MEM → DEN Flight Reliability

Right now

Origin · MEMNo disruption reported

Aviation weather is not currently a factor.

Updated 13:54 UTC

Memphis airport profile →

Destination · DENNo disruption reported

Aviation weather is not currently a factor.

Updated 13:53 UTC

Denver airport profile →

Route reliability

July 2023 – July 2026

Route Reliability Score

68/ 100Good

Better than 57% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)

Calculated from 3,981 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time

On-time arrivals

78.9%

3,111 of 3,943

Cancellation rate

0.75%

30 cancelled

Median arrival delay

-6 min

Average 7.2 min

Severe delays

7.3%

60+ minutes late

Delay when late

69 min

Average, when 15+ min late

Flights analyzed

3,981

3 carriers

MEM → DEN arrives on time 78.9% of the time; the return trip, DEN → MEM, arrives on time 74.5% of the time, a 4.4-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.

MEM → DEN spends 24.8 minutes on the ground on an 872-mile trip: 14.2 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at MEM and 10.7 minutes from touchdown to gate at DEN.

Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026

What stands out

Reliability here swings unusually widely by season, a wider month-to-month spread than 94% of 3,357 comparable routes.

88.4% on time in a typical October, against 63.0% in June.

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 3,357 in the comparison.

What sets this route apart

Where MEM to DEN differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.

MEM to DEN struggles most at 6 PM: 52.6% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 15.4 points behind the 68.0% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 16 points.

MEM to DEN is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 2 PM: 83.0% arrive on time, 9.1 points ahead of the 73.9% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 8.4 points.

In June, MEM to DEN runs 8.7 points below routes of similar length, 63.0% on time to 71.7%. Against all other routes the gap is 9.7 points.

December is kinder to MEM to DEN than to routes of similar length: 86.4% on time against 78.6%, 7.8 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 7.6 points.

MEM to DEN against comparable routes

July 2023 – July 2026

Where MEM to DEN differs most from comparable routes, with the group each figure is compared with and the flights behind it
Measure	This route	Compared with	Them	Gap	Flights behind it
Hour: 6 PM departures	52.6%	routes of similar length	68.0%	−15.4 pts	156 here, 169,293 there
Hour: 2 PM departures	83.0%	routes of similar length	73.9%	+9.1 pts	159 here, 154,603 there
Month: June	63.0%	routes of similar length	71.7%	−8.7 pts	332 here, 219,039 there
Month: December	86.4%	routes of similar length	78.6%	+7.8 pts	316 here, 220,010 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 872 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

One arrival in ten is worse than

43 min late

against a median of 6 min early

Arrived an hour or more late7.3%

Typical delay when late69 min

Cancelled0.75%

Landed somewhere else0.20%

Percentiles over 3,981 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.

Will your connection be tight enough?

Layovers at DEN after arriving from MEM.

Connection buffer and chance of missing by layover length, MEM → DEN arrivals
Connection time	Chance of missing	Reads as
30 min	36%	Likely to miss
45 min	20%	High risk
60 min	13%	Some risk
90 min	7.2%	Some risk
120 min	4.6%	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 0.75% of the time and diverts 0.20% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.

Chance of missing is the share of 3,943 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 43 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 3,981 operations.

Any other layover length: connection checker.

Best time to fly

MEM → DEN flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 86.4% of the time, against 63.7% for 6–9 PM departures, a gap of 22.7 percentage points.

By departure window

5–9 AM86.4%

9 AM–12 PM83.0%

12–3 PM83.4%

3–6 PM71.8%

6–9 PM63.7%

By departure hour

12 AM

3 AM

6 AM

9 AM

12 PM

3 PM

6 PM

9 PM

Why MEM → DEN runs late

July 2023 – July 2026

Late-arriving aircraft34.3%

the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late

Air traffic control32.3%

airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control

The airline29.7%

crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control

Weather3.7%

weather severe enough to stop this flight specifically

Security<0.1%

screening or terminal security incidents

Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for MEM → DEN. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean

Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on MEM → DEN, at 34.3%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 86.4% of the time and 6–9 PM departures 63.7%.

Airlines on this route

Carriers with at least 200 flights, by the airline that operated each one.

Airlines on this route
Carrier	Flights	On time	Cancelled	Median delay	Severe
United Airlines	2,249	80.6%	1.11%	-7 min	7.2%
Southwest Airlines	1,291	78.3%	0.23%	-5 min	5.8%
Frontier Airlines	440	72.1%	0.45%	-5 min	12.3%

United Airlines flew 56.5% of the 3,980 flights listed.

United Airlines arrived on time 8.5 percentage points more often than Frontier Airlines on this route.

Weekly and seasonal patterns

By day of week

Mon79.6%

Tue80.5%

Wed81.3%

Thu76.7%

Fri78.7%

Sat78.5%

Sun77.4%

Wednesday is historically the most reliable day and Thursday the least, a gap of 4.6 percentage points.

By month

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

June is historically the weakest month and October the strongest, a spread of 25.4 percentage points.

Reliability over time

July 2023 – July 2026

24

25

26

Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 79.0% against 77.9% in the 12 months before — broadly unchanged.

Data and methodology

Calculated by FlyerIntel from 3,981 MEM → 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

Analysis last recomputed September 26, 2026

MEM airport DEN airport Return direction DEN → MEM

MEM→DEN

Right now

Route reliability

What stands out

What sets this route apart

MEM to DEN against comparable routes

When it goes wrong

Will your connection be tight enough?

Best time to fly

By departure window

By departure hour

Why MEM → DEN runs late

Airlines on this route

Weekly and seasonal patterns

By day of week

By month

Reliability over time

Data and methodology