According to PlainFlights' airport traffic ranking (BTS On-Time Performance total flights), Denver, CO (DEN) ranks #3 of 382 tracked US airports by total flights (most flights = #1). Denver, CO posts bottom-quartile on-time performance among the 382 tracked U.S. airports, as one of the busiest U.S. airports.
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DEN on-time rate vs. the national average
Behind the U.S. average across all 382 tracked airports.
Delay Cause Breakdown
Top delay cause: Late Aircraft.
Total delay minutes: 23,037,160.
Late Aircraft40.9% (9,412,127 min)
Carrier38.6% (8,892,627 min)
NAS (National Aviation System)15.3% (3,514,456 min)
Weather5.2% (1,191,141 min)
Security0.1% (26,809 min)
DEN - seasonal on-time pattern
Best: November (91.4%) · worst: July (84.3%)
DEN - on-time rate by year
2020–2025, year-over-year trend.
DEN - taxi-out and taxi-in (monthly)
Average taxi-out 19.2 min · taxi-in 9.8 min over the last 24 reported months (U.S. airport mean taxi-out ≈ 16.4 min).
DEN's average taxi-out (19.2 min) runs longer than the recent U.S. airport mean (~16.4 min). The heaviest month in this window is January 2025 at 22.3 min; the lightest is October 2024 at 17.0 min.
Two PlainFlights-derived comparison paths for Denver, CO, both outside Colorado so the neighborhoods are not same-state geography. Axes stay disjoint: volume peers exclude the on-time peer set. Same-state compare stays below.
The standout signal at Denver, CO is traffic scale: 3,293,040 BTS flights (2020–2025) place it #3 of 382 by book size. That busy-book footprint sits beside a 78.9% on-time rate (0.1 pts below the 79% national flight-weighted average), 696,109 delayed departures, and 33,645 cancellations (1.02% of the book).
Delay minutes concentrate in Late Aircraft (40.9% late-aircraft, 38.6% carrier, 15.3% NAS, 5.2% weather, 0.1% security). As a busy airport, that mix matters more for connection planning than for a thin schedule.
On the multi-year calendar, DEN is strongest in November (91.4% on-time) and weakest in July (84.3%), a 7.1-point swing. Volume peaks in August (~50,020 flights/month). The busiest connecting route is to PHX (Phoenix) at 80.7% on-time. Field definitions: on-time performance explained.
Denver, CO vs. the national on-time distribution
On-time rate among all 382 tracked U.S. airports
78.9%Top 88%higher than 12% of 382 airports
Denver, CO
60%95%
U.S. airports by on-time rate, bucketed by value
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more airports. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Data Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), On-Time Performance Data (2020–2025).
Statistics reflect cumulative performance across all available reporting periods. On-time rates exclude cancelled and diverted flights.
DEN's on-time book sits in the slower half of the BTS set; check the delay mix and the worst month before treating the headline as typical.
Check the busiest route from DEN before you book a connection. See top routes →
Travel in November rather than July if your dates are flexible. Seasonal patterns →
Build extra connection buffer when taxi-out spikes. January 2025 averaged 22.3 min. Taxi times →
On-time rate reflects the BTS historical average across all reporting carriers at this airport, not any single flight or airline.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Denver, CO's on-time rate?
Denver, CO (DEN) has a 78.9% on-time rate across 3,293,040 BTS-tracked flights (2020-2025), 0.1 pts below the 79% national flight-weighted average; that places it in roughly the bottom-quartile on-time performance.
How does DEN rank among U.S. airports by traffic volume?
Denver, CO ranks #3 of 382 tracked US airports by total BTS flights (most flights = #1), making it one of the busiest U.S. airports.
What's the most common cause of delays at Denver, CO?
Late Aircraft is the leading delay cause at DEN, accounting for 40.9% of delay minutes. The full breakdown: 40.9% late-aircraft, 38.6% carrier, 15.3% NAS/air-traffic-control, 5.2% weather, and 0.1% security.
When is the best time to fly through Denver, CO?
November is historically DEN's strongest month at 91.4% on-time, while July is the weakest at 84.3%, a 7.1-point swing across the BTS historical record.
Data sourced from U.S. Department of Transportation Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) On-Time Performance data. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainFlights