Detroit to Denver

What the Data Says About DTW to DEN

The Detroit to Denver corridor (DTW → DEN) covers roughly 1,123 miles and is served by 34 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 16,963 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 82.7% on-time rate with an average delay of 64.3 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 5,993 flights were recorded on this pairing — 35 cancelled (0.6%) and 25 diverted (0.4%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 34 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 16,963 total flights analyzed, the 82.7% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 64.3-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 93% on-time, while Dec 2025 came in at 63% on-time — a 29-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the DTW to DEN route, the combination of a 82.7% on-time rate, 64.3-minute average delay, 0.6% recent cancellation rate, and 34 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.