DFW → SLC 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 · SLCNo disruption reported

Aviation weather is not currently a factor.

Updated 07:54 UTC

Salt Lake City 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 12,038 flights. How this is calculated

On-time arrivals

71.8%

8,478 of 11,805

Cancellation rate

1.77%

213 cancelled

Median arrival delay

-2 min

Average 15.9 min

Severe delays

10.8%

60+ minutes late

Delay when late

77 min

Average, when 15+ min late

Flights analyzed

12,038

3 carriers

DFW → SLC arrives on time 71.8% of the time; the return trip, SLC → DFW, arrives on time 77.9% of the time, a 6.1-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.

DFW → SLC spends 26.5 minutes on the ground on a 989-mile trip: 19.0 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at DFW and 7.5 minutes from touchdown to gate at SLC.

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

What stands out

On-time performance swings unusually widely by time of day here, wider than 95% of 4,023 comparable routes.

87.8% on time for 5–9 AM departures, against 54.2% for 9 PM–5 AM.

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 4,023 in the comparison.

Why DFW → SLC flights are cancelled

July 2023 – July 2026

DFW → SLC cancelled 213 of 12,038 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 57. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 80.3% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 70 scheduled flights.

Share of cancellations

Weather80.3%

Airline19.7%

Air traffic0.0%

Security0.0%

Of 213 cancelled departures carrying a reason code.

What each reason means

Extreme weather1 in 70

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

171 cancellations, 80.3% of the total.

The airline1 in 287

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

42 cancellations, 19.7% of the total.

The air traffic system—

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

0 cancellations, 0.0% 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.

213 coded cancellations were recorded on DFW → SLC; 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 2 min early

Arrived an hour or more late10.8%

Typical delay when late77 min

Cancelled1.77%

Landed somewhere else0.17%

DFW → SLC has an average that understates its risk: a typical arrival is 2 min early, but the worst tenth are 66 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 12,038 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.

Will your connection be tight enough?

Layovers at SLC after arriving from DFW.

Connection buffer and chance of missing by layover length, DFW → SLC arrivals
Connection time	Chance of missing	Reads as
30 min	45%	Likely to miss
45 min	27%	High risk
60 min	19%	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 1.77% of the time and diverts 0.17% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.

Chance of missing is the share of 11,805 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 12,038 operations.

Any other layover length: connection checker.

Best time to fly

DFW → SLC flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 87.8% of the time, against 54.2% for 9 PM–5 AM departures, a gap of 33.6 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 11.2 points from the route-wide rate, weekday averages 1.5 points.

On-time arrival rate for DFW to SLC by weekday and scheduled departure hour, local time. Each button reads out one slot.
Hour	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
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

50–59
60–69
70–79
80–89

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 before 8 AM (596 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 SLC. A dash means fewer than 120 flights, which are not scored.
Hour	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
8 AM–9 AM	87.3% on time208 flights	88.8% on time218 flights	84.6% on time209 flights	89.4% on time207 flights	88.1% on time205 flights	82.8% on time205 flights	86.4% on time203 flights
9 AM–10 AM	89 flights, too few to score	91 flights, too few to score	91 flights, too few to score	101 flights, too few to score	92 flights, too few to score	96 flights, too few to score	103 flights, too few to score
10 AM–11 AM	30 flights, too few to score	31 flights, too few to score	31 flights, too few to score	27 flights, too few to score	29 flights, too few to score	29 flights, too few to score	29 flights, too few to score
11 AM–12 PM	72.7% on time131 flights	68.7% on time134 flights	66.7% on time130 flights	65.7% on time135 flights	63.7% on time137 flights	72.1% on time132 flights	70.5% on time134 flights
12 PM–1 PM	82.9% on time165 flights	83.5% on time161 flights	85.1% on time161 flights	85.4% on time166 flights	79.8% on time164 flights	83.3% on time164 flights	75.3% on time168 flights
1 PM–2 PM	62.4% on time151 flights	70.1% on time152 flights	65.3% on time155 flights	70.5% on time162 flights	65.3% on time152 flights	64.3% on time148 flights	64.1% on time160 flights
2 PM–3 PM	80.5% on time177 flights	82.0% on time179 flights	80.5% on time175 flights	81.7% on time171 flights	83.7% on time179 flights	79.4% on time174 flights	79.2% on time170 flights
3 PM–4 PM	27 flights, too few to score	27 flights, too few to score	33 flights, too few to score	27 flights, too few to score	30 flights, too few to score	41 flights, too few to score	24 flights, too few to score
4 PM–5 PM	8 flights, too few to score	11 flights, too few to score	7 flights, too few to score	11 flights, too few to score	7 flights, too few to score	12 flights, too few to score	12 flights, too few to score
5 PM–6 PM	59.9% on time174 flights	68.2% on time153 flights	62.1% on time148 flights	58.3% on time157 flights	55.0% on time162 flights	60.5% on time170 flights	63.2% on time160 flights
6 PM–7 PM	67.6% on time178 flights	73.3% on time164 flights	62.2% on time164 flights	60.2% on time168 flights	69.4% on time174 flights	74.2% on time183 flights	63.4% on time168 flights
7 PM–8 PM	44 flights, too few to score	55 flights, too few to score	52 flights, too few to score	44 flights, too few to score	51 flights, too few to score	28 flights, too few to score	53 flights, too few to score
8 PM–9 PM	51 flights, too few to score	46 flights, too few to score	50 flights, too few to score	52 flights, too few to score	54 flights, too few to score	45 flights, too few to score	53 flights, too few to score
9 PM–10 PM	103 flights, too few to score	112 flights, too few to score	101 flights, too few to score	95 flights, too few to score	98 flights, too few to score	104 flights, too few to score	98 flights, too few to score
10 PM–11 PM	114 flights, too few to score	80 flights, too few to score	96 flights, too few to score	57.1% on time131 flights	111 flights, too few to score	77 flights, too few to score	50.0% on time133 flights

