Skip to content
WanderNerd

Route Reliability

Des Moines → Denver

DSMDEN · 589 miles · Des Moines International Airport to Denver International Airport

88
Pretty Reliable
WanderNerd Reliability Score
84%
Arrive within 15 minutes
5 min
Average arrival delay
0.7%
Cancelled
2,325
Flights in the data

Data through May 2026.

Who flies it best

Ranked by on-time arrivals. Historical results, not predictions.

  1. 1.Southwest Airlines86%555 flights
  2. 2.United Airlines84%1,621 flights
  3. 3.Frontier Airlines76%149 flights

What the data says

Morning flights do better here.

DSM–DEN flights departing between 6–9 AM arrived on time 94% of the time, versus 65% between 6–9 PM.

Friday is doing you no favors.

DSM–DEN flights arrived on time 88% of the time on Sundays. On Fridays: 81%.

Southwest Airlines runs this route best.

Southwest Airlines arrived on time 86% of the time on this route; Frontier Airlines managed 76%.

Ticking up lately.

DSM–DEN flights arrived on time 87% of the time over the last three months in the data, compared with 83% in the three months before that.

Best historical flights

Ranked by on-time arrivals, minimum 100 flights. Past performance, not a promise.

Top flights by on-time rate

More flights on this route

The breakdown

On-time by weekday
  • Mon83%(356 flights)
  • Tue84%(317 flights)
  • Wed84%(322 flights)
  • Thu84%(327 flights)
  • Fri81%(362 flights)
  • Sat84%(298 flights)
  • Sun88%(322 flights)
On-time by departure window
  • 3–6 AM90%(221 flights)
  • 6–9 AM94%(487 flights)
  • 9 AM–12 PM85%(537 flights)
  • 12–3 PM90%(506 flights)
  • 3–6 PM66%(409 flights)
  • 6–9 PM65%(144 flights)
On-time trend by month
84%
May

Jun 78% → May 84% on time

On-time arrival percentage by month
MonthOn-time percentageFlights
June 202578%213
July 202575%222
August 202575%223
September 202588%223
October 202590%198
November 202591%159
December 202580%167
January 202685%161
February 202684%147
March 202687%186
April 202691%188
May 202684%217

Based on 2,325 historical flights, because apparently we checked. Historical flight data: U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics, June 2025 – May 2026. Data through May 2026. How we calculate this.