Columbia to Dallas/Fort Worth

What the Data Says About COU to DFW

The Columbia to Dallas/Fort Worth corridor (COU → DFW) covers roughly 490 miles and is served by 9 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 5,954 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 78.6% on-time rate with an average delay of 97.8 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 2,346 flights were recorded on this pairing — 76 cancelled (3.2%) and 8 diverted (0.3%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 9 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 5,954 total flights analyzed, the 78.6% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 97.8-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, Feb 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 90% on-time, while Jun 2025 came in at 59% on-time — a 31-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the COU to DFW route, the combination of a 78.6% on-time rate, 97.8-minute average delay, 3.2% recent cancellation rate, and 9 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.