Route profile
DFW→HOU
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Dallas–Fort Worth to Houston, 247 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 19% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 6,760 flights. How this is calculated
DFW → HOU arrives on time 77.7% of the time; the return trip, HOU → DFW, arrives on time 77.5% of the time.
DFW → HOU spends 28.1 minutes on the ground on a 247-mile trip: 22.4 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at DFW and 5.7 minutes from touchdown to gate at HOU.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What sets this route apart
Where DFW to HOU differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
DFW to HOU is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 8 PM: 79.7% arrive on time, 11.5 points ahead of the 68.2% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 12.3 points.
Wednesday is the day DFW to HOU slips furthest against routes of similar length, 76.6% on time where they average 81.7%, 5.1 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 4.2 points.
In April, DFW to HOU runs 8.6 points below routes of similar length, 70.6% on time to 79.2%. Against all other routes the gap is 9.3 points.
August is kinder to DFW to HOU than to routes of similar length: 81.3% on time against 77.6%, 3.7 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 4.8 points.
PSA Airlines’ flights on DFW to HOU arrive on time 69.7% of the time, 4.1 points below the 73.8% it manages on its routes of similar length. Against all other routes the gap is 6 points.
DFW to HOU against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 8 PM departures | 79.7% | routes of similar length | 68.2% | +11.5 pts | 158 here, 34,492 there |
| Weekday: Wednesday | 76.6% | routes of similar length | 81.7% | −5.1 pts | 898 here, 97,381 there |
| Month: April | 70.6% | routes of similar length | 79.2% | −8.6 pts | 503 here, 56,531 there |
| Month: August | 81.3% | routes of similar length | 77.6% | +3.7 pts | 616 here, 58,254 there |
| Airline: PSA Airlines | 69.7% | routes of similar length | 73.8% | −4.1 pts | 851 here, 15,081 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 247 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 DFW → HOU flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
DFW → HOU cancelled 243 of 6,760 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 28. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 77.8% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 36 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 243 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.
189 cancellations, 77.8% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
44 cancellations, 18.1% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
10 cancellations, 4.1% 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.
243 coded cancellations were recorded on DFW → HOU; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
47 min late
against a median of 6 min early
Percentiles over 6,760 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at HOU after arriving from DFW.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 37% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 22% | High risk |
| 60 min | 15% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 7.8% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 4.2% | 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 3.59% of the time and diverts 0.33% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 6,495 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 47 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 6,760 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
DFW → HOU flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 86.9% of the time, against 67.6% for 6–9 PM departures, a gap of 19.3 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 6 AM: too few flights to score
- 7 AM: 89.9% on time from 591 flights
- 8 AM: 85.1% on time from 889 flights
- 9 AM: too few flights to score
- 10 AM: 85.2% on time from 686 flights
- 11 AM: too few flights to score
- 12 PM: 85.1% on time from 537 flights
- 1 PM: too few flights to score
- 2 PM: 75.5% on time from 905 flights
- 3 PM: too few flights to score
- 4 PM: 70.2% on time from 990 flights
- 5 PM: too few flights to score
- 6 PM: 65.0% on time from 998 flights
- 7 PM: too few flights to score
- 8 PM: 79.7% on time from 159 flights
- 9 PM: 77.6% on time from 134 flights
- 10 PM: 76.2% on time from 763 flights
- 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why DFW → HOU 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 DFW → HOU. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on DFW → HOU, at 36.7%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 86.9% of the time and 6–9 PM departures 67.6%.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Envoy Air | 4,313 | 79.6% | 3.13% | -7 min | 6.0% |
| SkyWest Airlines | 1,536 | 76.9% | 3.19% | -7 min | 9.6% |
| PSA Airlines | 910 | 69.7% | 6.37% | -3 min | 14.6% |
Envoy Air flew 63.8% of the 6,759 flights listed. PSA Airlines cancelled 6.37% of its flights here against 3.13% for Envoy Air.
Envoy Air arrived on time 9.9 percentage points more often than PSA Airlines on this route.
Other ways to fly Dallas–Fort Worth to Houston
Airport pairs in the same two city markets, as the DOT defines them.
DAL → HOU is the most reliable pairing for this journey at 76.8% on time, against 71.3% for DFW → IAH.
Flying to HOU from the Dallas–Fort Worth area? Compare DFW, DAL for HOU, with the same test for what counts as a real difference.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Saturday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 9.0 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 82.4%
- Feb: 83.5%
- Mar: 73.1%
- Apr: 70.6%
- May: 69.7%
- Jun: 67.4%
- Jul: 71.5%
- Aug: 81.3%
- Sep: 83.0%
- Oct: 82.7%
- Nov: 85.7%
- Dec: 81.9%
June is historically the weakest month and November the strongest, a spread of 18.3 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 81.1% from 197 flights
- August 2023: 85.2% from 216 flights
- September 2023: 84.7% from 204 flights
- October 2023: 83.7% from 204 flights
- November 2023: 93.2% from 161 flights
- December 2023: 91.3% from 160 flights
- January 2024: 80.6% from 172 flights
- February 2024: 92.2% from 166 flights
- March 2024: 77.5% from 186 flights
- April 2024: 76.6% from 176 flights
- May 2024: 60.1% from 185 flights
- June 2024: 65.3% from 202 flights
- July 2024: 59.9% from 227 flights
- August 2024: 84.4% from 213 flights
- September 2024: 84.7% from 189 flights
- October 2024: 83.0% from 230 flights
- November 2024: 80.9% from 185 flights
- December 2024: 79.7% from 183 flights
- January 2025: 83.5% from 182 flights
- February 2025: 77.9% from 174 flights
- March 2025: 70.7% from 183 flights
- April 2025: 68.3% from 198 flights
- May 2025: 68.8% from 158 flights
- June 2025: 67.4% from 198 flights
- July 2025: 77.4% from 210 flights
- August 2025: 73.4% from 193 flights
- September 2025: 79.5% from 186 flights
- October 2025: 81.4% from 195 flights
- November 2025: 83.5% from 179 flights
- December 2025: 75.7% from 177 flights
- January 2026: 83.0% from 167 flights
- February 2026: 79.5% from 126 flights
- March 2026: 70.1% from 145 flights
- April 2026: 66.4% from 146 flights
- May 2026: 81.1% from 152 flights
- June 2026: 70.0% from 172 flights
- July 2026: 67.1% from 163 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 76.1% against 77.4% in the 12 months before — broadly unchanged.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 6,760 DFW → HOU 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