SNA → DFW Flight Reliability

Right now

Origin · SNANo disruption reported

Aviation weather is not currently a factor.

Updated 12:53 UTC

Santa Ana airport profile →

Destination · DFWNo disruption reported

Aviation weather is not currently a factor.

Updated 12:53 UTC

Dallas–Fort Worth airport profile →

Route reliability

July 2023 – July 2026

Route Reliability Score

61/ 100Good

Better than 38% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)

Calculated from 9,100 flights. How this is calculated

On-time arrivals

81.5%

7,189 of 8,825

Cancellation rate

2.33%

212 cancelled

Median arrival delay

-9 min

Average 7.4 min

Severe delays

7.0%

60+ minutes late

Delay when late

94 min

Average, when 15+ min late

Flights analyzed

9,100

2 carriers

SNA → DFW arrives on time 81.5% of the time; the return trip, DFW → SNA, arrives on time 79.0% of the time, a 2.5-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.

SNA → DFW spends 29.0 minutes on the ground on a 1,205-mile trip: 16.6 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at SNA and 12.4 minutes from touchdown to gate at DFW.

Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026

What sets this route apart

Where SNA to DFW differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.

SNA to DFW is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 7 PM: 85.7% arrive on time, 19.8 points ahead of the 65.9% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 17.9 points.

SNA to DFW struggles most at 12 PM: 72.8% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 5.3 points behind the 78.1% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 6.6 points.

SNA to DFW holds up on Fridays better than routes of similar length do: 82.9% on time to their 75.7%, a 7.2 points lead. Against all other routes the gap is 6.7 points.

August is kinder to SNA to DFW than to routes of similar length: 84.1% on time against 74.7%, 9.4 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 7.6 points.

American Airlines does better on SNA to DFW than on its routes of similar length: 82.1% on time here, 74.6% there, 7.5 points apart. Against all other routes the gap is 7 points.

SNA to DFW against comparable routes

July 2023 – July 2026

Where SNA to DFW differs most from comparable routes, with the group each figure is compared with and the flights behind it
Measure	This route	Compared with	Them	Gap	Flights behind it
Hour: 7 PM departures	85.7%	routes of similar length	65.9%	+19.8 pts	126 here, 119,742 there
Hour: 12 PM departures	72.8%	routes of similar length	78.1%	−5.3 pts	927 here, 125,926 there
Weekday: Friday	82.9%	routes of similar length	75.7%	+7.2 pts	1,310 here, 292,407 there
Month: August	84.1%	routes of similar length	74.7%	+9.4 pts	761 here, 156,358 there
Airline: American Airlines	82.1%	routes of similar length	74.6%	+7.5 pts	8,506 here, 420,702 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 1,205 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 SNA → DFW flights are cancelled

July 2023 – July 2026

SNA → DFW cancelled 212 of 9,100 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 43. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 84.0% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 51 scheduled flights.

Share of cancellations

Weather84.0%

Airline14.6%

Air traffic1.4%

Security0.0%

Of 212 cancelled departures carrying a reason code.

What each reason means

Extreme weather1 in 51

Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.

178 cancellations, 84.0% of the total.

The airline1 in 294

Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.

31 cancellations, 14.6% of the total.

The air traffic system1 in 3,033

Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.

3 cancellations, 1.4% of the total.

Security—

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.

212 coded cancellations were recorded on SNA → DFW; the section appears from 50.

When it goes wrong

July 2023 – July 2026

One arrival in ten is worse than

39 min late

against a median of 9 min early

Arrived an hour or more late7.0%

Typical delay when late94 min

Cancelled2.33%

Landed somewhere else0.69%

Percentiles over 9,100 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.

Will your connection be tight enough?

Layovers at DFW after arriving from SNA.

Connection buffer and chance of missing by layover length, SNA → DFW arrivals
Connection time	Chance of missing	Reads as
30 min	32%	Likely to miss
45 min	18%	High risk
60 min	12%	Some risk
90 min	6.9%	Some risk
120 min	4.9%	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 2.33% of the time and diverts 0.69% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.

Chance of missing is the share of 8,825 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 9,100 operations.

Any other layover length: connection checker.

Best time to fly

SNA → DFW flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 89.6% of the time, against 73.0% for 12–3 PM departures, a gap of 16.6 percentage points.

By day and hour

On-time arrival rate for each weekday and scheduled departure hour, in local time at the departure airport (SNA).

Hour of departure matters more than day of the week: hourly averages sit a typical 6.7 points from the route-wide rate, weekday averages 2.0 points.

On-time arrival rate for SNA to DFW by weekday and scheduled departure hour, local time. Each button reads out one slot.
Hour	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
6 AM–7 AM
7 AM–8 AM
8 AM–9 AM
9 AM–10 AM
10 AM–11 AM
11 AM–12 PM
12 PM–1 PM
1 PM–2 PM
2 PM–3 PM
3 PM–4 PM
4 PM–5 PM
5 PM–6 PM
6 PM–7 PM

On-time rate, % · stronger color, fewer on time

68–71
72–75
76–79
80–83
84–87
88–91
92–95

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 after 7 PM (128 flights) are not drawn: no slot in those hours has enough flights to score.

