Denver to San Francisco

What the Data Says About DEN to SFO

The Denver to San Francisco corridor (DEN → SFO) covers roughly 967 miles and is served by 6 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 28,758 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 74.9% on-time rate with an average delay of 65.4 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 11,084 flights were recorded on this pairing — 92 cancelled (0.8%) and 5 diverted (0.0%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 6 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 28,758 total flights analyzed, the 74.9% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 65.4-minute average delay applies only to flights that actually ran late, so it is not the average wait across all departures — the majority of flights on this route depart on time under the BTS definition of a delay (15+ minutes past schedule).

Looking at recent months, Oct 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 86% on-time, while Feb 2024 came in at 48% on-time — a 38-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the DEN to SFO route, the combination of a 74.9% on-time rate, 65.4-minute average delay, 0.8% recent cancellation rate, and 6 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.