PHX → DEN Flight Reliability

Right now

Origin · PHXNo disruption reported

Aviation weather is not currently a factor.

Updated 07:51 UTC

Phoenix airport profile →

Destination · DENNo disruption reported

Aviation weather is not currently a factor.

Updated 07:53 UTC

Denver airport profile →

Route reliability

July 2023 – July 2026

Route Reliability Score

68/ 100Good

Better than 55% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)

Calculated from 28,452 flights. How this is calculated

On-time arrivals

78.7%

22,135 of 28,137

Cancellation rate

0.91%

259 cancelled

Median arrival delay

-5 min

Average 7.6 min

Severe delays

7.3%

60+ minutes late

Delay when late

65 min

Average, when 15+ min late

Flights analyzed

28,452

5 carriers

PHX → DEN arrives on time 78.7% of the time; the return trip, DEN → PHX, arrives on time 75.8% of the time, a 2.8-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.

PHX → DEN spends 24.3 minutes on the ground on a 602-mile trip: 15.3 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at PHX and 9.0 minutes from touchdown to gate at DEN.

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

Why PHX → DEN flights are cancelled

July 2023 – July 2026

PHX → DEN cancelled 259 of 28,452 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 110. The reason filed most often was the airline, 51.7% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 212 scheduled flights.

Share of cancellations

Airline51.7%

Weather37.1%

Air traffic11.2%

Security0.0%

Of 259 cancelled departures carrying a reason code.

What each reason means

The airline1 in 212

Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.

134 cancellations, 51.7% of the total.

Extreme weather1 in 296

Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.

96 cancellations, 37.1% of the total.

The air traffic system1 in 981

Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.

29 cancellations, 11.2% of the total.

Security—

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.

259 coded cancellations were recorded on PHX → DEN; the section appears from 50.

When it goes wrong

July 2023 – July 2026

One arrival in ten is worse than

44 min late

against a median of 5 min early

Arrived an hour or more late7.3%

Typical delay when late65 min

Cancelled0.91%

Landed somewhere else0.20%

Percentiles over 28,452 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.

Will your connection be tight enough?

Layovers at DEN after arriving from PHX.

Connection buffer and chance of missing by layover length, PHX → DEN arrivals
Connection time	Chance of missing	Reads as
30 min	38%	Likely to miss
45 min	21%	High risk
60 min	14%	Some risk
90 min	7.1%	Some risk
120 min	4.1%	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 0.91% 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 28,137 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 44 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 28,452 operations.

Any other layover length: connection checker.

Best time to fly

PHX → DEN flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 89.9% of the time, against 68.7% for 3–6 PM departures, a gap of 21.2 percentage points.

By day and hour

On-time arrival rate for each weekday and scheduled departure hour, in local time at the departure airport (PHX).

Hour of departure matters more than day of the week: hourly averages sit a typical 8.9 points from the route-wide rate, weekday averages 2.1 points.

On-time arrival rate for PHX to DEN by weekday and scheduled departure hour, local time. Each button reads out one slot.
Hour	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
5 AM–6 AM
6 AM–7 AM
7 AM–8 AM
8 AM–9 AM
9 AM–10 AM
10 AM–11 AM
11 AM–12 PM
12 PM–1 PM
1 PM–2 PM
2 PM–3 PM
3 PM–4 PM
4 PM–5 PM
5 PM–6 PM
6 PM–7 PM
7 PM–8 PM
8 PM–9 PM
9 PM–10 PM

On-time rate, % · stronger color, fewer on time

60–69
70–79
80–89
90–99

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 before 5 AM and after 10 PM (492 flights) are not drawn: no slot in those hours has enough flights to score.

