Route profile
DFW→TUS
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Dallas–Fort Worth to Tucson, 813 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 8% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 6,899 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
DFW → TUS arrives on time 70.8% of the time; the return trip, TUS → DFW, arrives on time 80.6% of the time, a 9.9-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
DFW → TUS spends 23.4 minutes on the ground on an 813-mile trip: 18.3 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at DFW and 5.2 minutes from touchdown to gate at TUS.
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 91% of 3,357 comparable routes.
81.8% on time in a typical October, against 57.5% in June.
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 TUS differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
DFW to TUS struggles most at 11 PM: 44.1% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 20 points behind the 64.1% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 35 points.
DFW to TUS is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 8 PM: 73.7% arrive on time, 6.8 points ahead of the 66.9% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 6.3 points.
Saturday is the day DFW to TUS slips furthest against routes of similar length, 68.7% on time where they average 78.9%, 10.2 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 10.4 points.
In June, DFW to TUS runs 14.4 points below routes of similar length, 57.5% on time to 71.9%. Against all other routes the gap is 15.2 points.
American Airlines’ flights on DFW to TUS arrive on time 70.4% of the time, 4 points below the 74.4% it manages on its routes of similar length. Against all other routes the gap is 4.7 points.
DFW to TUS against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 11 PM departures | 44.1% | routes of similar length | 64.1% | −20.0 pts | 136 here, 1,890 there |
| Hour: 8 PM departures | 73.7% | routes of similar length | 66.9% | +6.8 pts | 228 here, 112,055 there |
| Weekday: Saturday | 68.7% | routes of similar length | 78.9% | −10.2 pts | 948 here, 282,631 there |
| Month: June | 57.5% | routes of similar length | 71.9% | −14.4 pts | 482 here, 183,490 there |
| Airline: American Airlines | 70.4% | routes of similar length | 74.4% | −4.0 pts | 6,508 here, 354,237 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 813 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 → TUS flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
DFW → TUS cancelled 173 of 6,899 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 40. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 89.0% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 45 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 173 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.
154 cancellations, 89.0% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
16 cancellations, 9.2% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
3 cancellations, 1.7% 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.
173 coded cancellations were recorded on DFW → TUS; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
65 min late
against a median of 3 min early
DFW → TUS has an average that understates its risk: a typical arrival is 3 min early, but the worst tenth are 68 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 6,899 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at TUS 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 | 11% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 6.9% | 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 2.51% of the time and diverts 0.12% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 6,718 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 65 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 6,899 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
DFW → TUS flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 81.4% of the time, against 58.3% for 9 PM–5 AM departures, a gap of 23.1 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 7 AM: too few flights to score
- 8 AM: 81.2% on time from 1,127 flights
- 9 AM: too few flights to score
- 10 AM: 81.0% on time from 878 flights
- 11 AM: too few flights to score
- 12 PM: 75.6% on time from 932 flights
- 1 PM: too few flights to score
- 2 PM: 71.1% on time from 1,116 flights
- 3 PM: too few flights to score
- 4 PM: 72.6% on time from 143 flights
- 5 PM: 68.5% on time from 224 flights
- 6 PM: 57.7% on time from 488 flights
- 7 PM: 57.5% on time from 464 flights
- 8 PM: 73.7% on time from 235 flights
- 9 PM: 65.6% on time from 344 flights
- 10 PM: 57.5% on time from 653 flights
- 11 PM: 44.1% on time from 143 flights
Why DFW → TUS 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 → TUS. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on DFW → TUS, at 51.9%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 81.4% of the time and 9 PM–5 AM departures 58.3%.
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 | 6,686 | 70.4% | 2.54% | -2 min | 11.1% |
Flights on this route
Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.
| Flight | Scheduled | Operations | On time |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA1207 American Airlines | 6:50 PM | 1,091 | 58.1% |
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Wednesday is historically the most reliable day and Friday the least, a gap of 6.7 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 70.7%
- Feb: 81.7%
- Mar: 73.1%
- Apr: 69.1%
- May: 60.0%
- Jun: 57.5%
- Jul: 58.1%
- Aug: 65.3%
- Sep: 77.1%
- Oct: 81.8%
- Nov: 79.4%
- Dec: 73.4%
June is historically the weakest month and October the strongest, a spread of 24.3 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 65.7% from 179 flights
- August 2023: 67.7% from 169 flights
- September 2023: 77.4% from 196 flights
- October 2023: 87.2% from 184 flights
- November 2023: 83.8% from 173 flights
- December 2023: 82.5% from 183 flights
- January 2024: 69.4% from 184 flights
- February 2024: 84.5% from 174 flights
- March 2024: 72.2% from 218 flights
- April 2024: 68.0% from 182 flights
- May 2024: 50.0% from 187 flights
- June 2024: 55.6% from 165 flights
- July 2024: 56.7% from 177 flights
- August 2024: 65.7% from 180 flights
- September 2024: 82.6% from 207 flights
- October 2024: 87.4% from 215 flights
- November 2024: 75.4% from 204 flights
- December 2024: 71.4% from 214 flights
- January 2025: 77.5% from 217 flights
- February 2025: 84.0% from 196 flights
- March 2025: 69.7% from 215 flights
- April 2025: 68.9% from 174 flights
- May 2025: 66.3% from 181 flights
- June 2025: 59.5% from 176 flights
- July 2025: 52.0% from 159 flights
- August 2025: 62.2% from 155 flights
- September 2025: 70.2% from 178 flights
- October 2025: 69.2% from 173 flights
- November 2025: 79.5% from 225 flights
- December 2025: 67.7% from 217 flights
- January 2026: 64.1% from 192 flights
- February 2026: 76.2% from 173 flights
- March 2026: 77.8% from 193 flights
- April 2026: 70.5% from 180 flights
- May 2026: 63.5% from 185 flights
- June 2026: 57.2% from 167 flights
- July 2026: 57.0% from 152 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 68.4% against 72.4% in the 12 months before — declining by 4.0 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 6,899 DFW → TUS 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