LAX to DEN flight delays
Los Angeles, CA (LAX) Denver, CO (DEN) · 862 miles
654 flights · March 2025 – August 2026 · US Bureau of Transportation Statistics
78.28%
Arrived on time
Within 15 minutes of schedule
0.46%
Cancelled
Share of scheduled flights
77 min
When late, late by
Average across delayed arrivals
18 min
Delay per flight
Averaged over every flight flown
What the record says about this route
Which airline you fly changes the odds here. United Airlines arrived on time 30.2 points more often than Southwest Airlines over the same period on the same route — same airports, same weather, same air traffic control. A gap that survives all of that is about how the two airlines are run.
The shape of the lateness matters here. Flights on this route are not late often, but when they are late they are late by about 77 minutes — long enough to lose a connection or an evening. The on-time percentage looks reassuring and understates the consequence of being on the wrong flight.
The two directions do not behave alike. DEN to LAX arrives on time 11.8 points less 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.
The Los Angeles to Denver route sits close to the middle of the record — neither notably punctual nor notably late.
Which airline should you fly on this route?
Over March 2025 – August 2026, United Airlines arrived on time most often on LAX to DEN. Southwest Airlines was late most often.
Every airline on LAX to DEN
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Airlines | 262 | 88.24% | 0% | 101 min | A |
| Southwest Airlines | 159 | 58.06% | 0.63% | 55 min | F |
| Delta Air Lines | 90 | 80.46% | 2.22% | 138 min | — |
| Frontier Airlines | 83 | 81.93% | 0% | 54 min | — |
| SkyWest Airlines | 60 | 80% | 0% | 78 min | — |
The return leg
DEN to LAX Denver back to Los Angeles 66.51% on time DOther routes from Los Angeles
What these figures do and do not tell you
Everything on this page is counted from the flights that actually operated on LAX to DEN 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 →