San Diego to Dallas/Fort Worth

What the Data Says About SAN to DFW

The San Diego to Dallas/Fort Worth corridor (SAN → DFW) covers roughly 1,171 miles and is served by 6 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 19,028 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 81.3% on-time rate with an average delay of 97.0 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 6,957 flights were recorded on this pairing — 168 cancelled (2.4%) and 33 diverted (0.5%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 6 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 19,028 total flights analyzed, the 81.3% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 97.0-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 87% on-time, while Jul 2024 came in at 65% on-time — a 22-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the SAN to DFW route, the combination of a 81.3% on-time rate, 97.0-minute average delay, 2.4% recent cancellation rate, and 6 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.