Route profile
DFW→MEM
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Dallas–Fort Worth to Memphis, 431 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 8% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 7,605 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
DFW → MEM arrives on time 70.8% of the time; the return trip, MEM → DFW, arrives on time 73.1% of the time, a 2.3-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
DFW → MEM spends 26.4 minutes on the ground on a 431-mile trip: 19.1 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at DFW and 7.3 minutes from touchdown to gate at MEM.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What sets this route apart
Where DFW to MEM differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
DFW to MEM struggles most at 10 PM: 45.1% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 22.4 points behind the 67.5% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 26.6 points.
Wednesday is the day DFW to MEM slips furthest against routes of similar length, 71.3% on time where they average 82.2%, 10.9 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 9.5 points.
In June, DFW to MEM runs 13.1 points below routes of similar length, 60.5% on time to 73.6%. Against all other routes the gap is 12.2 points.
American Airlines’ flights on DFW to MEM arrive on time 66.8% of the time, 7.9 points below the 74.7% it manages on its routes of similar length. Against all other routes the gap is 8.3 points.
DFW to MEM against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 10 PM departures | 45.1% | routes of similar length | 67.5% | −22.4 pts | 164 here, 34,588 there |
| Weekday: Wednesday | 71.3% | routes of similar length | 82.2% | −10.9 pts | 1,028 here, 223,289 there |
| Month: June | 60.5% | routes of similar length | 73.6% | −13.1 pts | 631 here, 132,414 there |
| Airline: American Airlines | 66.8% | routes of similar length | 74.7% | −7.9 pts | 5,068 here, 163,263 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 431 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.
DFW to MEM in context
This route against DFW and MEM as a whole, against similar routes from DFW, and against its own first year, July 2023 – July 2026.
Leaving DFW, DFW to MEM is on time 70.8% of the time, 2.3 points worse than the airport’s other departures at DFW (73.1%, from 929,704 flights).
Arriving at MEM, DFW to MEM is on time 70.8% of the time, 6.3 points worse than the airport’s other arrivals at MEM (77.1%, from 63,974 flights).
DFW to MEM arrived on time 67.7% of the time in its latest twelve months (August 2025 to July 2026), 5.8 points below the 73.5% of its first twelve (July 2023 to June 2024).
Of the 7,605 flights scheduled in hours with at least 120 flights, 9 PM is the busiest hour with 834 (11.0%), 59.2% of them on time, and 6 PM the quietest with 140 (1.8%), 64.7% of them on time.
Airport comparisons take this route’s flights out of the airport total. Length means within 15% of this route’s distance, with at least 3 other routes from the same origin. On-time gaps are stated at 2 points and 2 standard errors, cancellation gaps at 0.5 points and 2 standard errors, and every group needs 750 flights. These are differences in the flights counted, not causes.
Why DFW → MEM flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
DFW → MEM cancelled 194 of 7,605 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 39. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 90.7% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 43 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 194 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.
176 cancellations, 90.7% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
11 cancellations, 5.7% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
7 cancellations, 3.6% 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.
194 coded cancellations were recorded on DFW → MEM; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
63 min late
against a median of 1 min early
DFW → MEM has an average that understates its risk: a typical arrival is 1 min early, but the worst tenth are 64 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 7,605 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at MEM after arriving from DFW.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 46% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 28% | High risk |
| 60 min | 20% | High risk |
| 90 min | 11% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 6.5% | 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 2.55% of the time and diverts 0.05% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 7,407 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 63 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 7,605 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
DFW → MEM flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 84.2% of the time, against 56.8% for 9 PM–5 AM departures, a gap of 27.4 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 6 AM: too few flights to score
- 7 AM: 87.1% on time from 678 flights
- 8 AM: 81.8% on time from 830 flights
- 9 AM: 71.4% on time from 196 flights
- 10 AM: 82.4% on time from 658 flights
- 11 AM: 78.5% on time from 294 flights
- 12 PM: 78.6% on time from 224 flights
- 1 PM: 68.1% on time from 436 flights
- 2 PM: 76.3% on time from 505 flights
- 3 PM: 69.7% on time from 439 flights
- 4 PM: 72.3% on time from 414 flights
- 5 PM: 62.9% on time from 787 flights
- 6 PM: 64.7% on time from 140 flights
- 7 PM: 57.5% on time from 783 flights
- 8 PM: 57.2% on time from 221 flights
- 9 PM: 59.2% on time from 834 flights
- 10 PM: 45.1% on time from 166 flights
- 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why DFW → MEM 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 → MEM. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on DFW → MEM, at 51.6%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 84.2% of the time and 9 PM–5 AM departures 56.8%.
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 | 5,213 | 66.8% | 2.72% | 1 min | 12.9% |
| Envoy Air | 2,009 | 79.9% | 2.04% | -5 min | 5.8% |
| PSA Airlines | 266 | 78.4% | 2.63% | -3 min | 8.1% |
American Airlines flew 69.6% of the 7,488 flights listed.
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 Sunday the least, a gap of 11.1 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 71.4%
- Feb: 76.3%
- Mar: 70.2%
- Apr: 70.9%
- May: 66.2%
- Jun: 60.5%
- Jul: 61.4%
- Aug: 71.4%
- Sep: 80.2%
- Oct: 79.0%
- Nov: 73.8%
- Dec: 72.1%
June is historically the weakest month and September the strongest, a spread of 19.7 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 61.9% from 215 flights
- August 2023: 78.6% from 217 flights
- September 2023: 77.6% from 211 flights
- October 2023: 83.6% from 216 flights
- November 2023: 86.4% from 184 flights
- December 2023: 85.9% from 184 flights
- January 2024: 72.8% from 176 flights
- February 2024: 82.7% from 168 flights
- March 2024: 67.4% from 186 flights
- April 2024: 73.9% from 233 flights
- May 2024: 53.5% from 221 flights
- June 2024: 61.3% from 236 flights
- July 2024: 63.5% from 252 flights
- August 2024: 74.3% from 246 flights
- September 2024: 79.4% from 228 flights
- October 2024: 79.1% from 258 flights
- November 2024: 72.3% from 187 flights
- December 2024: 70.0% from 193 flights
- January 2025: 75.3% from 184 flights
- February 2025: 71.9% from 164 flights
- March 2025: 72.6% from 205 flights
- April 2025: 74.1% from 202 flights
- May 2025: 71.4% from 216 flights
- June 2025: 60.4% from 233 flights
- July 2025: 58.8% from 239 flights
- August 2025: 60.5% from 213 flights
- September 2025: 83.6% from 217 flights
- October 2025: 74.8% from 243 flights
- November 2025: 60.6% from 159 flights
- December 2025: 60.2% from 181 flights
- January 2026: 65.0% from 162 flights
- February 2026: 74.1% from 159 flights
- March 2026: 70.4% from 209 flights
- April 2026: 64.7% from 206 flights
- May 2026: 73.2% from 207 flights
- June 2026: 59.8% from 193 flights
- July 2026: 61.2% from 202 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 67.7% against 71.6% in the 12 months before — declining by 3.9 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 7,605 DFW → MEM 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