Route profile
DAL→FLL
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Dallas to Fort Lauderdale, 1,108 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 30% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 2,188 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
DAL → FLL arrives on time 71.4% of the time; the return trip, FLL → DAL, arrives on time 72.9% of the time.
DAL → FLL spends 18.3 minutes on the ground on a 1,108-mile trip: 13.2 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at DAL and 5.1 minutes from touchdown to gate at FLL.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
Reliability on this route has fallen unusually sharply over the past year, a bigger swing than 97% of 5,368 comparable routes.
61.0% on time over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), against 74.4% in the 12 months before (2024-08 to 2025-07), a change of 13.4 points.
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 5,368 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where DAL to FLL differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
DAL to FLL struggles most at 6 PM: 59.2% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 8.1 points behind the 67.3% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 9.4 points.
Thursday is the day DAL to FLL slips furthest against routes of similar length, 67.1% on time where they average 75.7%, 8.6 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 9.7 points.
In March, DAL to FLL runs 11.7 points below routes of similar length, 63.5% on time to 75.2%. Against all other routes the gap is 14.4 points.
Southwest Airlines’ flights on DAL to FLL arrive on time 71.4% of the time, 3.9 points below the 75.3% it manages on its routes of similar length. Against all other routes the gap is 6 points.
DAL to FLL against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 6 PM departures | 59.2% | routes of similar length | 67.3% | −8.1 pts | 240 here, 167,573 there |
| Weekday: Thursday | 67.1% | routes of similar length | 75.7% | −8.6 pts | 292 here, 398,157 there |
| Month: March | 63.5% | routes of similar length | 75.2% | −11.7 pts | 230 here, 239,833 there |
| Airline: Southwest Airlines | 71.4% | routes of similar length | 75.3% | −3.9 pts | 2,159 here, 612,111 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 1,108 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.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
49 min late
against a median of 1 min late
Percentiles over 2,188 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at FLL after arriving from DAL.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 50% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 28% | High risk |
| 60 min | 17% | High risk |
| 90 min | 7.9% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 4.0% | 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 1.10% of the time and diverts 0.23% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 2,159 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 49 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 2,188 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
DAL → FLL flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 88.4% of the time, against 57.7% for 6–9 PM departures, a gap of 30.7 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 5 AM: too few flights to score
- 6 AM: 90.6% on time from 498 flights
- 7 AM: too few flights to score
- 8 AM: 79.3% on time from 123 flights
- 9 AM to 12 PM: too few flights to score
- 1 PM: 71.2% on time from 149 flights
- 2 PM to 5 PM: too few flights to score
- 6 PM: 59.2% on time from 243 flights
- 7 PM: 58.9% on time from 365 flights
- 8 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Departure windows with fewer than 120 flights are not scored.
Why DAL → FLL 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 DAL → FLL. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on DAL → FLL, at 45.9%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 88.4% of the time and 6–9 PM departures 57.7%.
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 | 2,188 | 71.4% | 1.10% | 1 min | 8.2% |
Other ways to fly Dallas–Fort Worth to Miami
Airport pairs in the same two city markets, as the DOT defines them.
| Route | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DFW→MIA Dallas–Fort Worth to Miami | 14,847 | 69.5% | 1.90% | -1 min | 44 |
| DAL→FLL this route Dallas to Fort Lauderdale | 2,188 | 71.4% | 1.10% | 1 min | 58 |
DAL → FLL is the most reliable pairing for this journey at 71.4% on time, against 69.5% for DFW → MIA.
Flying to FLL from the Dallas–Fort Worth area? Compare DAL, DFW for FLL, with the same test for what counts as a real difference.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Wednesday is historically the most reliable day and Thursday the least, a gap of 10.0 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 75.5%
- Feb: 79.3%
- Mar: 63.5%
- Apr: 69.1%
- May: 65.9%
- Jun: 62.4%
- Jul: 63.0%
- Aug: 71.8%
- Sep: 82.4%
- Oct: 81.8%
- Nov: 81.2%
- Dec: 69.7%
June is historically the weakest month and September the strongest, a spread of 20.0 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 61.0% against 74.4% in the 12 months before — declining by 13.4 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 2,188 DAL → FLL 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