Dallas/Fort Worth to Santa Ana

What the Data Says About DFW to SNA

The Dallas/Fort Worth to Santa Ana corridor (DFW → SNA) covers roughly 1,205 miles and is served by 3 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 16,814 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 81.2% on-time rate with an average delay of 62.5 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 5,728 flights were recorded on this pairing — 131 cancelled (2.3%) and 27 diverted (0.5%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 3 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 16,814 total flights analyzed, the 81.2% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 62.5-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, Oct 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 90% on-time, while May 2024 came in at 66% on-time — a 24-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the DFW to SNA route, the combination of a 81.2% on-time rate, 62.5-minute average delay, 2.3% recent cancellation rate, and 3 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.