 13.3 points more often than UA2146 (4:10 PM) at 77.2%.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Friday the least, a gap of 4.5 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 87.0%
- Feb: 84.7%
- Mar: 83.6%
- Apr: 84.6%
- May: 78.6%
- Jun: 76.0%
- Jul: 74.0%
- Aug: 78.8%
- Sep: 85.9%
- Oct: 87.5%
- Nov: 87.9%
- Dec: 86.8%
July is historically the weakest month and November the strongest, a spread of 13.9 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 72.8% from 618 flights
- August 2023: 78.5% from 639 flights
- September 2023: 87.3% from 605 flights
- October 2023: 85.3% from 635 flights
- November 2023: 92.3% from 623 flights
- December 2023: 88.5% from 628 flights
- January 2024: 85.8% from 585 flights
- February 2024: 85.2% from 534 flights
- March 2024: 82.5% from 611 flights
- April 2024: 83.9% from 637 flights
- May 2024: 76.9% from 650 flights
- June 2024: 73.5% from 631 flights
- July 2024: 75.0% from 670 flights
- August 2024: 82.7% from 679 flights
- September 2024: 89.4% from 668 flights
- October 2024: 91.1% from 688 flights
- November 2024: 85.5% from 658 flights
- December 2024: 91.4% from 677 flights
- January 2025: 86.9% from 633 flights
- February 2025: 86.2% from 577 flights
- March 2025: 89.7% from 651 flights
- April 2025: 81.3% from 644 flights
- May 2025: 74.9% from 691 flights
- June 2025: 76.2% from 662 flights
- July 2025: 72.8% from 680 flights
- August 2025: 75.0% from 658 flights
- September 2025: 81.0% from 649 flights
- October 2025: 85.9% from 683 flights
- November 2025: 86.1% from 648 flights
- December 2025: 80.3% from 651 flights
- January 2026: 88.3% from 600 flights
- February 2026: 82.6% from 550 flights
- March 2026: 78.5% from 630 flights
- April 2026: 88.7% from 631 flights
- May 2026: 83.8% from 687 flights
- June 2026: 78.3% from 654 flights
- July 2026: 75.3% from 667 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 81.9% against 83.9% in the 12 months before — declining by 2.0 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 23,682 LAX → 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