Dallas/Fort Worth, TX

What the Data Says About DFW

Dallas/Fort Worth, TX in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas handled 3,395,134 flights in the Bureau of Transportation Statistics dataset between 2020 and 2025, posting a 78.5% on-time departure rate. Of those flights, 729,619 experienced delays, 47,734 were cancelled, and 4,516 were diverted. The cancellation rate works out to 1.41%, the diversion rate to 0.13%, and the average delay when departures run late is 82.9 minutes. These figures are the baseline for comparing DFW against other airports in the same state and nationally.

Breaking down what drives delays at DFW, Late Aircraft leads the pack. Late Aircraft accounts for 43.4% of total delay minutes, followed by Carrier at 33.9% and NAS (National Aviation System) at 14.5%. Weather contributes 8.0% of delay minutes at this airport, while security holds the smallest share at 0.2%. Travelers often overestimate the weather share; the BTS categorization shows late-arriving aircraft and carrier operations as the larger contributors.

Seasonally, February runs the cleanest at DFW with a 90.9% on-time rate, while June is the roughest at 84.5% — a 6-point swing between best and worst month. Volume peaks in July, when average flights hit 51,301. The busiest route from DFW is to DFW (Dallas/Fort Worth), with 37,750 flights at a 81.1% on-time rate. Combine these numbers — 78.5% on-time, 82.9-minute average delay, 1.41% cancellation rate — and you have a concrete picture of departure reliability at Dallas/Fort Worth, TX.