Route profile
BNA→DAL
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Nashville to Dallas, 623 miles.
Right now
Aviation weather is not currently a factor.
Aviation weather is not currently a factor.
Route reliability
July 2023 – July 2026
Better than 61% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 7,495 flights. How this is calculated
BNA → DAL arrives on time 79.2% of the time; the return trip, DAL → BNA, arrives on time 76.2% of the time, a 3.0-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
BNA → DAL spends 19.8 minutes on the ground on a 623-mile trip: 14.2 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at BNA and 5.5 minutes from touchdown to gate at DAL.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
On-time performance swings unusually widely by time of day here, wider than 91% of 4,023 comparable routes.
93.3% on time for 5–9 AM departures, against 62.7% for 9 PM–5 AM.
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · Ranked against every other route with the same kind of figure and at least 4,023 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where BNA to DAL differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
BNA to DAL struggles most at 7 PM: 60.3% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 7.9 points behind the 68.2% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 7.5 points.
BNA to DAL is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 6 AM: 95.7% arrive on time, 4.8 points ahead of the 90.9% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 4.9 points.
February is kinder to BNA to DAL than to routes of similar length: 88.8% on time against 81.7%, 7.1 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 7.4 points.
In May, BNA to DAL runs 6.9 points below routes of similar length, 67.8% on time to 74.7%. Against all other routes the gap is 7.5 points.
BNA to DAL against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 7 PM departures | 60.3% | routes of similar length | 68.2% | −7.9 pts | 473 here, 119,284 there |
| Hour: 6 AM departures | 95.7% | routes of similar length | 90.9% | +4.8 pts | 468 here, 147,025 there |
| Month: February | 88.8% | routes of similar length | 81.7% | +7.1 pts | 499 here, 144,039 there |
| Month: May | 67.8% | routes of similar length | 74.7% | −6.9 pts | 624 here, 173,303 there |
Each comparison pools the flights of other routes, with this route’s own left out. Similar length means within 15% of this route’s 623 miles, with at least 5 such routes. A bucket is set against the most comparable group that has enough flights: similar length, then the same origin (at least 3 routes), then all other routes. Hours, weekdays and months appear only where both sides have 120 completed flights, and airlines where both have 600. The gap must be at least 2 points and 2 standard errors, and only the largest gap each way is kept per measure. These are differences in the flights counted, not causes.
Why BNA → DAL flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
BNA → DAL cancelled 91 of 7,495 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 82. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 78.0% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 106 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 91 cancelled departures carrying a reason code.
What each reason means
Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.
71 cancellations, 78.0% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
17 cancellations, 18.7% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
3 cancellations, 3.3% of the total.
A terminal evacuation, a security breach, screening equipment failure, or screening queues over 29 minutes.
0 cancellations, 0.0% of the total.
Reason codes are the operating airline’s own filing with US DOT, not an independent finding of fault. With only one or two carriers on the route, the split mostly reflects how they file. Ordinary bad weather is filed under air traffic, so weather’s full share is larger than its bar.
91 coded cancellations were recorded on BNA → DAL; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
38 min late
against a median of 5 min early
Percentiles over 7,495 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at DAL after arriving from BNA.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 38% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 20% | High risk |
| 60 min | 12% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 6.3% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 3.5% | Low risk |
This is one leg of a connection. Gate changes and the next flight's own schedule matter too. And a connection can fail before delay is even the question — this route cancels 1.21% of the time and diverts 0.39% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 7,375 arrivals on this route that landed later than the connection time less 30 minutes to reach the next gate.
