DFW → ORD Flight Reliability

Right now

Origin · DFWNo disruption reported

Aviation weather is not currently a factor.

Updated 08:53 UTC

Dallas–Fort Worth airport profile →

Destination · ORDNo disruption reported

Aviation weather is not currently a factor.

Updated 08:51 UTC

Chicago airport profile →

Route reliability

July 2023 – July 2026

Route Reliability Score

48/ 100Fair

Better than 12% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)

Calculated from 20,478 flights. How this is calculated

On-time arrivals

72.9%

14,568 of 19,988

Cancellation rate

2.02%

413 cancelled

Median arrival delay

-3 min

Average 14.4 min

Severe delays

10.7%

60+ minutes late

Delay when late

78 min

Average, when 15+ min late

Flights analyzed

20,478

5 carriers

DFW → ORD arrives on time 72.9% of the time; the return trip, ORD → DFW, arrives on time 73.0% of the time.

DFW → ORD spends 34.4 minutes on the ground on an 802-mile trip: 18.6 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at DFW and 15.8 minutes from touchdown to gate at ORD.

Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026

Why DFW → ORD flights are cancelled

July 2023 – July 2026

DFW → ORD cancelled 413 of 20,478 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 50. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 76.0% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 65 scheduled flights.

Share of cancellations

Weather76.0%

Airline16.7%

Air traffic7.3%

Security0.0%

Of 413 cancelled departures carrying a reason code.

What each reason means

Extreme weather1 in 65

Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.

314 cancellations, 76.0% of the total.

The airline1 in 297

Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.

69 cancellations, 16.7% of the total.

The air traffic system1 in 683

Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.

30 cancellations, 7.3% of the total.

Security—

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.

413 coded cancellations were recorded on DFW → ORD; the section appears from 50.

When it goes wrong

July 2023 – July 2026

One arrival in ten is worse than

64 min late

against a median of 3 min early

Arrived an hour or more late10.7%

Typical delay when late78 min

Cancelled2.02%

Landed somewhere else0.38%

DFW → ORD has an average that understates its risk: a typical arrival is 3 min early, but the worst tenth are 67 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 20,478 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.

Will your connection be tight enough?

Layovers at ORD after arriving from DFW.

Connection buffer and chance of missing by layover length, DFW → ORD arrivals
Connection time	Chance of missing	Reads as
30 min	43%	Likely to miss
45 min	26%	High risk
60 min	18%	High risk
90 min	11%	Some risk
120 min	7.0%	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 2.02% of the time and diverts 0.38% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.

Chance of missing is the share of 19,988 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 64 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 20,478 operations.

Any other layover length: connection checker.

Best time to fly

DFW → ORD flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 83.3% of the time, against 61.7% for 6–9 PM departures, a gap of 21.6 percentage points.

By day and hour

On-time arrival rate for each weekday and scheduled departure hour, in local time at the departure airport (DFW).

Hour of departure matters more than day of the week: hourly averages sit a typical 9.2 points from the route-wide rate, weekday averages 2.0 points.

On-time arrival rate for DFW to ORD by weekday and scheduled departure hour, local time. Each button reads out one slot.
Hour	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
5 AM–6 AM
6 AM–7 AM
7 AM–8 AM
8 AM–9 AM
9 AM–10 AM
10 AM–11 AM
11 AM–12 PM
12 PM–1 PM
1 PM–2 PM
2 PM–3 PM
3 PM–4 PM
4 PM–5 PM
5 PM–6 PM
6 PM–7 PM
7 PM–8 PM
8 PM–9 PM
9 PM–10 PM

On-time rate, % · stronger color, fewer on time

40–49
50–59
60–69
70–79
80–89
90–99

Fewer than 120 flights, not scored

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · On time is arrival within 15 minutes of schedule. Cells round to whole percentages; the table shows one decimal.

No slot is named best or worst: too few reach 500 flights. Departures after 10 PM (336 flights) are not drawn: no slot in those hours has enough flights to score.

