New Orleans to Dallas/Fort Worth

What the Data Says About MSY to DFW

The New Orleans to Dallas/Fort Worth corridor (MSY → DFW) covers roughly 447 miles and is served by 21 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 16,228 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 77.2% on-time rate with an average delay of 92.5 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 5,949 flights were recorded on this pairing — 184 cancelled (3.1%) and 12 diverted (0.2%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 21 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 16,228 total flights analyzed, the 77.2% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 92.5-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 87% on-time, while May 2024 came in at 55% on-time — a 32-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the MSY to DFW route, the combination of a 77.2% on-time rate, 92.5-minute average delay, 3.1% recent cancellation rate, and 21 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.