Route profile
DFW→STL
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Dallas–Fort Worth to St. Louis, 550 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 7% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 7,163 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
DFW → STL arrives on time 71.6% of the time; the return trip, STL → DFW, arrives on time 74.8% of the time, a 3.3-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
DFW → STL spends 25.5 minutes on the ground on a 550-mile trip: 18.2 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at DFW and 7.2 minutes from touchdown to gate at STL.
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 90% of 4,598 comparable routes.
A typical arrival is 2 min early, but the worst tenth run 71 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.
What sets this route apart
Where DFW to STL differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
DFW to STL struggles most at 3 PM: 55.3% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 19.2 points behind the 74.5% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 17.4 points.
Monday is the day DFW to STL slips furthest against routes of similar length, 69.1% on time where they average 78.1%, 9 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 8.2 points.
In August, DFW to STL runs 11.6 points below routes of similar length, 65.7% on time to 77.3%. Against all other routes the gap is 10.8 points.
Envoy Air does better on DFW to STL than on its routes of similar length: 85.9% on time here, 79.0% there, 6.9 points apart. Against all other routes the gap is 6.8 points.
American Airlines’ flights on DFW to STL arrive on time 68.8% of the time, 6.2 points below the 75.0% it manages on its routes of similar length. Against all other routes the gap is 6.3 points.
DFW to STL against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 3 PM departures | 55.3% | routes of similar length | 74.5% | −19.2 pts | 476 here, 105,457 there |
| Weekday: Monday | 69.1% | routes of similar length | 78.1% | −9.0 pts | 1,023 here, 270,072 there |
| Month: August | 65.7% | routes of similar length | 77.3% | −11.6 pts | 566 here, 151,095 there |
| Airline: Envoy Air | 85.9% | routes of similar length | 79.0% | +6.9 pts | 1,064 here, 32,272 there |
| Airline: American Airlines | 68.8% | routes of similar length | 75.0% | −6.2 pts | 5,487 here, 271,484 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 550 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 → STL flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
DFW → STL cancelled 178 of 7,163 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 40. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 87.1% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 46 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 178 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.
155 cancellations, 87.1% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
15 cancellations, 8.4% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
8 cancellations, 4.5% 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. With only one or two carriers on the route, the split mostly reflects how they file. Ordinary bad weather is filed under air traffic, so weather’s full share is larger than its bar.
178 coded cancellations were recorded on DFW → STL; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
69 min late
against a median of 2 min early
DFW → STL has an average that understates its risk: a typical arrival is 2 min early, but the worst tenth are 71 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 7,163 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at STL after arriving from DFW.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 45% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 28% | High risk |
| 60 min | 20% | High risk |
| 90 min | 12% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 7.3% | 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 2.48% of the time and diverts 0.20% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 6,971 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 69 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 7,163 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
DFW → STL flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 82.7% of the time, against 53.9% for 6–9 PM departures, a gap of 28.8 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 6 AM: too few flights to score
- 7 AM: 82.1% on time from 991 flights
- 8 AM: 83.7% on time from 536 flights
- 9 AM: 79.4% on time from 221 flights
- 10 AM: 81.9% on time from 503 flights
- 11 AM: 70.3% on time from 123 flights
- 12 PM: 87.6% on time from 313 flights
- 1 PM: 76.1% on time from 565 flights
- 2 PM: 67.6% on time from 497 flights
- 3 PM: 55.3% on time from 485 flights
- 4 PM: 64.2% on time from 511 flights
- 5 PM: 69.3% on time from 976 flights
- 6 PM: 51.4% on time from 222 flights
- 7 PM: too few flights to score
- 8 PM: 56.2% on time from 224 flights
- 9 PM: 66.1% on time from 804 flights
- 10 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why DFW → STL 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 → STL. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on DFW → STL, at 53.2%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 82.7% of the time and 6–9 PM departures 53.9%.
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 | 5,639 | 68.8% | 2.55% | 0 min | 13.2% |
| Envoy Air | 1,093 | 85.9% | 2.38% | -8 min | 3.1% |
American Airlines flew 83.8% of the 6,732 flights listed.
Envoy Air arrived on time 17.1 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.
| Flight | Scheduled | Operations | On time |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA1010 American Airlines | 9:10 PM | 1,105 | 63.6% |
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 8.9 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 73.3%
- Feb: 83.4%
- Mar: 71.4%
- Apr: 72.9%
- May: 68.9%
- Jun: 64.1%
- Jul: 60.2%
- Aug: 65.7%
- Sep: 78.7%
- Oct: 78.7%
- Nov: 77.1%
- Dec: 71.7%
July is historically the weakest month and February the strongest, a spread of 23.2 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 60.5% from 154 flights
- August 2023: 66.9% from 172 flights
- September 2023: 79.1% from 164 flights
- October 2023: 85.4% from 179 flights
- November 2023: 84.3% from 178 flights
- December 2023: 82.8% from 174 flights
- January 2024: 66.1% from 173 flights
- February 2024: 82.5% from 166 flights
- March 2024: 70.9% from 186 flights
- April 2024: 78.2% from 180 flights
- May 2024: 69.0% from 203 flights
- June 2024: 65.1% from 214 flights
- July 2024: 64.8% from 225 flights
- August 2024: 75.0% from 199 flights
- September 2024: 79.0% from 214 flights
- October 2024: 77.7% from 224 flights
- November 2024: 76.3% from 209 flights
- December 2024: 65.3% from 201 flights
- January 2025: 80.2% from 187 flights
- February 2025: 84.6% from 162 flights
- March 2025: 75.9% from 182 flights
- April 2025: 68.8% from 180 flights
- May 2025: 68.4% from 213 flights
- June 2025: 65.1% from 220 flights
- July 2025: 63.1% from 222 flights
- August 2025: 55.6% from 203 flights
- September 2025: 77.9% from 195 flights
- October 2025: 73.9% from 209 flights
- November 2025: 71.4% from 209 flights
- December 2025: 68.4% from 198 flights
- January 2026: 73.7% from 170 flights
- February 2026: 83.1% from 161 flights
- March 2026: 67.6% from 186 flights
- April 2026: 71.6% from 180 flights
- May 2026: 69.3% from 209 flights
- June 2026: 62.2% from 240 flights
- July 2026: 52.5% from 222 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 68.4% against 73.0% in the 12 months before — declining by 4.6 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 7,163 DFW → STL 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