Houston to Dallas/Fort Worth

What the Data Says About IAH to DFW

The Houston to Dallas/Fort Worth corridor (IAH → DFW) covers roughly 224 miles and is served by 45 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 30,197 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 76.6% on-time rate with an average delay of 93.5 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 11,095 flights were recorded on this pairing — 343 cancelled (3.1%) and 16 diverted (0.1%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 45 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 30,197 total flights analyzed, the 76.6% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 93.5-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, Nov 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 84% on-time, while May 2024 came in at 54% on-time — a 30-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the IAH to DFW route, the combination of a 76.6% on-time rate, 93.5-minute average delay, 3.1% recent cancellation rate, and 45 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.