Route profile
DFW→MSY
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Dallas–Fort Worth to New Orleans, 447 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 2% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 9,063 flights. How this is calculated
DFW → MSY arrives on time 67.5% of the time; the return trip, MSY → DFW, arrives on time 72.2% of the time, a 4.6-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
DFW → MSY spends 23.6 minutes on the ground on a 447-mile trip: 18.1 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at DFW and 5.5 minutes from touchdown to gate at MSY.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
Reliability here swings unusually widely by season, a wider month-to-month spread than 93% of 3,357 comparable routes.
78.5% on time in a typical February, against 53.4% in July.
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 3,357 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where DFW to MSY differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
DFW to MSY struggles most at 6 PM: 50.6% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 18.4 points behind the 69.0% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 18 points.
Wednesday is the day DFW to MSY slips furthest against routes of similar length, 68.8% on time where they average 82.1%, 13.3 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 12 points.
In June, DFW to MSY runs 17 points below routes of similar length, 56.5% on time to 73.5%. Against all other routes the gap is 16.2 points.
Spirit Airlines’ flights on DFW to MSY arrive on time 65.1% of the time, 12.3 points below the 77.4% it manages on its routes of similar length. Against all other routes the gap is 10.2 points.
DFW to MSY against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 6 PM departures | 50.6% | routes of similar length | 69.0% | −18.4 pts | 417 here, 87,071 there |
| Weekday: Wednesday | 68.8% | routes of similar length | 82.1% | −13.3 pts | 1,167 here, 218,593 there |
| Month: June | 56.5% | routes of similar length | 73.5% | −17.0 pts | 695 here, 128,711 there |
| Airline: Spirit Airlines | 65.1% | routes of similar length | 77.4% | −12.3 pts | 747 here, 53,013 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 447 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 → MSY flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
DFW → MSY cancelled 247 of 9,063 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 37. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 87.4% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 42 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 247 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.
216 cancellations, 87.4% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
22 cancellations, 8.9% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
9 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.
247 coded cancellations were recorded on DFW → MSY; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
73 min late
against a median of 0 min early
DFW → MSY has an average that understates its risk: a typical arrival is 0 min early, but the worst tenth are 73 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 9,063 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at MSY after arriving from DFW.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 49% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 32% | Likely to miss |
| 60 min | 23% | High risk |
| 90 min | 12% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 7.6% | 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 2.73% of the time and diverts 0.26% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 8,792 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 73 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 9,063 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
DFW → MSY flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 81.5% of the time, against 54.9% for 6–9 PM departures, a gap of 26.6 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 6 AM: too few flights to score
- 7 AM: 82.6% on time from 949 flights
- 8 AM: 80.5% on time from 988 flights
- 9 AM: 77.3% on time from 381 flights
- 10 AM: 77.8% on time from 240 flights
- 11 AM: 70.6% on time from 612 flights
- 12 PM: 77.1% on time from 381 flights
- 1 PM: 71.4% on time from 610 flights
- 2 PM: 64.7% on time from 333 flights
- 3 PM: 59.0% on time from 930 flights
- 4 PM: 66.5% on time from 204 flights
- 5 PM: 58.2% on time from 844 flights
- 6 PM: 50.6% on time from 442 flights
- 7 PM: 60.4% on time from 575 flights
- 8 PM: 49.6% on time from 256 flights
- 9 PM: 62.1% on time from 1,029 flights
- 10 PM: 50.8% on time from 191 flights
- 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why DFW → MSY 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 → MSY. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on DFW → MSY, at 50.8%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 81.5% of the time and 6–9 PM departures 54.9%.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Airlines | 7,298 | 66.2% | 2.66% | 1 min | 13.4% |
| Envoy Air | 800 | 80.3% | 3.50% | -5 min | 5.0% |
| Spirit Airlines | 768 | 65.1% | 2.47% | 1 min | 13.8% |
American Airlines flew 82.3% of the 8,866 flights listed. Envoy Air cancelled 3.50% of its flights here against 2.47% for Spirit Airlines.
Envoy Air arrived on time 15.2 percentage points more often than Spirit Airlines on this route.
Flights on this route
Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.
| Flight | Scheduled | Operations | On time |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA1455 American Airlines | 9:43 PM | 956 | 57.6% |
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 9.0 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 69.1%
- Feb: 78.5%
- Mar: 66.5%
- Apr: 65.8%
- May: 59.8%
- Jun: 56.5%
- Jul: 53.4%
- Aug: 64.0%
- Sep: 76.7%
- Oct: 78.0%
- Nov: 77.4%
- Dec: 71.7%
July is historically the weakest month and February the strongest, a spread of 25.1 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 59.8% from 273 flights
- August 2023: 66.1% from 260 flights
- September 2023: 77.1% from 209 flights
- October 2023: 75.9% from 252 flights
- November 2023: 82.4% from 256 flights
- December 2023: 81.2% from 226 flights
- January 2024: 63.0% from 214 flights
- February 2024: 78.7% from 244 flights
- March 2024: 62.1% from 281 flights
- April 2024: 60.5% from 260 flights
- May 2024: 53.2% from 275 flights
- June 2024: 51.4% from 256 flights
- July 2024: 47.5% from 285 flights
- August 2024: 66.7% from 232 flights
- September 2024: 76.7% from 232 flights
- October 2024: 85.9% from 277 flights
- November 2024: 75.7% from 236 flights
- December 2024: 69.6% from 231 flights
- January 2025: 76.0% from 230 flights
- February 2025: 75.8% from 244 flights
- March 2025: 67.6% from 273 flights
- April 2025: 66.2% from 253 flights
- May 2025: 58.1% from 258 flights
- June 2025: 60.6% from 250 flights
- July 2025: 49.6% from 252 flights
- August 2025: 58.8% from 236 flights
- September 2025: 76.4% from 233 flights
- October 2025: 71.7% from 258 flights
- November 2025: 73.4% from 230 flights
- December 2025: 63.5% from 201 flights
- January 2026: 68.7% from 206 flights
- February 2026: 81.3% from 211 flights
- March 2026: 70.5% from 249 flights
- April 2026: 70.8% from 252 flights
- May 2026: 68.7% from 243 flights
- June 2026: 58.2% from 227 flights
- July 2026: 56.6% from 258 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 68.1% against 69.0% in the 12 months before — broadly unchanged.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 9,063 DFW → MSY 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