Route profile
SLC→EWR
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Salt Lake City to Newark, 1,969 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 32% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 3,946 flights. How this is calculated
SLC → EWR arrives on time 76.2% of the time; the return trip, EWR → SLC, arrives on time 77.2% of the time.
SLC → EWR spends 29.9 minutes on the ground on a 1,969-mile trip: 18.1 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at SLC and 11.9 minutes from touchdown to gate at EWR.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
Unlike most, it barely matters what time you fly this route, a steadier spread than 96% of 4,023 comparable routes.
79.2% on time for 12–3 PM departures, against 72.7% for 9 AM–12 PM, a narrow gap either way.
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 4,023 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where SLC to EWR differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
SLC to EWR is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 5 PM: 81.9% arrive on time, 8.3 points ahead of the 73.6% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 12.1 points.
SLC to EWR struggles most at 11 AM: 70.9% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 7.6 points behind the 78.5% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 10.1 points.
Saturday is the day SLC to EWR slips furthest against routes of similar length, 70.9% on time where they average 79.2%, 8.3 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 8.2 points.
In October, SLC to EWR runs 6.6 points below routes of similar length, 77.3% on time to 83.9%. Against all other routes the gap is 5.7 points.
Delta Air Lines’ flights on SLC to EWR arrive on time 75.8% of the time, 5.9 points below the 81.7% it manages on its routes of similar length. Against all other routes the gap is 5.7 points.
SLC to EWR against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 5 PM departures | 81.9% | routes of similar length | 73.6% | +8.3 pts | 199 here, 68,242 there |
| Hour: 11 AM departures | 70.9% | routes of similar length | 78.5% | −7.6 pts | 1,184 here, 62,650 there |
| Weekday: Saturday | 70.9% | routes of similar length | 79.2% | −8.3 pts | 540 here, 149,759 there |
| Month: October | 77.3% | routes of similar length | 83.9% | −6.6 pts | 264 here, 90,683 there |
| Airline: Delta Air Lines | 75.8% | routes of similar length | 81.7% | −5.9 pts | 2,132 here, 289,311 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 1,969 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 SLC → EWR flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
SLC → EWR cancelled 70 of 3,946 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 56. The reason filed most often was the airline, 48.6% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 116 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 70 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.
34 cancellations, 48.6% of the total.
Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.
31 cancellations, 44.3% 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, 7.1% 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. With only one or two carriers on the route, the split mostly reflects how they file. Ordinary bad weather is filed under air traffic, so weather’s full share is larger than its bar.
70 coded cancellations were recorded on SLC → EWR; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
49 min late
against a median of 5 min early
Percentiles over 3,946 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at EWR after arriving from SLC.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 41% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 23% | High risk |
| 60 min | 14% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 7.8% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 4.9% | 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 1.77% of the time and diverts 0.94% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 3,839 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 49 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 3,946 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
SLC → EWR flights departing 12–3 PM arrived on time 79.2% of the time, against 72.7% for 9 AM–12 PM departures, a gap of 6.5 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM: 80.3% on time from 473 flights
- 1 AM to 9 AM: too few flights to score
- 10 AM: 82.2% on time from 198 flights
- 11 AM: 70.9% on time from 1,231 flights
- 12 PM: 77.8% on time from 167 flights
- 1 PM to 2 PM: too few flights to score
- 3 PM: 69.4% on time from 198 flights
- 4 PM: too few flights to score
- 5 PM: 81.9% on time from 206 flights
- 6 PM to 10 PM: too few flights to score
- 11 PM: 78.1% on time from 1,084 flights
Departure windows with fewer than 120 flights are not scored.
Why SLC → EWR runs late
July 2023 – July 2026
airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control
crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control
the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late
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 SLC → EWR. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delta Air Lines | 2,189 | 75.8% | 1.83% | -2 min | 7.3% |
| United Airlines | 1,695 | 77.3% | 1.65% | -8 min | 8.6% |
Delta Air Lines flew 56.4% of the 3,884 flights listed.
Carriers on this route performed within a couple of percentage points of each other.
Flights on this route
Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.
| Flight | Scheduled | Operations | On time |
|---|---|---|---|
| DL2038 Delta Air Lines | 11:59 PM | 734 | 79.2% |
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Saturday the least, a gap of 11.1 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 81.7%
- Feb: 79.6%
- Mar: 77.1%
- Apr: 75.7%
- May: 70.6%
- Jun: 77.4%
- Jul: 67.2%
- Aug: 75.6%
- Sep: 76.5%
- Oct: 77.3%
- Nov: 80.2%
- Dec: 75.0%
July is historically the weakest month and January the strongest, a spread of 14.5 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: too few flights to score (119)
- August 2023: 78.9% from 124 flights
- September 2023: too few flights to score (93)
- October 2023: too few flights to score (92)
- November 2023: too few flights to score (86)
- December 2023: too few flights to score (100)
- January 2024: 79.0% from 124 flights
- February 2024: too few flights to score (116)
- March 2024: 77.7% from 148 flights
- April 2024: 87.1% from 120 flights
- May 2024: too few flights to score (92)
- June 2024: too few flights to score (90)
- July 2024: too few flights to score (91)
- August 2024: too few flights to score (92)
- September 2024: too few flights to score (84)
- October 2024: too few flights to score (82)
- November 2024: too few flights to score (79)
- December 2024: too few flights to score (97)
- January 2025: too few flights to score (119)
- February 2025: 79.7% from 128 flights
- March 2025: 71.3% from 169 flights
- April 2025: too few flights to score (90)
- May 2025: too few flights to score (93)
- June 2025: too few flights to score (90)
- July 2025: too few flights to score (91)
- August 2025: too few flights to score (92)
- September 2025: too few flights to score (90)
- October 2025: too few flights to score (92)
- November 2025: too few flights to score (88)
- December 2025: too few flights to score (105)
- January 2026: 83.7% from 142 flights
- February 2026: 85.3% from 138 flights
- March 2026: 82.5% from 167 flights
- April 2026: too few flights to score (115)
- May 2026: too few flights to score (102)
- June 2026: too few flights to score (115)
- July 2026: too few flights to score (91)
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 80.2% against 70.9% in the 12 months before — improving by 9.3 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 3,946 SLC → EWR 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