Route profile
DFW→LEX
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Dallas–Fort Worth to Lexington, 785 miles.
Right now
Aviation weather is not currently a factor.
FlyerIntel does not currently have live operational data for this airport.
Route reliability
July 2023 – July 2026
Better than 15% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 3,445 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
DFW → LEX arrives on time 75.0% of the time; the return trip, LEX → DFW, arrives on time 78.1% of the time, a 3.1-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
DFW → LEX spends 26.9 minutes on the ground on a 785-mile trip: 20.1 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at DFW and 6.7 minutes from touchdown to gate at LEX.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
Every day of the week performs about the same on this route, steadier than 94% of 4,467 comparable routes.
76.7% on time on the best day (Tuesday) against 72.3% on the worst (Monday).
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 4,467 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where DFW to LEX differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
DFW to LEX struggles most at 9 PM: 59.9% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 7.8 points behind the 67.7% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 9.6 points.
DFW to LEX is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 4 PM: 76.4% arrive on time, 7.2 points ahead of the 69.2% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 5.7 points.
Wednesday is the day DFW to LEX slips furthest against routes of similar length, 74.3% on time where they average 80.5%, 6.2 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 6.5 points.
In March, DFW to LEX runs 5.7 points below routes of similar length, 72.5% on time to 78.2%. Against all other routes the gap is 5.4 points.
American Airlines’ flights on DFW to LEX arrive on time 66.9% of the time, 7.2 points below the 74.1% it manages on its routes of similar length. Against all other routes the gap is 8.2 points.
DFW to LEX against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 9 PM departures | 59.9% | routes of similar length | 67.7% | −7.8 pts | 142 here, 66,142 there |
| Hour: 4 PM departures | 76.4% | routes of similar length | 69.2% | +7.2 pts | 461 here, 125,431 there |
| Weekday: Wednesday | 74.3% | routes of similar length | 80.5% | −6.2 pts | 475 here, 303,807 there |
| Month: March | 72.5% | routes of similar length | 78.2% | −5.7 pts | 258 here, 179,802 there |
| Airline: American Airlines | 66.9% | routes of similar length | 74.1% | −7.2 pts | 1,161 here, 298,129 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 785 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 → LEX flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
DFW → LEX cancelled 82 of 3,445 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 42. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 85.4% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 49 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 82 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.
70 cancellations, 85.4% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
6 cancellations, 7.3% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
6 cancellations, 7.3% 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. Ordinary bad weather is filed under air traffic, so weather’s full share is larger than its bar.
82 coded cancellations were recorded on DFW → LEX; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
58 min late
against a median of 4 min early
DFW → LEX has an average that understates its risk: a typical arrival is 4 min early, but the worst tenth are 62 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 3,445 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at LEX after arriving from DFW.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 41% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 24% | High risk |
| 60 min | 17% | High risk |
| 90 min | 9.4% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 5.9% | 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 2.38% of the time and diverts 0.20% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 3,356 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 58 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 3,445 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
DFW → LEX flights departing 9 AM–12 PM arrived on time 79.9% of the time, against 59.9% for 9 PM–5 AM departures, a gap of 20.0 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 9 AM: too few flights to score
- 10 AM: 79.3% on time from 940 flights
- 11 AM to 1 PM: too few flights to score
- 2 PM: 79.1% on time from 281 flights
- 3 PM: 72.7% on time from 179 flights
- 4 PM: 76.4% on time from 482 flights
- 5 PM: too few flights to score
- 6 PM: 64.5% on time from 167 flights
- 7 PM: 74.0% on time from 334 flights
- 8 PM: 67.1% on time from 557 flights
- 9 PM: 59.9% on time from 148 flights
- 10 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Departure windows with fewer than 120 flights are not scored.
Why DFW → LEX 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 → LEX. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on DFW → LEX, at 51.6%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 9 AM–12 PM departures arrived on time 79.9% of the time and 9 PM–5 AM departures 59.9%.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Envoy Air | 1,788 | 80.0% | 1.85% | -5 min | 5.6% |
| American Airlines | 1,190 | 66.9% | 2.10% | 1 min | 14.7% |
| PSA Airlines | 435 | 74.6% | 5.52% | -6 min | 12.5% |
Envoy Air flew 52.4% of the 3,413 flights listed. PSA Airlines cancelled 5.52% of its flights here against 1.85% for Envoy Air.
Envoy Air arrived on time 13.1 percentage points more often than American Airlines on this route.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Monday the least, a gap of 4.4 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 76.6%
- Feb: 76.8%
- Mar: 72.5%
- Apr: 74.7%
- May: 68.9%
- Jun: 69.1%
- Jul: 70.7%
- Aug: 73.2%
- Sep: 80.8%
- Oct: 83.2%
- Nov: 79.1%
- Dec: 75.9%
May is historically the weakest month and October the strongest, a spread of 14.3 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: too few flights to score (92)
- August 2023: too few flights to score (91)
- September 2023: too few flights to score (80)
- October 2023: too few flights to score (86)
- November 2023: too few flights to score (84)
- December 2023: too few flights to score (81)
- January 2024: too few flights to score (82)
- February 2024: too few flights to score (79)
- March 2024: too few flights to score (93)
- April 2024: too few flights to score (90)
- May 2024: too few flights to score (92)
- June 2024: too few flights to score (90)
- July 2024: too few flights to score (91)
- August 2024: too few flights to score (90)
- September 2024: too few flights to score (90)
- October 2024: too few flights to score (117)
- November 2024: too few flights to score (81)
- December 2024: too few flights to score (74)
- January 2025: too few flights to score (75)
- February 2025: too few flights to score (68)
- March 2025: too few flights to score (89)
- April 2025: too few flights to score (86)
- May 2025: too few flights to score (92)
- June 2025: too few flights to score (116)
- July 2025: 76.5% from 122 flights
- August 2025: 76.9% from 124 flights
- September 2025: 82.1% from 120 flights
- October 2025: 82.9% from 148 flights
- November 2025: too few flights to score (87)
- December 2025: too few flights to score (90)
- January 2026: too few flights to score (66)
- February 2026: too few flights to score (64)
- March 2026: too few flights to score (85)
- April 2026: too few flights to score (89)
- May 2026: too few flights to score (104)
- June 2026: too few flights to score (117)
- July 2026: 78.6% from 120 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 74.9% against 78.4% in the 12 months before — declining by 3.5 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 3,445 DFW → LEX 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