View as tableHide table

On-time arrival rate (%) with flights beneath, by scheduled departure hour and weekday for PHX to DEN. A dash means fewer than 120 flights, which are not scored.
Hour	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
5 AM–6 AM	93.6% on time189 flights	95.6% on time138 flights	95.0% on time141 flights	94.6% on time186 flights	96.7% on time183 flights	95.3% on time175 flights	92.1% on time154 flights
6 AM–7 AM	94.3% on time302 flights	91.0% on time291 flights	95.4% on time282 flights	91.8% on time308 flights	91.8% on time310 flights	92.9% on time270 flights	92.6% on time314 flights
7 AM–8 AM	88.9% on time262 flights	87.2% on time234 flights	85.7% on time260 flights	88.5% on time265 flights	90.6% on time260 flights	86.9% on time238 flights	89.1% on time250 flights
8 AM–9 AM	86.9% on time330 flights	85.1% on time264 flights	86.2% on time268 flights	85.4% on time331 flights	84.8% on time329 flights	86.4% on time245 flights	87.2% on time312 flights
9 AM–10 AM	87.9% on time357 flights	83.5% on time342 flights	86.3% on time337 flights	84.7% on time355 flights	82.8% on time348 flights	88.4% on time312 flights	85.8% on time348 flights
10 AM–11 AM	83.1% on time191 flights	80.0% on time186 flights	91.1% on time184 flights	84.4% on time171 flights	83.4% on time198 flights	101 flights, too few to score	92.3% on time183 flights
11 AM–12 PM	80.7% on time196 flights	82.4% on time151 flights	81.1% on time152 flights	79.5% on time206 flights	76.8% on time198 flights	88.9% on time144 flights	80.0% on time146 flights
12 PM–1 PM	83.7% on time212 flights	79.9% on time234 flights	84.4% on time248 flights	83.7% on time202 flights	82.1% on time223 flights	83.8% on time182 flights	83.5% on time222 flights
1 PM–2 PM	71.9% on time270 flights	74.8% on time297 flights	78.2% on time297 flights	74.9% on time279 flights	74.7% on time279 flights	76.0% on time268 flights	70.8% on time269 flights
2 PM–3 PM	70.5% on time191 flights	73.7% on time229 flights	70.6% on time219 flights	70.5% on time171 flights	68.0% on time171 flights	76.0% on time192 flights	68.3% on time168 flights
3 PM–4 PM	59.9% on time308 flights	67.1% on time257 flights	67.2% on time272 flights	62.1% on time310 flights	66.9% on time291 flights	67.8% on time215 flights	60.6% on time294 flights
4 PM–5 PM	67.2% on time379 flights	76.1% on time357 flights	75.2% on time351 flights	68.8% on time380 flights	70.6% on time379 flights	72.4% on time298 flights	65.0% on time393 flights
5 PM–6 PM	70.6% on time145 flights	83.0% on time177 flights	75.6% on time177 flights	69.1% on time140 flights	65.2% on time142 flights	74.6% on time195 flights	64.6% on time149 flights
6 PM–7 PM	68.4% on time307 flights	71.5% on time208 flights	73.6% on time280 flights	68.4% on time311 flights	68.9% on time310 flights	75.1% on time201 flights	71.6% on time281 flights
7 PM–8 PM	72.1% on time235 flights	79.1% on time214 flights	82.0% on time248 flights	73.5% on time242 flights	68.8% on time254 flights	83.1% on time173 flights	66.3% on time275 flights
8 PM–9 PM	70.8% on time211 flights	75.2% on time122 flights	76.4% on time123 flights	65.5% on time209 flights	71.6% on time205 flights	118 flights, too few to score	61.9% on time191 flights
9 PM–10 PM	62.4% on time134 flights	91 flights, too few to score	94 flights, too few to score	68.6% on time160 flights	71.5% on time132 flights	104 flights, too few to score	62.9% on time198 flights

By departure window

5–9 AM89.9%

9 AM–12 PM84.6%

12–3 PM76.3%

3–6 PM68.7%

6–9 PM72.0%

9 PM–5 AM71.5%

By departure hour

12 AM

3 AM

6 AM

9 AM

12 PM

3 PM

6 PM

9 PM

Why PHX → DEN runs late

July 2023 – July 2026

Late-arriving aircraft45.1%

the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late

The airline27.1%

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

Air traffic control26.0%

airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control

Weather1.7%

weather severe enough to stop this flight specifically

Security0.1%

screening or terminal security incidents

Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for PHX → DEN. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.

Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on PHX → DEN, at 45.1%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 89.9% of the time and 3–6 PM departures 68.7%.

How this route holds up in bad weather

July 2023 – July 2026

Bad weather raises cancellations by a similar amount at both ends of PHX to DEN: 3.9 times the normal rate at PHX and 4.0 times at DEN. Cancelled in bad weather against normal hours: PHX 2.5% against 0.6%, 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 PHX and DEN in hours of bad weather and in normal hours
Departures from	PHX	DEN
Cancelled in bad weather	2.5%	2.8%
Cancelled in normal hours	0.6%	0.7%
Arrived on time, bad weather	53.7%	51.5%
Arrived on time, normal hours	80.6%	78.8%
Departures in bad weather	6,215	92,610

These are airport figures, not route figures: every scheduled departure from PHX and DEN, to any destination, in hours the weather report called bad.

Weather source and limits. In full: PHX, 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.

Airlines on this route
Carrier	Flights	On time	Cancelled	Median delay	Severe
Southwest Airlines	13,096	76.7%	1.12%	-2 min	6.9%
United Airlines	7,144	84.6%	0.76%	-8 min	6.0%
Frontier Airlines	4,693	77.5%	0.83%	-7 min	8.7%
American Airlines	2,995	75.7%	0.57%	-5 min	9.9%
Envoy Air	424	71.9%	0.47%	-2 min	10.0%

Southwest Airlines flew 46.2% of the 28,352 flights listed.

United Airlines arrived on time 12.7 percentage points more often than Envoy Air on this route.

Flights on this route

Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.

Flights on this route
Flight	Scheduled	Operations	On time
F91376 Frontier Airlines	6:00 AM	831	88.4%
F92142 Frontier Airlines	8:21 PM	766	68.8%

Weekly and seasonal patterns

By day of week

Mon77.5%

Tue80.0%

Wed81.0%

Thu77.4%

Fri77.7%

Sat82.2%

Sun75.8%

Saturday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 6.4 percentage points.

By month

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

June is historically the weakest month and November the strongest, a spread of 16.8 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 77.3% against 79.5% in the 12 months before — declining by 2.2 percentage points.

Data and methodology

Calculated by FlyerIntel from 28,452 PHX → 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

PHX airport DEN airport Return direction DEN → PHX

PHX→DEN

Right now

Route reliability

Why PHX → DEN flights are cancelled

Share of cancellations

What each reason means

When it goes wrong

Will your connection be tight enough?

Best time to fly

By day and hour

By departure window

By departure hour

Why PHX → DEN runs late

How this route holds up in bad weather

Bad weather and normal hours at the airports

Airlines on this route

Flights on this route

Weekly and seasonal patterns

By day of week

By month

Reliability over time

Data and methodology