View as tableHide table

On-time arrival rate (%) with flights beneath, by scheduled departure hour and weekday for DFW to ORD. A dash means fewer than 120 flights, which are not scored.
Hour	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
5 AM–6 AM	83.6% on time136 flights	119 flights, too few to score	106 flights, too few to score	91.9% on time139 flights	87.8% on time141 flights	82.4% on time133 flights	82.4% on time132 flights
6 AM–7 AM	83.9% on time203 flights	81.1% on time169 flights	84.1% on time177 flights	85.9% on time193 flights	81.7% on time195 flights	84.9% on time195 flights	82.0% on time195 flights
7 AM–8 AM	82.3% on time340 flights	80.7% on time305 flights	83.9% on time308 flights	88.2% on time326 flights	80.8% on time340 flights	82.3% on time309 flights	79.6% on time327 flights
8 AM–9 AM	83.5% on time176 flights	81.4% on time169 flights	75.7% on time173 flights	86.5% on time173 flights	81.7% on time175 flights	84.4% on time172 flights	80.0% on time173 flights
9 AM–10 AM	104 flights, too few to score	92 flights, too few to score	88 flights, too few to score	101 flights, too few to score	99 flights, too few to score	79 flights, too few to score	112 flights, too few to score
10 AM–11 AM	78.3% on time287 flights	81.1% on time285 flights	80.4% on time287 flights	84.5% on time289 flights	84.3% on time286 flights	81.8% on time236 flights	76.9% on time273 flights
11 AM–12 PM	96 flights, too few to score	102 flights, too few to score	97 flights, too few to score	93 flights, too few to score	101 flights, too few to score	94 flights, too few to score	92 flights, too few to score
12 PM–1 PM	70.6% on time178 flights	78.5% on time165 flights	74.3% on time169 flights	72.9% on time157 flights	72.2% on time173 flights	70.6% on time155 flights	67.9% on time165 flights
1 PM–2 PM	115 flights, too few to score	72.0% on time145 flights	115 flights, too few to score	115 flights, too few to score	61.2% on time124 flights	66.9% on time132 flights	114 flights, too few to score
2 PM–3 PM	77.0% on time241 flights	72.9% on time243 flights	72.0% on time260 flights	74.7% on time249 flights	67.2% on time243 flights	76.5% on time227 flights	67.6% on time249 flights
3 PM–4 PM	95 flights, too few to score	94 flights, too few to score	91 flights, too few to score	90 flights, too few to score	95 flights, too few to score	100 flights, too few to score	95 flights, too few to score
4 PM–5 PM	65.8% on time239 flights	72.3% on time242 flights	63.7% on time236 flights	58.6% on time249 flights	62.7% on time245 flights	65.5% on time208 flights	61.2% on time210 flights
5 PM–6 PM	63.2% on time204 flights	65.0% on time208 flights	61.5% on time209 flights	65.3% on time206 flights	62.4% on time208 flights	65.9% on time177 flights	56.6% on time211 flights
6 PM–7 PM	53.4% on time167 flights	63.6% on time161 flights	60.9% on time161 flights	54.4% on time172 flights	46.2% on time162 flights	60.6% on time167 flights	48.9% on time182 flights
7 PM–8 PM	65.4% on time135 flights	79.5% on time127 flights	69.6% on time127 flights	67.5% on time128 flights	63.0% on time130 flights	82 flights, too few to score	62.3% on time121 flights
8 PM–9 PM	58.5% on time127 flights	95 flights, too few to score	106 flights, too few to score	66.1% on time127 flights	66.4% on time120 flights	92 flights, too few to score	60.3% on time128 flights
9 PM–10 PM	69.9% on time128 flights	80.9% on time120 flights	75.6% on time124 flights	65.8% on time127 flights	74.2% on time129 flights	71.2% on time124 flights	55.9% on time135 flights

By departure window

5–9 AM83.3%

9 AM–12 PM79.7%

12–3 PM70.7%

3–6 PM63.3%

6–9 PM61.7%

9 PM–5 AM66.8%

By departure hour

12 AM

3 AM

6 AM

9 AM

12 PM

3 PM

6 PM

9 PM

Why DFW → ORD runs late

July 2023 – July 2026

Late-arriving aircraft43.6%

the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late

The airline27.0%

crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control

Air traffic control23.3%

airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control

Weather6.1%

weather severe enough to stop this flight specifically

Security0.1%

screening or terminal security incidents

Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for DFW → ORD. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.

Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on DFW → ORD, at 43.6%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 83.3% of the time and 6–9 PM departures 61.7%.

How this route holds up in bad weather

July 2023 – July 2026

Bad weather raises cancellations by a similar amount at both ends of DFW to ORD: 7.0 times the normal rate at DFW and 5.5 times at ORD. Cancelled in bad weather against normal hours: DFW 10.4% against 1.5%, ORD 6.5% against 1.2%. Flights that did leave ORD in bad weather arrived on time 55.7% of the time, against 77.1% in normal hours.

Bad weather and normal hours at the airports

Scheduled departures, July 2023 – July 2026

Departures from DFW and ORD in hours of bad weather and in normal hours
Departures from	DFW	ORD
Cancelled in bad weather	10.4%	6.5%
Cancelled in normal hours	1.5%	1.2%
Arrived on time, bad weather	56.4%	55.7%
Arrived on time, normal hours	74.4%	77.1%
Departures in bad weather	72,822	104,455

Of the carriers on this route, United Airlines (4.8% cancelled against 10.6% for the other carriers at DFW) cancelled the fewest departures from DFW in bad weather and Envoy Air (11.9% cancelled against 9.9% for the other carriers at DFW) the most.

This route’s airlines in bad weather at DFW

All departures from DFW

Cancellation rates in bad weather at DFW for the airlines that fly DFW to ORD, against the other carriers at DFW in the same months
Airline	Bad-weather departures	Cancelled	Other carriers
United Airlines	2,209	4.8%below the others	10.6%
Frontier Airlines	2,192	5.9%below the others	10.5%
Spirit Airlines	1,826	5.4%below the others	9.9%
American Airlines	38,491	10.0%about level	10.9%
Envoy Air	15,244	11.9%above the others	9.9%

These are airport figures, not route figures: every scheduled departure from DFW and ORD, to any destination, in hours the weather report called bad. The airline rows count each carrier’s departures from DFW on every route.

Weather source and limits. In full: DFW (airlines), ORD, What Weather Costs Each Airport, Who Cancels More When the Weather Turns, Airports That Change Places When Weather Turns.

Airlines on this route

Carriers with at least 200 flights, by the airline that operated each one.

Airlines on this route
Carrier	Flights	On time	Cancelled	Median delay	Severe
American Airlines	12,548	71.5%	2.23%	-3 min	11.0%
United Airlines	5,911	77.0%	1.39%	-5 min	9.8%
Frontier Airlines	954	64.0%	3.04%	1 min	15.4%
Spirit Airlines	796	78.0%	1.51%	-4 min	7.2%
Envoy Air	238	62.4%	4.20%	3 min	17.3%

American Airlines flew 61.4% of the 20,447 flights listed. Envoy Air cancelled 4.20% of its flights here against 1.39% for United Airlines.

Spirit Airlines arrived on time 15.6 percentage points more often than Envoy Air on this route.

Weekly and seasonal patterns

By day of week

Mon72.2%

Tue75.9%

Wed73.4%

Thu73.7%

Fri72.0%

Sat74.3%

Sun68.9%

Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 7.0 percentage points.

By month

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

June is historically the weakest month and February the strongest, a spread of 20.9 percentage points.

Reliability over time

July 2023 – July 2026

24

25

26

Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 68.2% against 74.5% in the 12 months before — declining by 6.3 percentage points.

Data and methodology

Calculated by FlyerIntel from 20,478 DFW → ORD 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

Analysis last recomputed September 26, 2026

DFW airport ORD airport Return direction ORD → DFW

DFW→ORD

Right now

Route reliability

Why DFW → ORD flights are cancelled

Share of cancellations

What each reason means

When it goes wrong

Will your connection be tight enough?

Best time to fly

By day and hour

By departure window

By departure hour

Why DFW → ORD runs late

How this route holds up in bad weather

Bad weather and normal hours at the airports

This route’s airlines in bad weather at DFW

Airlines on this route

Weekly and seasonal patterns

By day of week

By month

Reliability over time

Data and methodology