Route profile
SJC→DFW
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from San Jose to Dallas–Fort Worth, 1,438 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 44% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 3,993 flights. How this is calculated
SJC → DFW arrives on time 80.2% of the time; the return trip, DFW → SJC, arrives on time 72.9% of the time, a 7.4-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
SJC → DFW spends 30.5 minutes on the ground on a 1,438-mile trip: 16.4 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at SJC and 14.1 minutes from touchdown to gate at DFW.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
Every day of the week performs about the same on this route, steadier than 93% of 4,467 comparable routes.
82.6% on time on the best day (Saturday) against 78.1% on the worst (Sunday).
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 4,467 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where SJC to DFW differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
SJC to DFW struggles most at 1 PM: 69.6% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 6.3 points behind the 75.9% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 7.5 points.
SJC to DFW holds up on Thursdays better than routes of similar length do: 81.1% on time to their 76.6%, a 4.5 points lead. Against all other routes the gap is 4.3 points.
February is kinder to SJC to DFW than to routes of similar length: 89.2% on time against 81.5%, 7.7 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 7.8 points.
In November, SJC to DFW runs 6.9 points below routes of similar length, 76.2% on time to 83.1%. Against all other routes the gap is 7.2 points.
American Airlines does better on SJC to DFW than on its routes of similar length: 81.2% on time here, 74.9% there, 6.3 points apart. Against all other routes the gap is 6.1 points.
SJC to DFW against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 1 PM departures | 69.6% | routes of similar length | 75.9% | −6.3 pts | 372 here, 89,854 there |
| Weekday: Thursday | 81.1% | routes of similar length | 76.6% | +4.5 pts | 586 here, 231,032 there |
| Month: February | 89.2% | routes of similar length | 81.5% | +7.7 pts | 296 here, 110,680 there |
| Month: November | 76.2% | routes of similar length | 83.1% | −6.9 pts | 294 here, 124,120 there |
| Airline: American Airlines | 81.2% | routes of similar length | 74.9% | +6.3 pts | 3,300 here, 278,714 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 1,438 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 SJC → DFW flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
SJC → DFW cancelled 63 of 3,993 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 63. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 93.7% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 68 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 63 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.
59 cancellations, 93.7% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
4 cancellations, 6.3% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
0 cancellations, 0.0% 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.
63 coded cancellations were recorded on SJC → DFW; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
43 min late
against a median of 9 min early
Percentiles over 3,993 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at DFW after arriving from SJC.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 33% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 19% | High risk |
| 60 min | 13% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 7.5% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 4.7% | 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 1.58% of the time and diverts 0.73% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 3,901 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 3,993 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
SJC → DFW flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 93.1% of the time, against 72.8% for 12–3 PM departures, a gap of 20.3 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 5 AM: too few flights to score
- 6 AM: 92.9% on time from 1,115 flights
- 7 AM: too few flights to score
- 8 AM: 93.3% on time from 121 flights
- 9 AM to 10 AM: too few flights to score
- 11 AM: 77.2% on time from 789 flights
- 12 PM: 76.7% on time from 425 flights
- 1 PM: 69.6% on time from 375 flights
- 2 PM: 72.4% on time from 900 flights
- 3 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Departure windows with fewer than 120 flights are not scored.
Why SJC → 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 SJC → DFW. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on SJC → DFW, at 42.2%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 93.1% of the time and 12–3 PM departures 72.8%.
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 | 3,388 | 81.2% | 1.80% | -10 min | 7.4% |
| Spirit Airlines | 605 | 74.9% | 0.33% | -8 min | 8.7% |
American Airlines flew 84.8% of the 3,993 flights listed. American Airlines cancelled 1.80% of its flights here against 0.33% for Spirit Airlines.
American Airlines arrived on time 6.3 percentage points more often than Spirit Airlines on this route.
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→DFW this route San Jose to Dallas–Fort Worth | 3,993 | 80.2% | 1.58% | -9 min | 63 |
SJC → DFW is the most reliable pairing for this journey at 80.2% on time, against 74.9% for SFO → DFW.
Flying to DFW from the San Francisco area? Compare SJC, SFO, OAK for DFW, with the same test for what counts as a real difference.
Flights on this route
Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.
| Flight | Scheduled | Operations | On time |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA1019 American Airlines | 6:10 AM | 870 | 92.3% |
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Saturday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 4.5 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 79.7%
- Feb: 89.2%
- Mar: 81.4%
- Apr: 82.1%
- May: 72.6%
- Jun: 74.8%
- Jul: 74.3%
- Aug: 83.3%
- Sep: 83.1%
- Oct: 89.2%
- Nov: 76.2%
- Dec: 79.0%
May is historically the weakest month and October the strongest, a spread of 16.6 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 79.5% from 122 flights
- August 2023: 88.0% from 133 flights
- September 2023: 86.8% from 137 flights
- October 2023: 87.6% from 123 flights
- November 2023: too few flights to score (108)
- December 2023: too few flights to score (113)
- January 2024: too few flights to score (110)
- February 2024: too few flights to score (100)
- March 2024: too few flights to score (106)
- April 2024: too few flights to score (107)
- May 2024: too few flights to score (118)
- June 2024: too few flights to score (111)
- July 2024: 66.1% from 122 flights
- August 2024: too few flights to score (111)
- September 2024: too few flights to score (114)
- October 2024: too few flights to score (114)
- November 2024: too few flights to score (105)
- December 2024: too few flights to score (113)
- January 2025: too few flights to score (115)
- February 2025: too few flights to score (100)
- March 2025: too few flights to score (116)
- April 2025: 78.9% from 120 flights
- May 2025: too few flights to score (113)
- June 2025: 77.3% from 131 flights
- July 2025: 75.0% from 129 flights
- August 2025: too few flights to score (102)
- September 2025: too few flights to score (90)
- October 2025: too few flights to score (92)
- November 2025: too few flights to score (87)
- December 2025: too few flights to score (91)
- January 2026: too few flights to score (87)
- February 2026: too few flights to score (97)
- March 2026: too few flights to score (89)
- April 2026: too few flights to score (89)
- May 2026: too few flights to score (93)
- June 2026: too few flights to score (92)
- July 2026: too few flights to score (93)
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 81.0% against 78.8% in the 12 months before — improving by 2.2 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 3,993 SJC → 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