Route profile
SFO→DFW
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from San Francisco to Dallas–Fort Worth, 1,464 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 19% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 12,711 flights. How this is calculated
SFO → DFW arrives on time 74.9% of the time; the return trip, DFW → SFO, arrives on time 64.3% of the time, a 10.5-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
SFO → DFW spends 31.2 minutes on the ground on a 1,464-mile trip: 19.0 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at SFO and 12.3 minutes from touchdown to gate at DFW.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
The airline matters unusually much on this route, a wider carrier-to-carrier gap than 95% of 2,692 comparable routes.
United Airlines arrived on time 78.7% of the time, against 57.7% for Frontier Airlines, flying the exact same route.
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 2,692 in the comparison.
Why SFO → DFW flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
SFO → DFW cancelled 232 of 12,711 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 55. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 77.6% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 71 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 232 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.
180 cancellations, 77.6% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
49 cancellations, 21.1% 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, 1.3% 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. Ordinary bad weather is filed under air traffic, so weather’s full share is larger than its bar.
232 coded cancellations were recorded on SFO → DFW; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
55 min late
against a median of 5 min early
SFO → DFW has an average that understates its risk: a typical arrival is 5 min early, but the worst tenth are 60 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 12,711 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at DFW after arriving from SFO.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 40% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 24% | High risk |
| 60 min | 17% | High risk |
| 90 min | 9.0% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 5.4% | 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 1.83% of the time and diverts 0.59% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 12,404 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 55 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 12,711 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
SFO → DFW flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 87.6% of the time, against 66.9% for 3–6 PM departures, a gap of 20.7 percentage points.
By day and hour
On-time arrival rate for each weekday and scheduled departure hour, in local time at the departure airport (SFO).
Hour of departure matters more than day of the week: hourly averages sit a typical 9.4 points from the route-wide rate, weekday averages 1.7 points.
| Hour | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
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On-time rate, % · stronger color, fewer on time
- 60–64
- 65–69
- 70–74
- 75–79
- 80–84
- 85–89
- 90–94
- 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 7 AM (1,739 flights) are not drawn: no slot in those hours has enough flights to score.
View as tableHide table
| Hour | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 AM–8 AM | 86.6% on time142 flights | 87.2% on time126 flights | 92.6% on time128 flights | 86.6% on time137 flights | 85.4% on time139 flights | 81.4% on time122 flights | 86.5% on time146 flights |
| 8 AM–9 AM | 83.1% on time134 flights | 84.4% on time125 flights | 86.4% on time134 flights | 79.2% on time133 flights | 81.4% on time135 flights | 84.7% on time133 flights | 84.1% on time129 flights |
| 9 AM–10 AM | 47 flights, too few to score | 38 flights, too few to score | 36 flights, too few to score | 38 flights, too few to score | 44 flights, too few to score | 29 flights, too few to score | 35 flights, too few to score |
| 10 AM–11 AM | 76.9% on time188 flights | 79.0% on time166 flights | 82.5% on time167 flights | 75.9% on time172 flights | 78.8% on time192 flights | 79.0% on time171 flights | 84.5% on time179 flights |
| 11 AM–12 PM | 69.3% on time179 flights | 74.4% on time182 flights | 69.8% on time184 flights | 68.4% on time179 flights | 63.6% on time179 flights | 70.6% on time165 flights | 68.3% on time183 flights |
| 12 PM–1 PM | 73.2% on time143 flights | 76.6% on time141 flights | 79.0% on time141 flights | 71.2% on time143 flights | 75.5% on time145 flights | 75.7% on time146 flights | 78.3% on time142 flights |
| 1 PM–2 PM | 74 flights, too few to score | 72 flights, too few to score | 69 flights, too few to score | 76 flights, too few to score | 76 flights, too few to score | 71 flights, too few to score | 77 flights, too few to score |
| 2 PM–3 PM | 102 flights, too few to score | 106 flights, too few to score | 100 flights, too few to score | 94 flights, too few to score | 98 flights, too few to score | 89 flights, too few to score | 92 flights, too few to score |
| 3 PM–4 PM | 77 flights, too few to score | 57 flights, too few to score | 63 flights, too few to score | 84 flights, too few to score | 68 flights, too few to score | 59 flights, too few to score | 82 flights, too few to score |
| 4 PM–5 PM | 102 flights, too few to score | 91 flights, too few to score | 105 flights, too few to score | 109 flights, too few to score | 100 flights, too few to score | 75 flights, too few to score | 113 flights, too few to score |
| 5 PM–6 PM | 102 flights, too few to score | 87 flights, too few to score | 87 flights, too few to score | 112 flights, too few to score | 106 flights, too few to score | 71 flights, too few to score | 118 flights, too few to score |
| 6 PM–7 PM | 69.0% on time127 flights | 101 flights, too few to score | 111 flights, too few to score | 75.6% on time129 flights | 75.8% on time124 flights | 110 flights, too few to score | 72.0% on time121 flights |
| 7 PM–8 PM | 8 flights, too few to score | 5 flights, too few to score | 4 flights, too few to score | 7 flights, too few to score | 8 flights, too few to score | 8 flights, too few to score | 12 flights, too few to score |
| 8 PM–9 PM | 0 flights, too few to score | 2 flights, too few to score | 0 flights, too few to score | 0 flights, too few to score | 0 flights, too few to score | 0 flights, too few to score | 0 flights, too few to score |
| 9 PM–10 PM | 0 flights, too few to score | 0 flights, too few to score | 0 flights, too few to score | 0 flights, too few to score | 0 flights, too few to score | 0 flights, too few to score | 0 flights, too few to score |
| 10 PM–11 PM | 0 flights, too few to score | 0 flights, too few to score | 0 flights, too few to score | 0 flights, too few to score | 0 flights, too few to score | 0 flights, too few to score | 0 flights, too few to score |
| 11 PM–12 AM | 71.6% on time202 flights | 78.2% on time172 flights | 72.7% on time187 flights | 69.4% on time225 flights | 71.2% on time212 flights | 75.3% on time190 flights | 61.7% on time226 flights |
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM: 72.7% on time from 545 flights
- 1 AM to 4 AM: too few flights to score
- 5 AM: 93.6% on time from 508 flights
- 6 AM: 90.4% on time from 684 flights
- 7 AM: 86.6% on time from 940 flights
- 8 AM: 83.3% on time from 923 flights
- 9 AM: 77.2% on time from 267 flights
- 10 AM: 79.5% on time from 1,235 flights
- 11 AM: 69.2% on time from 1,251 flights
- 12 PM: 75.6% on time from 1,001 flights
- 1 PM: 66.5% on time from 515 flights
- 2 PM: 55.2% on time from 681 flights
- 3 PM: 57.2% on time from 490 flights
- 4 PM: 73.4% on time from 695 flights
- 5 PM: 67.2% on time from 683 flights
- 6 PM: 75.3% on time from 823 flights
- 7 PM to 10 PM: too few flights to score
- 11 PM: 71.1% on time from 1,414 flights
Why SFO → DFW 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 SFO → DFW. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on SFO → DFW, at 51.2%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 87.6% of the time and 3–6 PM departures 66.9%.
