Route profile
BWI→DFW
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Baltimore to Dallas–Fort Worth, 1,217 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 9% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 4,664 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
BWI → DFW arrives on time 74.0% of the time; the return trip, DFW → BWI, arrives on time 69.7% of the time, a 4.3-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
BWI → DFW spends 32.2 minutes on the ground on a 1,217-mile trip: 16.2 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at BWI and 16.0 minutes from touchdown to gate at DFW.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
This route's worst arrivals run unusually far past its typical one, a bigger gap than 90% of 4,598 comparable routes.
A typical arrival is 6 min early, but the worst tenth run 71 minutes worse than that.
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 4,598 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where BWI to DFW differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
BWI to DFW struggles most at 9 PM: 52.7% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 12.7 points behind the 65.4% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 16.8 points.
BWI to DFW is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 12 PM: 86.0% arrive on time, 8 points ahead of the 78.0% those routes manage at that hour.
Saturday is the day BWI to DFW slips furthest against routes of similar length, 69.4% on time where they average 77.4%, 8 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 9.7 points.
In April, BWI to DFW runs 8.5 points below routes of similar length, 70.6% on time to 79.1%. Against all other routes the gap is 9.3 points.
Frontier Airlines’ flights on BWI to DFW arrive on time 65.1% of the time, 7.7 points below the 72.8% it manages on its routes of similar length. Against all other routes the gap is 6.2 points.
BWI to DFW against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 9 PM departures | 52.7% | routes of similar length | 65.4% | −12.7 pts | 150 here, 47,426 there |
| Hour: 12 PM departures | 86.0% | routes of similar length | 78.0% | +8.0 pts | 121 here, 130,353 there |
| Weekday: Saturday | 69.4% | routes of similar length | 77.4% | −8.0 pts | 608 here, 264,505 there |
| Month: April | 70.6% | routes of similar length | 79.1% | −8.5 pts | 377 here, 169,529 there |
| Airline: Frontier Airlines | 65.1% | routes of similar length | 72.8% | −7.7 pts | 770 here, 78,261 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 1,217 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 BWI → DFW flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
BWI → DFW cancelled 120 of 4,664 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 39. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 76.7% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 51 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 120 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.
92 cancellations, 76.7% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
27 cancellations, 22.5% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
1 cancellation, 0.8% 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. Ordinary bad weather is filed under air traffic, so weather’s full share is larger than its bar.
120 coded cancellations were recorded on BWI → DFW; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
65 min late
against a median of 6 min early
BWI → DFW has an average that understates its risk: a typical arrival is 6 min early, but the worst tenth are 71 minutes worse than that. If the trip has something unmissable at the end of it, the median is the wrong number to plan against.
Percentiles over 4,664 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at DFW after arriving from BWI.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 40% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 25% | High risk |
| 60 min | 17% | High risk |
| 90 min | 11% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 7.2% | Some 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 2.57% of the time and diverts 0.41% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 4,525 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 65 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 4,664 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
BWI → DFW flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 85.6% of the time, against 56.0% for 9 PM–5 AM departures, a gap of 29.6 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 5 AM: too few flights to score
- 6 AM: 86.8% on time from 960 flights
- 7 AM: 86.4% on time from 305 flights
- 8 AM to 11 AM: too few flights to score
- 12 PM: 86.0% on time from 124 flights
- 1 PM: 73.9% on time from 446 flights
- 2 PM: 75.0% on time from 121 flights
- 3 PM: 76.3% on time from 739 flights
- 4 PM: 61.2% on time from 122 flights
- 5 PM: too few flights to score
- 6 PM: 60.3% on time from 128 flights
- 7 PM: 61.8% on time from 875 flights
- 8 PM: 63.4% on time from 181 flights
- 9 PM: 52.7% on time from 155 flights
- 10 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why BWI → DFW 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 BWI → DFW. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on BWI → DFW, at 38.6%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 85.6% of the time and 9 PM–5 AM departures 56.0%.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Airlines | 3,073 | 76.3% | 2.67% | -8 min | 9.8% |
| Frontier Airlines | 801 | 65.1% | 3.75% | 2 min | 15.7% |
| Spirit Airlines | 786 | 74.1% | 1.02% | -5 min | 10.3% |
American Airlines flew 65.9% of the 4,660 flights listed. Frontier Airlines cancelled 3.75% of its flights here against 1.02% for Spirit Airlines.
American Airlines arrived on time 11.2 percentage points more often than Frontier Airlines on this route.
Flights on this route
Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.
| Flight | Scheduled | Operations | On time |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA1403 American Airlines | 6:03 AM | 1,126 | 86.7% |
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Saturday the least, a gap of 8.8 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 74.3%
- Feb: 86.0%
- Mar: 75.3%
- Apr: 70.6%
- May: 66.2%
- Jun: 65.1%
- Jul: 63.9%
- Aug: 72.5%
- Sep: 80.6%
- Oct: 82.4%
- Nov: 77.2%
- Dec: 83.9%
July is historically the weakest month and February the strongest, a spread of 22.1 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 72.8% from 139 flights
- August 2023: 75.0% from 142 flights
- September 2023: 84.4% from 137 flights
- October 2023: 84.4% from 135 flights
- November 2023: 75.3% from 146 flights
- December 2023: 87.6% from 129 flights
- January 2024: too few flights to score (114)
- February 2024: too few flights to score (118)
- March 2024: 72.9% from 149 flights
- April 2024: 69.3% from 148 flights
- May 2024: 58.4% from 152 flights
- June 2024: 69.7% from 150 flights
- July 2024: 50.3% from 150 flights
- August 2024: 69.1% from 145 flights
- September 2024: too few flights to score (111)
- October 2024: too few flights to score (115)
- November 2024: 86.0% from 123 flights
- December 2024: too few flights to score (112)
- January 2025: too few flights to score (111)
- February 2025: too few flights to score (104)
- March 2025: 83.2% from 142 flights
- April 2025: 68.9% from 127 flights
- May 2025: 72.0% from 135 flights
- June 2025: 62.1% from 145 flights
- July 2025: 61.0% from 147 flights
- August 2025: 73.7% from 121 flights
- September 2025: too few flights to score (106)
- October 2025: too few flights to score (109)
- November 2025: too few flights to score (107)
- December 2025: too few flights to score (119)
- January 2026: too few flights to score (95)
- February 2026: too few flights to score (81)
- March 2026: too few flights to score (99)
- April 2026: too few flights to score (116)
- May 2026: 69.0% from 121 flights
- June 2026: too few flights to score (114)
- July 2026: 72.0% from 150 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 73.2% against 75.6% in the 12 months before — declining by 2.4 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 4,664 BWI → DFW 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