Historical on-time performance
Denver to Des Moines
589 miData through Dec 2025Source: US DOT · BTS
Flights on DEN–DSM arrive on time 77% of the time over the last 12 months.
On-time rate77%arrived within 15 min
p90 delay50 min1 in 10 flights is worse (tail risk)
Cancelled0.7%of scheduled flights
based on 2,072 flights over the last 12 months. On-time means arriving within 15 minutes (BTS standard).
By airline
How each carrier compares
- SkyWest AirlinesbestOn-time86%Medianon timep9025 minCancel0.9%Flights848
- United AirlinesOn-time77%Medianon timep9060 minCancel0.7%Flights767
- Southwest AirlinesOn-time62%Median5 minp9090 minCancel0.4%Flights457
Why flights run late
Delay causes
- Airline30%
- Weather3%
- Air traffic (NAS)12%
- Late aircraft56%
- Security0%
Most delay minutes here are attributed to Late aircraft.
Over time
On-time trend
By season
On-time rate by month
When to fly
Best time to fly DEN → DSM
All airlines · rolling 36 months (2023-01 .. 2025-12).
Best time of day
Mornings are the most reliable time of day to fly this route — 86% on time.
- Mornings86% on time · p90 20 min · 1,202 flights
- Middays82% on time · p90 30 min · 2,128 flights
- Afternoons72% on time · p90 40 min · 396 flights
- Overnights69% on time · p90 60 min · 1,547 flights
- Evenings63% on time · p90 85 min · 1,599 flights
Best day of week
On-time rates are fairly even by day on this route — ranging from 72% to 77% on time.
- Wednesdays77% on time · p90 50 min · 981 flights
- Saturdays76% on time · p90 55 min · 903 flights
- Mondays76% on time · p90 50 min · 1,017 flights
- Sundays75% on time · p90 50 min · 987 flights
- Tuesdays75% on time · p90 45 min · 969 flights
- Thursdays73% on time · p90 50 min · 999 flights
- Fridays72% on time · p90 60 min · 1,016 flights
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