DEN to RAP flight delays
Denver, CO (DEN) Rapid City, SD (RAP) · 301 miles
249 flights · March 2025 – August 2026 · US Bureau of Transportation Statistics
68.27%
Arrived on time
Within 15 minutes of schedule
0%
Cancelled
Share of scheduled flights
60 min
When late, late by
Average across delayed arrivals
20 min
Delay per flight
Averaged over every flight flown
What the record says about this route
The two directions do not behave alike. RAP to DEN arrives on time 7.4 points more often than the outbound. Delay accumulates through the flying day, so whichever direction is scheduled later tends to carry the worse record — which is an argument for booking the morning departure if the choice exists.
Flights from Denver to Rapid City run late more often than the average route, though not severely.
Only SkyWest Airlines flies this route in the published record, so there is no choice to weigh — the route's figures and the airline's are the same figures.
This is a thin route — 249 flights across the whole period. On a route this infrequent a cancellation is far more costly than the rate suggests, because the next departure may not be the same day.
Which airline should you fly on this route?
Over March 2025 – August 2026, SkyWest Airlines arrived on time most often on DEN to RAP.
Every airline on DEN to RAP
Ranked by how many flights each one operated. A carrier with fewer than 100 flights in the period is listed but not graded.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Avg delay | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SkyWest Airlines | 165 | 70.91% | 0% | 55 min | C |
| United Airlines | 84 | 63.1% | 0% | 69 min | — |
The return leg
RAP to DEN Rapid City back to Denver 75.71% on time COther routes from Denver
Common questions
Are flights from Denver to Rapid City usually delayed?
68.27% of flights on the DEN to RAP route arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, so roughly 3 in every ten arrived late. That is worse than the average route in this record.
Which airlines fly from Denver to Rapid City?
Only SkyWest Airlines appears in the published record on this route, with 165 flights and 70.91% arriving on time.
How often are DEN to RAP flights cancelled?
0% of scheduled flights did not operate — about 1 in every thousand. That is in the normal range.
When DEN to RAP flights are late, how late are they?
About 60 minutes on average across the flights that arrived more than 15 minutes behind schedule.
What these figures do and do not tell you
Everything on this page is counted from the flights that actually operated on DEN to RAP during March 2025 – August 2026, as reported by the airlines to the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics. "On time" is the federal definition: arriving at the gate within 15 minutes of the scheduled time.
A route's record is a description of the past, not a forecast. Weather, air traffic control and the aircraft's earlier flights that day drive most delays, and none of them are predictable from a historical rate. What the record does tell you is whether this route runs late more often than others, and which carrier on it has the better history — which is the part you can actually act on when you book.
Cancellations are counted separately from delays because they are a different problem for a traveller: a late flight still gets you there. How the grade is calculated →