Route profile
MKE→DEN
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Milwaukee to Denver, 896 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 74% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 8,003 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
MKE → DEN arrives on time 81.8% of the time; the return trip, DEN → MKE, arrives on time 75.1% of the time, a 6.7-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
MKE → DEN spends 24.1 minutes on the ground on an 896-mile trip: 14.6 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at MKE and 9.5 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 100% of 4,467 comparable routes.
82.9% 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.
What sets this route apart
Where MKE to DEN differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
MKE to DEN is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 9 PM: 87.1% arrive on time, 20.9 points ahead of the 66.2% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 17.6 points.
MKE to DEN struggles most at 6 PM: 61.9% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 6 points behind the 67.9% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 6.7 points.
MKE to DEN holds up on Sundays better than routes of similar length do: 82.2% on time to their 74.2%, a 8 points lead. Against all other routes the gap is 7.4 points.
June is kinder to MKE to DEN than to routes of similar length: 79.8% on time against 71.5%, 8.3 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 7.1 points.
Southwest Airlines does better on MKE to DEN than on its routes of similar length: 83.3% on time here, 76.2% there, 7.1 points apart. Against all other routes the gap is 5.9 points.
MKE to DEN against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 9 PM departures | 87.1% | routes of similar length | 66.2% | +20.9 pts | 124 here, 81,711 there |
| Hour: 6 PM departures | 61.9% | routes of similar length | 67.9% | −6.0 pts | 391 here, 178,531 there |
| Weekday: Sunday | 82.2% | routes of similar length | 74.2% | +8.0 pts | 1,143 here, 412,293 there |
| Month: June | 79.8% | routes of similar length | 71.5% | +8.3 pts | 732 here, 228,654 there |
| Airline: Southwest Airlines | 83.3% | routes of similar length | 76.2% | +7.1 pts | 4,118 here, 767,151 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 896 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 MKE → DEN flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
MKE → DEN cancelled 60 of 8,003 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 133. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 55.0% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 243 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 60 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.
33 cancellations, 55.0% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
23 cancellations, 38.3% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
4 cancellations, 6.7% 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.
60 coded cancellations were recorded on MKE → 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 8,003 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at DEN after arriving from MKE.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 33% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 18% | High risk |
| 60 min | 11% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 6.1% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 3.5% | 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 7,927 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 36 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 8,003 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
MKE → DEN flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 89.2% of the time, against 64.9% for 6–9 PM departures, a gap of 24.3 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 4 AM: too few flights to score
- 5 AM: 95.9% on time from 790 flights
- 6 AM: 96.0% on time from 224 flights
- 7 AM: 90.9% on time from 266 flights
- 8 AM: 82.4% on time from 1,080 flights
- 9 AM: 88.6% on time from 265 flights
- 10 AM: 89.5% on time from 1,132 flights
- 11 AM: 83.3% on time from 258 flights
- 12 PM: 84.5% on time from 344 flights
- 1 PM: 87.8% on time from 216 flights
- 2 PM: 78.8% on time from 920 flights
- 3 PM: 77.7% on time from 371 flights
- 4 PM: 74.3% on time from 422 flights
- 5 PM: 69.8% on time from 567 flights
- 6 PM: 61.9% on time from 398 flights
- 7 PM: 68.5% on time from 305 flights
- 8 PM: 65.2% on time from 275 flights
- 9 PM: 87.1% on time from 124 flights
- 10 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why MKE → 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 MKE → DEN. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on MKE → DEN, at 34.8%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 89.2% of the time and 6–9 PM departures 64.9%.
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 | 4,153 | 83.3% | 0.65% | -8 min | 5.3% |
| United Airlines | 1,965 | 78.9% | 0.71% | -5 min | 7.4% |
| SkyWest Airlines | 1,460 | 82.6% | 0.68% | -9 min | 6.4% |
| Frontier Airlines | 425 | 77.9% | 2.12% | -12 min | 9.1% |
Southwest Airlines flew 51.9% of the 8,003 flights listed. Frontier Airlines cancelled 2.12% of its flights here against 0.65% for Southwest Airlines.
Southwest Airlines arrived on time 5.4 percentage points more often than Frontier Airlines on this route.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Friday the least, a gap of 2.4 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 80.7%
- Feb: 86.5%
- Mar: 83.6%
- Apr: 82.4%
- May: 79.7%
- Jun: 79.8%
- Jul: 74.5%
- Aug: 76.7%
- Sep: 87.0%
- Oct: 85.5%
- Nov: 87.5%
- Dec: 83.6%
July is historically the weakest month and November the strongest, a spread of 13.0 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 66.4% from 261 flights
- August 2023: 76.5% from 275 flights
- September 2023: 88.5% from 265 flights
- October 2023: 83.5% from 285 flights
- November 2023: 93.5% from 248 flights
- December 2023: 94.4% from 251 flights
- January 2024: 82.2% from 215 flights
- February 2024: 91.3% from 196 flights
- March 2024: 84.3% from 228 flights
- April 2024: 90.4% from 219 flights
- May 2024: 79.0% from 234 flights
- June 2024: 79.5% from 270 flights
- July 2024: 82.1% from 284 flights
- August 2024: 81.3% from 249 flights
- September 2024: 89.4% from 236 flights
- October 2024: 89.4% from 236 flights
- November 2024: 83.7% from 200 flights
- December 2024: 83.1% from 173 flights
- January 2025: 81.0% from 158 flights
- February 2025: 79.7% from 145 flights
- March 2025: 87.1% from 172 flights
- April 2025: 73.8% from 169 flights
- May 2025: 82.9% from 210 flights
- June 2025: 81.0% from 234 flights
- July 2025: 71.1% from 268 flights
- August 2025: 72.3% from 239 flights
- September 2025: 82.7% from 227 flights
- October 2025: 84.1% from 233 flights
- November 2025: 82.9% from 171 flights
- December 2025: 67.9% from 168 flights
- January 2026: 78.6% from 155 flights
- February 2026: 86.8% from 136 flights
- March 2026: 78.7% from 159 flights
- April 2026: 80.6% from 160 flights
- May 2026: 77.2% from 190 flights
- June 2026: 79.0% from 236 flights
- July 2026: 78.0% from 248 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 78.9% against 81.9% in the 12 months before — declining by 3.0 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 8,003 MKE → 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