Route profile
LAX→DAL
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Los Angeles to Dallas, 1,246 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 61% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 5,569 flights. How this is calculated
LAX → DAL arrives on time 75.5% of the time; the return trip, DAL → LAX, arrives on time 74.4% of the time.
LAX → DAL spends 21.3 minutes on the ground on a 1,246-mile trip: 15.3 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at LAX and 5.9 minutes from touchdown to gate at DAL.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
Reliability on this route has fallen unusually sharply over the past year, a bigger swing than 99% of 5,368 comparable routes.
65.1% on time over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), against 83.6% in the 12 months before (2024-08 to 2025-07), a change of 18.5 points.
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 5,368 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where LAX to DAL differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
LAX to DAL struggles most at 10 AM: 62.5% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 18.6 points behind the 81.1% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 20.2 points.
LAX to DAL is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 5 AM: 95.5% arrive on time, 4.2 points ahead of the 91.3% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 3.3 points.
Thursday is the day LAX to DAL slips furthest against routes of similar length, 72.3% on time where they average 76.0%, 3.7 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 4.5 points.
In May, LAX to DAL runs 7.9 points below routes of similar length, 66.0% on time to 73.9%. Against all other routes the gap is 9.3 points.
LAX to DAL against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 10 AM departures | 62.5% | routes of similar length | 81.1% | −18.6 pts | 301 here, 101,582 there |
| Hour: 5 AM departures | 95.5% | routes of similar length | 91.3% | +4.2 pts | 785 here, 60,963 there |
| Weekday: Thursday | 72.3% | routes of similar length | 76.0% | −3.7 pts | 840 here, 277,415 there |
| Month: May | 66.0% | routes of similar length | 73.9% | −7.9 pts | 409 here, 154,695 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 1,246 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.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
39 min late
against a median of 2 min early
Percentiles over 5,569 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at DAL after arriving from LAX.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 45% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 24% | High risk |
| 60 min | 13% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 5.4% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 2.7% | Low 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 0.72% of the time and diverts 0.43% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 5,505 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 39 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 5,569 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
LAX → DAL flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 90.0% of the time, against 64.0% for 6–9 PM departures, a gap of 26.0 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 4 AM: too few flights to score
- 5 AM: 95.5% on time from 794 flights
- 6 AM: 93.8% on time from 301 flights
- 7 AM: 85.4% on time from 628 flights
- 8 AM: 83.8% on time from 416 flights
- 9 AM: 78.3% on time from 215 flights
- 10 AM: 62.5% on time from 303 flights
- 11 AM: 71.3% on time from 428 flights
- 12 PM: 73.5% on time from 156 flights
- 1 PM: 67.2% on time from 182 flights
- 2 PM: 64.2% on time from 280 flights
- 3 PM: 63.5% on time from 289 flights
- 4 PM: 66.0% on time from 452 flights
- 5 PM: 63.8% on time from 610 flights
- 6 PM: 64.0% on time from 515 flights
- 7 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why LAX → DAL 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 LAX → DAL. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on LAX → DAL, at 41.6%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 90.0% of the time and 6–9 PM departures 64.0%.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 4,842 | 74.2% | 0.72% | 0 min | 5.5% |
| Delta Air Lines | 727 | 83.8% | 0.69% | -12 min | 5.6% |
Southwest Airlines flew 86.9% of the 5,569 flights listed.
Delta Air Lines arrived on time 9.6 percentage points more often than Southwest Airlines on this route.
Other ways to fly Los Angeles to Dallas–Fort Worth
Airport pairs in the same two city markets, as the DOT defines them.
| Route | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LAX→DFW Los Angeles to Dallas–Fort Worth | 20,649 | 76.9% | 1.61% | -5 min | 56 |
| LAX→DAL this route Los Angeles to Dallas | 5,569 | 75.5% | 0.72% | -2 min | 69 |
LAX → DAL is the most reliable pairing for this journey at 75.5% on time, against 76.9% for LAX → DFW.
Flying to DAL from the Los Angeles area? Compare LAX, SNA, BUR, ONT for DAL, with the same test for what counts as a real difference.
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: 80.6%
- Feb: 79.4%
- Mar: 76.6%
- Apr: 75.2%
- May: 66.0%
- Jun: 66.9%
- Jul: 67.6%
- Aug: 78.2%
- Sep: 82.1%
- Oct: 79.2%
- Nov: 80.9%
- Dec: 75.7%
May is historically the weakest month and September the strongest, a spread of 16.1 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 70.1% from 226 flights
- August 2023: 72.7% from 234 flights
- September 2023: 80.6% from 216 flights
- October 2023: 76.2% from 228 flights
- November 2023: 85.1% from 224 flights
- December 2023: 83.0% from 218 flights
- January 2024: 78.1% from 186 flights
- February 2024: 82.1% from 168 flights
- March 2024: 76.1% from 179 flights
- April 2024: 75.7% from 190 flights
- May 2024: 65.3% from 147 flights
- June 2024: 67.9% from 138 flights
- July 2024: 74.3% from 145 flights
- August 2024: 86.5% from 134 flights
- September 2024: 85.2% from 128 flights
- October 2024: 80.3% from 132 flights
- November 2024: 88.7% from 134 flights
- December 2024: 75.7% from 139 flights
- January 2025: 89.1% from 123 flights
- February 2025: too few flights to score (106)
- March 2025: 89.0% from 137 flights
- April 2025: 82.1% from 138 flights
- May 2025: 82.6% from 141 flights
- June 2025: 81.6% from 141 flights
- July 2025: 79.9% from 146 flights
- August 2025: too few flights to score (110)
- September 2025: too few flights to score (103)
- October 2025: too few flights to score (119)
- November 2025: 64.8% from 123 flights
- December 2025: 63.7% from 135 flights
- January 2026: too few flights to score (98)
- February 2026: too few flights to score (105)
- March 2026: 64.3% from 131 flights
- April 2026: 67.4% from 129 flights
- May 2026: 48.8% from 131 flights
- June 2026: 51.1% from 141 flights
- July 2026: 45.2% from 146 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 65.1% against 83.6% in the 12 months before — declining by 18.5 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 5,569 LAX → DAL 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