Historical on-time performance
Denver to Santa Ana
846 miData through May 2026Source: US DOT · BTS
Flights on DEN–SNA arrive on time 79% of the time over the last 12 months.
On-time rate79%arrived within 15 min
p90 delay30 min1 in 10 flights is worse (tail risk)
Cancelled0.4%of scheduled flights
based on 3,496 flights over the last 12 months. On-time means arriving within 15 minutes (BTS standard).
By airline
How each carrier compares
- United AirlinesbestOn-time84%Medianon timep9025 minCancel0.3%Flights1,870
- Frontier AirlinesOn-time81%Medianon timep9030 minCancel0.0%Flights91
- Southwest AirlinesOn-time74%Medianon timep9040 minCancel0.5%Flights1,535
Why flights run late
Delay causes
- Airline39%
- Weather1%
- Air traffic (NAS)15%
- Late aircraft45%
- Security0%
Most delay minutes here are attributed to Late aircraft.
When flights don't go
Why flights were cancelled
- Airline54%
- Weather23%
- Air traffic (NAS)23%
- Security0%
Most cancellations here are attributed to Airline. Shares are among 13 cancellations with a reported cause (BTS reports causes from June 2003).
Over time
On-time trend
By season
On-time rate by month
When to fly
Best time to fly DEN → SNA
All airlines · rolling 36 months (2023-06 .. 2026-05).
Best time of day
Mornings are the most reliable time of day to fly this route — 88% on time.
- Mornings88% on time · p90 15 min · 2,924 flights
- Middays82% on time · p90 30 min · 3,111 flights
- Afternoons77% on time · p90 40 min · 1,852 flights
- Overnights72% on time · p90 35 min · 1,027 flights
- Evenings70% on time · p90 50 min · 2,113 flights
Best day of week
On-time rates are fairly even by day on this route — ranging from 77% to 83% on time.
- Wednesdays83% on time · p90 25 min · 1,508 flights
- Tuesdays82% on time · p90 25 min · 1,498 flights
- Saturdays80% on time · p90 30 min · 1,331 flights
- Mondays80% on time · p90 30 min · 1,666 flights
- Sundays78% on time · p90 35 min · 1,681 flights
- Fridays77% on time · p90 35 min · 1,685 flights
- Thursdays77% on time · p90 35 min · 1,658 flights
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