Dallas/Fort Worth to Houston

What the Data Says About DFW to IAH

The Dallas/Fort Worth to Houston corridor (DFW → IAH) covers roughly 224 miles and is served by 49 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 30,188 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 76.3% on-time rate with an average delay of 80.1 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 11,083 flights were recorded on this pairing — 356 cancelled (3.2%) and 20 diverted (0.2%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 49 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 30,188 total flights analyzed, the 76.3% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 80.1-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 86% on-time, while May 2024 came in at 55% on-time — a 31-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the DFW to IAH route, the combination of a 76.3% on-time rate, 80.1-minute average delay, 3.2% recent cancellation rate, and 49 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.