DFW → SAT Flight Reliability

Right now

Origin · DFWNo disruption reported

Aviation weather is not currently a factor.

Updated 07:53 UTC

Dallas–Fort Worth airport profile →

Destination · SATNo disruption reported

Aviation weather is not currently a factor.

Updated 07:51 UTC

San Antonio airport profile →

Route reliability

July 2023 – July 2026

Route Reliability Score

34/ 100Weak

Better than 2% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)

Calculated from 13,621 flights. How this is calculated

On-time arrivals

68.0%

9,005 of 13,236

Cancellation rate

2.73%

372 cancelled

Median arrival delay

-1 min

Average 20.8 min

Severe delays

13.8%

60+ minutes late

Delay when late

80 min

Average, when 15+ min late

Flights analyzed

13,621

4 carriers

DFW → SAT arrives on time 68.0% of the time; the return trip, SAT → DFW, arrives on time 75.7% of the time, a 7.7-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.

DFW → SAT spends 22.9 minutes on the ground on a 247-mile trip: 17.9 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at DFW and 4.9 minutes from touchdown to gate at SAT.

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

What stands out

This route's worst arrivals run unusually far past its typical one, a bigger gap than 97% of 4,598 comparable routes.

A typical arrival is 1 min early, but the worst tenth run 80 minutes worse than that.

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 4,598 in the comparison.

Why DFW → SAT flights are cancelled

July 2023 – July 2026

DFW → SAT cancelled 372 of 13,621 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 37. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 87.6% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 42 scheduled flights.

Share of cancellations

Weather87.6%

Airline9.4%

Air traffic3.0%

Security0.0%

Of 372 cancelled departures carrying a reason code.

What each reason means

Extreme weather1 in 42

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

326 cancellations, 87.6% of the total.

The airline1 in 389

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

35 cancellations, 9.4% of the total.

The air traffic system1 in 1,238

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

11 cancellations, 3.0% 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.

372 coded cancellations were recorded on DFW → SAT; the section appears from 50.

When it goes wrong

July 2023 – July 2026

One arrival in ten is worse than

79 min late

against a median of 1 min early

Arrived an hour or more late13.8%

Typical delay when late80 min

Cancelled2.73%

Landed somewhere else0.10%

DFW → SAT has an average that understates its risk: a typical arrival is 1 min early, but the worst tenth are 80 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 13,621 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.

Will your connection be tight enough?

Layovers at SAT after arriving from DFW.

Connection buffer and chance of missing by layover length, DFW → SAT arrivals
Connection time	Chance of missing	Reads as
30 min	48%	Likely to miss
45 min	31%	Likely to miss
60 min	23%	High risk
90 min	14%	Some risk
120 min	8.5%	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 2.73% of the time and diverts 0.10% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.

Chance of missing is the share of 13,236 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 79 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 13,621 operations.

Any other layover length: connection checker.

Best time to fly

DFW → SAT flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 81.9% of the time, against 56.2% for 6–9 PM departures, a gap of 25.7 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 9.7 points from the route-wide rate, weekday averages 2.5 points.

On-time arrival rate for DFW to SAT by weekday and scheduled departure hour, local time. Each button reads out one slot.
Hour	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
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
10 PM–11 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 11 PM (4 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 SAT. A dash means fewer than 120 flights, which are not scored.
Hour	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
7 AM–8 AM	76.5% on time156 flights	89.9% on time130 flights	88.8% on time121 flights	84.2% on time152 flights	85.8% on time157 flights	81.5% on time138 flights	85.4% on time138 flights
8 AM–9 AM	83.1% on time157 flights	78.7% on time158 flights	81.4% on time158 flights	84.1% on time160 flights	76.4% on time160 flights	78.3% on time149 flights	76.1% on time161 flights
9 AM–10 AM	58 flights, too few to score	58 flights, too few to score	59 flights, too few to score	56 flights, too few to score	58 flights, too few to score	51 flights, too few to score	60 flights, too few to score
10 AM–11 AM	75.2% on time140 flights	81.3% on time131 flights	78.4% on time141 flights	77.9% on time142 flights	79.3% on time142 flights	80.7% on time144 flights	73.2% on time141 flights
11 AM–12 PM	27 flights, too few to score	28 flights, too few to score	28 flights, too few to score	29 flights, too few to score	28 flights, too few to score	20 flights, too few to score	25 flights, too few to score
12 PM–1 PM	119 flights, too few to score	118 flights, too few to score	78.2% on time121 flights	116 flights, too few to score	119 flights, too few to score	117 flights, too few to score	119 flights, too few to score
1 PM–2 PM	86 flights, too few to score	90 flights, too few to score	88 flights, too few to score	90 flights, too few to score	89 flights, too few to score	82 flights, too few to score	88 flights, too few to score
2 PM–3 PM	65.8% on time160 flights	72.4% on time161 flights	70.9% on time161 flights	67.3% on time155 flights	70.3% on time160 flights	68.9% on time140 flights	63.0% on time160 flights
3 PM–4 PM	107 flights, too few to score	103 flights, too few to score	100 flights, too few to score	100 flights, too few to score	104 flights, too few to score	95 flights, too few to score	105 flights, too few to score
4 PM–5 PM	67.1% on time146 flights	71.4% on time148 flights	63.7% on time149 flights	58.5% on time139 flights	62.3% on time143 flights	65.2% on time140 flights	55.5% on time140 flights
5 PM–6 PM	63.6% on time138 flights	63.0% on time126 flights	65.4% on time134 flights	63.2% on time139 flights	63.8% on time129 flights	68.1% on time123 flights	53.3% on time127 flights
6 PM–7 PM	60.8% on time149 flights	62.8% on time145 flights	58.6% on time143 flights	56.7% on time156 flights	61.6% on time155 flights	56.8% on time152 flights	55.9% on time158 flights
7 PM–8 PM	50.8% on time135 flights	51.6% on time130 flights	55.7% on time132 flights	56.4% on time144 flights	53.0% on time135 flights	64.8% on time132 flights	40.8% on time148 flights
8 PM–9 PM	54.7% on time143 flights	60.8% on time133 flights	58.7% on time130 flights	58.9% on time145 flights	56.9% on time138 flights	49.6% on time133 flights	54.4% on time151 flights
9 PM–10 PM	61.8% on time138 flights	67.9% on time134 flights	74.4% on time138 flights	53.2% on time127 flights	69.0% on time134 flights	56.5% on time127 flights	51.7% on time127 flights
10 PM–11 PM	61.9% on time130 flights	90 flights, too few to score	107 flights, too few to score	62.3% on time158 flights	61.1% on time130 flights	93 flights, too few to score	54.5% on time162 flights

