ORF to DEN flight delays
Norfolk, VA (ORF) Denver, CO (DEN) · 1,553 miles
614 flights · January 2025 – August 2026 · US Bureau of Transportation Statistics
75.29%
Arrived on time
Within 15 minutes of schedule
0.81%
Cancelled
Share of scheduled flights
65 min
When late, late by
Average across delayed arrivals
17 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 16.4 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 season swings this route hard. In April it ran 41.6 points more punctual than in June — a difference bigger than the one between the best and worst airlines on most routes. If the date is flexible, it is worth more than the carrier.
The two directions do not behave alike. DEN to ORF arrives on time 7 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.
Flights from Norfolk to Denver run late more often than the average route, though not severely.
Which airline should you fly on this route?
Over January 2025 – August 2026, United Airlines arrived on time most often on ORF to DEN. Southwest Airlines was late most often. Flights ran closest to schedule in April and worst in June.
Every airline on ORF 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 | 395 | 81.07% | 0.76% | 80 min | B |
| Southwest Airlines | 219 | 64.62% | 0.91% | 50 min | F |
Month by month
Share of flights that arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, by month flown.
The return leg
DEN to ORF Denver back to Norfolk 68.26% on time DOther routes from Norfolk
Common questions
Are flights from Norfolk to Denver usually delayed?
75.29% of flights on the ORF to DEN route arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, so roughly 2 in every ten arrived late. That is about the same as the average route in this record.
Which airline is most on time from Norfolk to Denver?
United Airlines, at 81.07% on time across 395 flights. The least punctual on the route was Southwest Airlines at 64.62%.
How often are ORF to DEN flights cancelled?
0.81% of scheduled flights did not operate — about 8 in every thousand. That is in the normal range.
What is the best month to fly Norfolk to Denver?
April, when 89.7% of flights arrived on time. The worst was June at 48.1%.
When ORF to DEN flights are late, how late are they?
About 65 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 ORF to DEN during January 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 →