The worst tenth of arrivals on this route land at least 38 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 7,495 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
BNA → DAL flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 93.3% of the time, against 62.7% for 9 PM–5 AM departures, a gap of 30.6 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 4 AM: too few flights to score
- 5 AM: 96.7% on time from 621 flights
- 6 AM: 95.7% on time from 486 flights
- 7 AM: 91.9% on time from 525 flights
- 8 AM: 89.7% on time from 680 flights
- 9 AM: 87.0% on time from 166 flights
- 10 AM: 81.1% on time from 150 flights
- 11 AM: 82.4% on time from 356 flights
- 12 PM: 82.2% on time from 577 flights
- 1 PM: 74.1% on time from 383 flights
- 2 PM: 73.2% on time from 426 flights
- 3 PM: 71.8% on time from 473 flights
- 4 PM: 70.9% on time from 363 flights
- 5 PM: 72.9% on time from 378 flights
- 6 PM: 70.3% on time from 490 flights
- 7 PM: 60.3% on time from 476 flights
- 8 PM: 71.6% on time from 620 flights
- 9 PM: 62.7% on time from 325 flights
- 10 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why BNA → DAL runs late
July 2023 – July 2026
the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late
crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control
airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control
weather severe enough to stop this flight specifically
screening or terminal security incidents
Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for BNA → DAL. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on BNA → DAL, at 50.9%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 93.3% of the time and 9 PM–5 AM departures 62.7%.
Airlines on this route
Carriers with at least 200 flights, by the airline that operated each one.
| Carrier | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Severe |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 7,495 | 79.2% | 1.21% | -5 min | 6.4% |
Other ways to fly Nashville to Dallas–Fort Worth
Airport pairs in the same two city markets, as the DOT defines them.
| Route | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BNA→DFW Nashville to Dallas–Fort Worth | 10,714 | 73.6% | 3.01% | -4 min | 42 |
| BNA→DAL this route Nashville to Dallas | 7,495 | 79.2% | 1.21% | -5 min | 69 |
BNA → DAL is the most reliable pairing for this journey at 79.2% on time, against 73.6% for BNA → DFW.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Wednesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 8.0 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 82.8%
- Feb: 88.8%
- Mar: 84.0%
- Apr: 77.4%
- May: 67.8%
- Jun: 67.8%
- Jul: 68.8%
- Aug: 82.0%
- Sep: 84.8%
- Oct: 83.4%
- Nov: 86.6%
- Dec: 82.3%
May is historically the weakest month and February the strongest, a spread of 21.0 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 71.4% from 183 flights
- August 2023: 83.2% from 197 flights
- September 2023: 88.7% from 197 flights
- October 2023: 85.9% from 218 flights
- November 2023: 87.6% from 202 flights
- December 2023: 88.6% from 211 flights
- January 2024: 77.0% from 180 flights
- February 2024: 92.5% from 162 flights
- March 2024: 83.4% from 194 flights
- April 2024: 80.5% from 203 flights
- May 2024: 64.4% from 208 flights
- June 2024: 72.4% from 200 flights
- July 2024: 68.4% from 206 flights
- August 2024: 81.2% from 207 flights
- September 2024: 77.4% from 200 flights
- October 2024: 86.5% from 224 flights
- November 2024: 88.9% from 214 flights
- December 2024: 79.0% from 214 flights
- January 2025: 82.7% from 189 flights
- February 2025: 87.5% from 171 flights
- March 2025: 89.3% from 217 flights
- April 2025: 80.7% from 214 flights
- May 2025: 71.2% from 219 flights
- June 2025: 74.3% from 209 flights
- July 2025: 71.2% from 209 flights
- August 2025: 81.5% from 198 flights
- September 2025: 88.5% from 194 flights
- October 2025: 77.5% from 211 flights
- November 2025: 83.3% from 205 flights
- December 2025: 79.1% from 211 flights
- January 2026: 88.5% from 187 flights
- February 2026: 86.5% from 172 flights
- March 2026: 79.0% from 205 flights
- April 2026: 70.7% from 202 flights
- May 2026: 67.6% from 209 flights
- June 2026: 57.0% from 214 flights
- July 2026: 65.0% from 239 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 76.5% against 80.8% in the 12 months before — declining by 4.3 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 7,495 BNA → DAL flight records from the US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, covering July 2023 – July 2026. Late means 15 or more minutes past scheduled arrival; cancelled and diverted flights are left out of on-time rates.
Full methodology · Data sources · Report a problem
Related research: How Long a Layover Needs to Be · Two Airlines on One Route · Best Time of Day to Fly From Major US Airports
Analysis last recomputed