By departure window

5–9 AM87.8%

9 AM–12 PM71.4%

12–3 PM76.8%

3–6 PM62.8%

6–9 PM65.6%

9 PM–5 AM54.2%

By departure hour

12 AM

3 AM

6 AM

9 AM

12 PM

3 PM

6 PM

9 PM

Why DFW → SLC runs late

July 2023 – July 2026

Late-arriving aircraft50.5%

the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late

The airline35.8%

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

Air traffic control7.8%

airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control

Weather5.8%

weather severe enough to stop this flight specifically

Security<0.1%

screening or terminal security incidents

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

Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on DFW → SLC, at 50.5%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 87.8% of the time and 9 PM–5 AM departures 54.2%.

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 barely any change at SLC. Cancelled in bad weather against normal hours: DFW 10.4% against 1.5%, SLC 0.6% against 0.6%. 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 SLC in hours of bad weather and in normal hours
Departures from	DFW	SLC
Cancelled in bad weather	10.4%	0.6%
Cancelled in normal hours	1.5%	0.6%
Arrived on time, bad weather	56.4%	71.0%
Arrived on time, normal hours	74.4%	84.8%
Departures in bad weather	72,822	20,014

Delta Air Lines (4.2% cancelled against 10.4% for the other carriers at DFW) and Frontier Airlines (5.9% cancelled against 10.5% for the other carriers at DFW) cancelled fewer departures from DFW in bad weather than the other carriers there did in the same months. None of the route’s other carriers was clearly worse.

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 SLC, against the other carriers at DFW in the same months
Airline	Bad-weather departures	Cancelled	Other carriers
Delta Air Lines	2,949	4.2%below the others	10.4%
Frontier Airlines	2,192	5.9%below the others	10.5%
American Airlines	38,491	10.0%about level	10.9%

These are airport figures, not route figures: every scheduled departure from DFW and SLC, 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), SLC, 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	6,793	64.1%	2.37%	3 min	13.5%
Delta Air Lines	4,821	82.5%	0.91%	-7 min	7.0%
Frontier Airlines	415	72.2%	1.93%	-6 min	11.8%

American Airlines flew 56.5% of the 12,029 flights listed. American Airlines cancelled 2.37% of its flights here against 0.91% for Delta Air Lines.

Delta Air Lines arrived on time 18.4 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
DL1291 Delta Air Lines	8:15 AM	963	88.6%
AA2993 American Airlines	9:00 PM	620	56.7%

Weekly and seasonal patterns

By day of week

Mon71.5%

Tue75.1%

Wed72.2%

Thu71.3%

Fri71.1%

Sat71.8%

Sun69.9%

Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 5.2 percentage points.

By month

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

July is historically the weakest month and February the strongest, a spread of 21.3 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 70.0% against 72.7% in the 12 months before — declining by 2.7 percentage points.

Data and methodology

Calculated by FlyerIntel from 12,038 DFW → SLC 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 SLC airport Return direction SLC → DFW

DFW→SLC

Right now

Route reliability

What stands out

Why DFW → SLC 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 → SLC 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