How this route holds up in bad weather
July 2023 – July 2026
The harder-hit end is DFW, where the flight lands. Its figure counts departures from DFW, so it says more about how that airport copes than about this route. Bad weather cancels 7.0 times the normal rate at DFW against 1.7 times at SFO. Cancelled in bad weather against normal hours: SFO 1.5% against 0.9%, DFW 10.4% against 1.5%. 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 | SFO | DFW |
|---|---|---|
| Cancelled in bad weather | 1.5% | 10.4% |
| Cancelled in normal hours | 0.9% | 1.5% |
| Arrived on time, bad weather | 73.0% | 56.4% |
| Arrived on time, normal hours | 79.8% | 74.4% |
| Departures in bad weather | 36,006 | 72,822 |
United Airlines (1.0% cancelled against 1.9% for the other carriers at SFO) cancelled fewer departures from SFO 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 SFO
All departures from SFO| Airline | Bad-weather departures | Cancelled | Other carriers |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Airlines | 13,903 | 1.0%below the others | 1.9% |
| American Airlines | 3,143 | 1.2%about level | 1.5% |
| Frontier Airlines | 1,057 | 1.8%about level | 1.5% |
These are airport figures, not route figures: every scheduled departure from SFO and DFW, to any destination, in hours the weather report called bad. The airline rows count each carrier’s departures from SFO on every route.
Weather source and limits. In full: SFO (airlines), DFW, 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.
| Carrier | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Severe |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Airlines | 9,407 | 75.2% | 1.99% | -6 min | 9.5% |
| United Airlines | 2,516 | 78.7% | 0.52% | -6 min | 6.6% |
| Frontier Airlines | 766 | 57.7% | 4.05% | 8 min | 13.2% |
American Airlines flew 74.1% of the 12,689 flights listed. Frontier Airlines cancelled 4.05% of its flights here against 0.52% for United Airlines.
United Airlines arrived on time 21.0 percentage points more often than Frontier Airlines on this route.
Flights on this route
Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Wednesday is historically the most reliable day and Friday the least, a gap of 4.7 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 75.6%
- Feb: 80.9%
- Mar: 71.7%
- Apr: 71.1%
- May: 67.4%
- Jun: 66.2%
- Jul: 70.7%
- Aug: 74.9%
- Sep: 84.1%
- Oct: 82.9%
- Nov: 77.9%
- Dec: 79.2%
June is historically the weakest month and September the strongest, a spread of 17.9 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 73.5% from 361 flights
- August 2023: 80.4% from 364 flights
- September 2023: 86.0% from 325 flights
- October 2023: 82.7% from 354 flights
- November 2023: 85.1% from 335 flights
- December 2023: 81.8% from 331 flights
- January 2024: 66.4% from 294 flights
- February 2024: 76.6% from 287 flights
- March 2024: 63.2% from 330 flights
- April 2024: 69.0% from 326 flights
- May 2024: 58.2% from 339 flights
- June 2024: 67.2% from 355 flights
- July 2024: 71.8% from 387 flights
- August 2024: 73.4% from 373 flights
- September 2024: 82.4% from 331 flights
- October 2024: 85.1% from 370 flights
- November 2024: 75.7% from 338 flights
- December 2024: 76.8% from 331 flights
- January 2025: 85.9% from 323 flights
- February 2025: 83.7% from 291 flights
- March 2025: 74.4% from 343 flights
- April 2025: 77.6% from 347 flights
- May 2025: 75.1% from 367 flights
- June 2025: 71.3% from 361 flights
- July 2025: 71.8% from 368 flights
- August 2025: 70.4% from 337 flights
- September 2025: 83.8% from 303 flights
- October 2025: 80.8% from 354 flights
- November 2025: 72.7% from 326 flights
- December 2025: 78.9% from 339 flights
- January 2026: 73.9% from 311 flights
- February 2026: 82.4% from 291 flights
- March 2026: 77.2% from 337 flights
- April 2026: 66.6% from 337 flights
- May 2026: 67.6% from 400 flights
- June 2026: 60.9% from 424 flights
- July 2026: 66.2% from 421 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 72.8% against 77.6% in the 12 months before — declining by 4.8 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 12,711 SFO → DFW 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