San Francisco to Denver

What the Data Says About SFO to DEN

The San Francisco to Denver corridor (SFO → DEN) covers roughly 967 miles and is served by 6 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 28,782 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 81.4% on-time rate with an average delay of 66.3 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 11,079 flights were recorded on this pairing — 79 cancelled (0.7%) and 32 diverted (0.3%). 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 28,782 total flights analyzed, the 81.4% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 66.3-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, Sep 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 89% on-time, while May 2024 came in at 67% on-time — a 22-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the SFO to DEN route, the combination of a 81.4% on-time rate, 66.3-minute average delay, 0.7% recent cancellation rate, and 6 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.