Route profile
SJC→DAL
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from San Jose to Dallas, 1,450 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 92% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 1,730 flights. How this is calculated
SJC → DAL arrives on time 84.4% of the time; the return trip, DAL → SJC, arrives on time 74.2% of the time, a 10.2-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
SJC → DAL spends 18.4 minutes on the ground on a 1,450-mile trip: 12.7 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at SJC and 5.7 minutes from touchdown to gate at DAL.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
This route stays close to typical even on its worst days, a smaller gap than 91% of 4,598 comparable routes.
A typical arrival is 6 min early, and the worst tenth are only 31 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 SJC to DAL differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
SJC to DAL is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 7 AM: 93.9% arrive on time, 5.8 points ahead of the 88.1% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 6.1 points.
SJC to DAL holds up on Saturdays better than routes of similar length do: 90.0% on time to their 78.5%, a 11.5 points lead. Against all other routes the gap is 10.9 points.
March is kinder to SJC to DAL than to routes of similar length: 91.5% on time against 78.0%, 13.5 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 13.6 points.
Southwest Airlines does better on SJC to DAL than on its routes of similar length: 84.4% on time here, 75.8% there, 8.6 points apart. Against all other routes the gap is 7 points.
SJC to DAL against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 7 AM departures | 93.9% | routes of similar length | 88.1% | +5.8 pts | 212 here, 132,465 there |
| Weekday: Saturday | 90.0% | routes of similar length | 78.5% | +11.5 pts | 180 here, 204,077 there |
| Month: March | 91.5% | routes of similar length | 78.0% | +13.5 pts | 130 here, 132,225 there |
| Airline: Southwest Airlines | 84.4% | routes of similar length | 75.8% | +8.6 pts | 1,710 here, 347,683 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 1,450 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
25 min late
against a median of 6 min early
Percentiles over 1,730 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at DAL after arriving from SJC.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 34% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 15% | Some risk |
| 60 min | 8.0% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 3.4% | Low risk |
| 120 min | 1.8% | 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 0.75% of the time and diverts 0.40% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 1,710 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 25 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 1,730 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
SJC → DAL flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 92.5% of the time, against 73.0% for 3–6 PM departures, a gap of 19.5 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 5 AM: too few flights to score
- 6 AM: 93.2% on time from 430 flights
- 7 AM: 93.9% on time from 217 flights
- 8 AM: 90.2% on time from 269 flights
- 9 AM to 4 PM: too few flights to score
- 5 PM: 72.8% on time from 411 flights
- 6 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Departure windows with fewer than 120 flights are not scored.
Why SJC → 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
screening or terminal security incidents
Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for SJC → DAL. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on SJC → DAL, at 37.0%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 92.5% of the time and 3–6 PM departures 73.0%.
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 | 1,730 | 84.4% | 0.75% | -6 min | 3.4% |
Other ways to fly San Francisco 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SFO→DFW San Francisco to Dallas–Fort Worth | 12,711 | 74.9% | 1.83% | -5 min | 52 |
| SJC→DAL this route San Jose to Dallas | 1,730 | 84.4% | 0.75% | -6 min | 83 |
SJC → DAL is the most reliable pairing for this journey at 84.4% on time, against 74.9% for SFO → DFW.
Flying to DAL from the San Francisco area? Compare SJC, SFO, OAK for DAL, with the same test for what counts as a real difference.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Saturday is historically the most reliable day and Thursday the least, a gap of 9.0 percentage points.
By month
- Jan to Feb: no data
- Mar: 91.5%
- Apr: 85.2%
- May: 81.3%
- Jun: 76.9%
- Jul: 79.2%
- Aug: 76.8%
- Sep: 85.8%
- Oct: 84.5%
- Nov: 85.2%
- Dec: 87.7%
August is historically the weakest month and March the strongest, a spread of 14.7 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 84.3% against 85.2% in the 12 months before — broadly unchanged.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 1,730 SJC → 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