By departure window

5–9 AM81.9%

9 AM–12 PM79.1%

12–3 PM71.3%

3–6 PM65.0%

6–9 PM56.2%

9 PM–5 AM61.4%

By departure hour

12 AM

3 AM

6 AM

9 AM

12 PM

3 PM

6 PM

9 PM

Why DFW → SAT runs late

July 2023 – July 2026

Late-arriving aircraft52.8%

the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late

The airline31.8%

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

Air traffic control8.4%

airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control

Weather7.0%

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 → SAT. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.

Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on DFW → SAT, at 52.8%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 81.9% of the time and 6–9 PM departures 56.2%.

How this route holds up in bad weather

July 2023 – July 2026

The harder-hit end is the one the flight leaves from, where a cancellation keeps it from departing at all. Bad weather cancels 7.0 times the normal rate at DFW against 1.6 times at SAT. Cancelled in bad weather against normal hours: DFW 10.4% against 1.5%, SAT 1.7% against 1.1%. Flights that did leave DFW in bad weather arrived on time 56.4% of the time, against 74.4% in normal hours.

Bad weather and normal hours at the airports

Scheduled departures, July 2023 – July 2026

Departures from DFW and SAT in hours of bad weather and in normal hours
Departures from	DFW	SAT
Cancelled in bad weather	10.4%	1.7%
Cancelled in normal hours	1.5%	1.1%
Arrived on time, bad weather	56.4%	82.0%
Arrived on time, normal hours	74.4%	81.0%
Departures in bad weather	72,822	10,996

Of the carriers on this route, Spirit Airlines (5.4% cancelled against 9.9% for the other carriers at DFW) cancelled the fewest departures from DFW in bad weather and SkyWest Airlines (15.0% 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 SAT, against the other carriers at DFW in the same months
Airline	Bad-weather departures	Cancelled	Other carriers
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%
SkyWest Airlines	5,926	15.0%above the others	9.9%

These are airport figures, not route figures: every scheduled departure from DFW and SAT, 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), SAT, 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	11,666	66.8%	2.61%	0 min	14.7%
Envoy Air	1,161	76.6%	3.53%	-3 min	7.1%
SkyWest Airlines	572	75.6%	3.15%	-7 min	10.5%
Spirit Airlines	217	70.8%	3.69%	0 min	11.0%

American Airlines flew 85.7% of the 13,616 flights listed. Spirit Airlines cancelled 3.69% of its flights here against 2.61% for American Airlines.

Envoy Air arrived on time 9.8 percentage points more often than American Airlines on this route.

Flights on this route

Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.

Flights on this route
Flight	Scheduled	Operations	On time
AA1406 American Airlines	8:40 PM	1,069	56.7%

Weekly and seasonal patterns

By day of week

Mon67.1%

Tue71.1%

Wed70.7%

Thu67.9%

Fri68.8%

Sat67.7%

Sun63.2%

Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 7.9 percentage points.

By month

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

June is historically the weakest month and October the strongest, a spread of 19.6 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 67.0% against 68.3% in the 12 months before — broadly unchanged.

Data and methodology

Calculated by FlyerIntel from 13,621 DFW → SAT 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 SAT airport Return direction SAT → DFW

DFW→SAT

Right now

Route reliability

What stands out

Why DFW → SAT 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 → SAT 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

Flights on this route

Weekly and seasonal patterns

By day of week

By month

Reliability over time

Data and methodology