Cleveland to Dallas/Fort Worth

What the Data Says About CLE to DFW

The Cleveland to Dallas/Fort Worth corridor (CLE → DFW) covers roughly 1,021 miles and is served by 19 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 9,066 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 80% on-time rate with an average delay of 85.9 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 3,375 flights were recorded on this pairing — 80 cancelled (2.4%) and 22 diverted (0.7%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 19 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 9,066 total flights analyzed, the 80% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 85.9-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, Mar 2025 posted the best performance on this corridor at 86% on-time, while Jan 2024 came in at 64% on-time — a 22-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the CLE to DFW route, the combination of a 80% on-time rate, 85.9-minute average delay, 2.4% recent cancellation rate, and 19 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.