Route profile
ORD→DAL
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Chicago to Dallas, 798 miles.
Right now
Aviation weather is not currently a factor.
Aviation weather is not currently a factor.
Route reliability
July 2023 – June 2026
Better than 49% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 3,024 flights. How this is calculated
ORD → DAL arrives on time 77.6% of the time; the return trip, DAL → ORD, arrives on time 79.1% of the time.
ORD → DAL spends 26.2 minutes on the ground on a 798-mile trip: 20.8 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at ORD and 5.5 minutes from touchdown to gate at DAL.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – June 2026
What sets this route apart
Where ORD to DAL differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – June 2026.
ORD to DAL is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 9 AM: 90.5% arrive on time, 5.7 points ahead of the 84.8% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 6.2 points.
In April, ORD to DAL runs 6.8 points below routes of similar length, 73.2% on time to 80.0%. Against all other routes the gap is 6.7 points.
February is kinder to ORD to DAL than to routes of similar length: 88.2% on time against 82.4%, 5.8 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 6.8 points.
ORD to DAL against comparable routes
July 2023 – June 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 9 AM departures | 90.5% | routes of similar length | 84.8% | +5.7 pts | 179 here, 118,257 there |
| Month: April | 73.2% | routes of similar length | 80.0% | −6.8 pts | 220 here, 177,683 there |
| Month: February | 88.2% | routes of similar length | 82.4% | +5.8 pts | 203 here, 153,192 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 798 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 – June 2026
43 min late
against a median of 7 min early
Percentiles over 3,024 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at DAL after arriving from ORD.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 36% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 22% | High risk |
| 60 min | 14% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 6.8% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 4.1% | 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 1.49% 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 2,966 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 43 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 3,024 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
ORD → DAL flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 90.1% of the time, against 64.5% for 6–9 PM departures, a gap of 25.6 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 6 AM: too few flights to score
- 7 AM: 90.4% on time from 760 flights
- 8 AM: too few flights to score
- 9 AM: 90.5% on time from 186 flights
- 10 AM to 11 AM: too few flights to score
- 12 PM: 72.3% on time from 121 flights
- 1 PM: 76.4% on time from 541 flights
- 2 PM: 71.3% on time from 218 flights
- 3 PM: too few flights to score
- 4 PM: 66.0% on time from 242 flights
- 5 PM: 70.4% on time from 387 flights
- 6 PM: too few flights to score
- 7 PM: 63.0% on time from 202 flights
- 8 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why ORD → DAL runs late
July 2023 – June 2026
the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late
airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control
crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s 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 ORD → DAL. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on ORD → DAL, at 51.4%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 90.1% of the time and 6–9 PM departures 64.5%.
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 | 3,024 | 77.6% | 1.49% | -7 min | 7.0% |
Other ways to fly Chicago 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD→DFW Chicago to Dallas–Fort Worth | 20,459 | 73.0% | 1.95% | -5 min | 48 |
| ORD→DAL this route Chicago to Dallas | 3,024 | 77.6% | 1.49% | -7 min | 65 |
ORD → DAL is the most reliable pairing for this journey at 77.6% on time, against 73.0% for ORD → DFW.
Flying to DAL from the Chicago area? Compare ORD, MDW for DAL, with the same test for what counts as a real difference.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Monday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 5.9 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 77.5%
- Feb: 88.2%
- Mar: 77.7%
- Apr: 73.2%
- May: 68.3%
- Jun: 68.0%
- Jul: 65.4%
- Aug: 76.9%
- Sep: 81.0%
- Oct: 86.6%
- Nov: 84.2%
- Dec: 80.8%
July is historically the weakest month and February the strongest, a spread of 22.8 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – June 2026
- July 2023: too few flights to score (119)
- August 2023: 73.5% from 135 flights
- September 2023: 77.1% from 144 flights
- October 2023: 81.5% from 151 flights
- November 2023: 87.9% from 142 flights
- December 2023: 84.2% from 147 flights
- January 2024: 70.3% from 120 flights
- February 2024: too few flights to score (104)
- March 2024: too few flights to score (109)
- April 2024: too few flights to score (110)
- May 2024: too few flights to score (116)
- June 2024: too few flights to score (87)
- July 2024: too few flights to score (89)
- August 2024: too few flights to score (85)
- September 2024: too few flights to score (81)
- October 2024: too few flights to score (85)
- November 2024: too few flights to score (84)
- December 2024: too few flights to score (88)
- January 2025: too few flights to score (72)
- February 2025: too few flights to score (71)
- March 2025: too few flights to score (86)
- April 2025: too few flights to score (86)
- May 2025: too few flights to score (88)
- June 2025: too few flights to score (86)
- July 2025: too few flights to score (89)
- August 2025: too few flights to score (75)
- September 2025: too few flights to score (73)
- October 2025: too few flights to score (87)
- November 2025: too few flights to score (30)
- December 2025: too few flights to score (31)
- January 2026: too few flights to score (31)
- February 2026: too few flights to score (28)
- March 2026: too few flights to score (31)
- April 2026: too few flights to score (30)
- May 2026: too few flights to score (31)
- June 2026: too few flights to score (3)
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-07 to 2026-06), on-time arrivals averaged 71.8% against 80.8% in the 12 months before — declining by 9.0 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 3,024 ORD → DAL flight records from the US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, covering July 2023 – June 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