Route profile
DAL→LAX
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Dallas to Los Angeles, 1,246 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 49% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 5,574 flights. How this is calculated
DAL → LAX arrives on time 74.4% of the time; the return trip, LAX → DAL, arrives on time 75.5% of the time.
DAL → LAX spends 22.3 minutes on the ground on a 1,246-mile trip: 12.9 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at DAL and 9.4 minutes from touchdown to gate at LAX.
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 97% of 4,023 comparable routes.
91.2% on time for 5–9 AM departures, against 55.9% 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 DAL to LAX differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
DAL to LAX struggles most at 10 PM: 52.7% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 10.6 points behind the 63.3% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 19 points.
DAL to LAX is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 6 AM: 93.4% arrive on time, 3 points ahead of the 90.4% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 2.6 points.
Thursday is the day DAL to LAX slips furthest against routes of similar length, 71.7% on time where they average 76.0%, 4.3 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 5.1 points.
In June, DAL to LAX runs 15.2 points below routes of similar length, 56.6% on time to 71.8%. Against all other routes the gap is 16.1 points.
March is kinder to DAL to LAX than to routes of similar length: 80.6% on time against 75.8%, 4.8 points better.
DAL to LAX against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 10 PM departures | 52.7% | routes of similar length | 63.3% | −10.6 pts | 245 here, 16,960 there |
| Hour: 6 AM departures | 93.4% | routes of similar length | 90.4% | +3.0 pts | 724 here, 145,902 there |
| Weekday: Thursday | 71.7% | routes of similar length | 76.0% | −4.3 pts | 852 here, 277,403 there |
| Month: June | 56.6% | routes of similar length | 71.8% | −15.2 pts | 415 here, 150,124 there |
| Month: March | 80.6% | routes of similar length | 75.8% | +4.8 pts | 449 here, 166,326 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 1,246 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
43 min late
against a median of 1 min early
Percentiles over 5,574 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at LAX after arriving from DAL.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 46% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 25% | High risk |
| 60 min | 15% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 6.1% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 3.2% | 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 0.84% of the time and diverts 0.11% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 5,521 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 43 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 5,574 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
DAL → LAX flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 91.2% of the time, against 55.9% for 9 PM–5 AM departures, a gap of 35.3 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 5 AM: too few flights to score
- 6 AM: 93.4% on time from 725 flights
- 7 AM: 88.8% on time from 518 flights
- 8 AM: 89.3% on time from 205 flights
- 9 AM: 81.0% on time from 196 flights
- 10 AM: 81.8% on time from 403 flights
- 11 AM: 72.0% on time from 268 flights
- 12 PM: 79.6% on time from 246 flights
- 1 PM: 70.6% on time from 308 flights
- 2 PM: 77.0% on time from 279 flights
- 3 PM: 66.2% on time from 222 flights
- 4 PM: 74.1% on time from 198 flights
- 5 PM: 68.0% on time from 424 flights
- 6 PM: 61.8% on time from 298 flights
- 7 PM: 63.6% on time from 379 flights
- 8 PM: 57.1% on time from 343 flights
- 9 PM: 58.4% on time from 316 flights
- 10 PM: 52.7% on time from 246 flights
- 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why DAL → LAX 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 → LAX. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on DAL → LAX, at 47.7%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 91.2% of the time and 9 PM–5 AM departures 55.9%.
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 | 4,847 | 73.2% | 0.87% | 0 min | 6.5% |
| Delta Air Lines | 727 | 82.8% | 0.69% | -9 min | 5.1% |
Southwest Airlines flew 87.0% of the 5,574 flights listed.
Delta Air Lines arrived on time 9.6 percentage points more often than Southwest Airlines on this route.
Other ways to fly Dallas–Fort Worth to Los Angeles
Airport pairs in the same two city markets, as the DOT defines them.
| Route | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DFW→LAX Dallas–Fort Worth to Los Angeles | 20,660 | 72.8% | 1.51% | -4 min | 54 |
| DAL→LAX this route Dallas to Los Angeles | 5,574 | 74.4% | 0.84% | -1 min | 65 |
DAL → LAX is the most reliable pairing for this journey at 74.4% on time, against 72.8% for DFW → LAX.
Flying to LAX from the Dallas–Fort Worth area? Compare DAL, DFW for LAX, with the same test for what counts as a real difference.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 9.6 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 80.7%
- Feb: 75.8%
- Mar: 80.6%
- Apr: 72.0%
- May: 64.1%
- Jun: 56.6%
- Jul: 68.6%
- Aug: 78.5%
- Sep: 78.0%
- Oct: 80.4%
- Nov: 80.3%
- Dec: 77.8%
June is historically the weakest month and January the strongest, a spread of 24.1 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 72.3% from 226 flights
- August 2023: 75.2% from 234 flights
- September 2023: 74.0% from 216 flights
- October 2023: 82.5% from 228 flights
- November 2023: 82.1% from 224 flights
- December 2023: 84.9% from 218 flights
- January 2024: 79.0% from 186 flights
- February 2024: 69.6% from 168 flights
- March 2024: 83.5% from 184 flights
- April 2024: 74.0% from 192 flights
- May 2024: 65.2% from 146 flights
- June 2024: 61.0% from 137 flights
- July 2024: 69.0% from 145 flights
- August 2024: 88.1% from 134 flights
- September 2024: 78.1% from 128 flights
- October 2024: 84.1% from 132 flights
- November 2024: 82.6% from 134 flights
- December 2024: 75.4% from 139 flights
- January 2025: 86.6% from 123 flights
- February 2025: too few flights to score (114)
- March 2025: 80.1% from 138 flights
- April 2025: 78.9% from 135 flights
- May 2025: 65.0% from 137 flights
- June 2025: 62.6% from 140 flights
- July 2025: 67.1% from 146 flights
- August 2025: too few flights to score (110)
- September 2025: too few flights to score (103)
- October 2025: too few flights to score (119)
- November 2025: 74.4% from 123 flights
- December 2025: 68.9% from 135 flights
- January 2026: too few flights to score (98)
- February 2026: too few flights to score (104)
- March 2026: 77.1% from 131 flights
- April 2026: 61.7% from 129 flights
- May 2026: 62.0% from 131 flights
- June 2026: 46.4% from 141 flights
- July 2026: 64.1% from 146 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 68.8% against 77.7% in the 12 months before — declining by 8.9 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 5,574 DAL → LAX 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