View as tableHide table

On-time arrival rate (%) with flights beneath, by scheduled departure hour and weekday for SNA to DFW. A dash means fewer than 120 flights, which are not scored.
Hour	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
6 AM–7 AM	90.7% on time156 flights	90.1% on time155 flights	92.8% on time154 flights	94.7% on time155 flights	92.0% on time156 flights	92.2% on time156 flights	0 flights, too few to score
7 AM–8 AM	50 flights, too few to score	51 flights, too few to score	52 flights, too few to score	50 flights, too few to score	51 flights, too few to score	51 flights, too few to score	85.7% on time161 flights
8 AM–9 AM	91.0% on time136 flights	87.4% on time147 flights	86.8% on time142 flights	90.6% on time145 flights	86.3% on time135 flights	80.3% on time134 flights	83.8% on time164 flights
9 AM–10 AM	85.0% on time170 flights	90.4% on time138 flights	90.2% on time135 flights	90.5% on time160 flights	87.6% on time165 flights	86.4% on time149 flights	81.1% on time168 flights
10 AM–11 AM	81.5% on time132 flights	78.0% on time125 flights	80.7% on time123 flights	85.8% on time126 flights	82.4% on time136 flights	80.5% on time124 flights	77.3% on time130 flights
11 AM–12 PM	81 flights, too few to score	93 flights, too few to score	84 flights, too few to score	83 flights, too few to score	83 flights, too few to score	77 flights, too few to score	88 flights, too few to score
12 PM–1 PM	71.5% on time139 flights	71.6% on time144 flights	74.8% on time130 flights	71.2% on time138 flights	72.1% on time142 flights	80.5% on time123 flights	69.1% on time141 flights
1 PM–2 PM	20 flights, too few to score	21 flights, too few to score	26 flights, too few to score	22 flights, too few to score	20 flights, too few to score	20 flights, too few to score	19 flights, too few to score
2 PM–3 PM	75.0% on time122 flights	118 flights, too few to score	118 flights, too few to score	68.1% on time144 flights	71.2% on time128 flights	116 flights, too few to score	74.2% on time136 flights
3 PM–4 PM	53 flights, too few to score	46 flights, too few to score	48 flights, too few to score	32 flights, too few to score	50 flights, too few to score	46 flights, too few to score	32 flights, too few to score
4 PM–5 PM	72.0% on time159 flights	81.7% on time137 flights	72.2% on time151 flights	73.3% on time153 flights	78.2% on time154 flights	119 flights, too few to score	72.1% on time175 flights
5 PM–6 PM	13 flights, too few to score	13 flights, too few to score	13 flights, too few to score	11 flights, too few to score	11 flights, too few to score	10 flights, too few to score	11 flights, too few to score
6 PM–7 PM	92 flights, too few to score	44 flights, too few to score	53 flights, too few to score	86.2% on time121 flights	93 flights, too few to score	46 flights, too few to score	74.4% on time128 flights

By departure window

5–9 AM89.6%

9 AM–12 PM83.2%

12–3 PM73.0%

3–6 PM75.9%

6–9 PM82.3%

By departure hour

12 AM

3 AM

6 AM

9 AM

12 PM

3 PM

6 PM

9 PM

Why SNA → DFW runs late

July 2023 – July 2026

Late-arriving aircraft46.7%

the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late

The airline34.3%

crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control

Air traffic control12.0%

airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control

Weather6.9%

weather severe enough to stop this flight specifically

Security0.1%

screening or terminal security incidents

Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for SNA → DFW. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.

Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on SNA → DFW, at 46.7%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 89.6% of the time and 12–3 PM departures 73.0%.

Airlines on this route

Carriers with at least 200 flights, by the airline that operated each one.

Airlines on this route
Carrier	Flights	On time	Cancelled	Median delay	Severe
American Airlines	8,772	82.1%	2.33%	-9 min	6.9%
Frontier Airlines	328	64.3%	2.44%	3 min	10.7%

American Airlines flew 96.4% of the 9,100 flights listed.

American Airlines arrived on time 17.8 percentage points more often than Frontier 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.

Other ways to fly Los Angeles to Dallas–Fort Worth
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
SNA→DFW this route Santa Ana to Dallas–Fort Worth	9,100	81.5%	2.33%	-9 min	61

SNA → DFW is the most reliable pairing for this journey at 81.5% on time, against 76.9% for LAX → DFW.

Flying to DFW from the Los Angeles area? Compare SNA, LAX, BUR, ONT 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.

Flights on this route
Flight	Scheduled	Operations	On time
AA1382 American Airlines	6:45 AM	1,113	91.0%

Weekly and seasonal patterns

By day of week

Mon79.6%

Tue83.1%

Wed82.7%

Thu82.1%

Fri82.9%

Sat82.8%

Sun77.5%

Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 5.6 percentage points.

By month

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

June is historically the weakest month and September the strongest, a spread of 14.0 percentage points.

Reliability over time

July 2023 – July 2026

24

25

26

Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 80.4% against 81.4% in the 12 months before — broadly unchanged.

Data and methodology

Calculated by FlyerIntel from 9,100 SNA → 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

Analysis last recomputed September 26, 2026

SNA airport DFW airport Return direction DFW → SNA

SNA→DFW

Right now

Route reliability

What sets this route apart

SNA to DFW against comparable routes

Why SNA → DFW flights are cancelled

Share of cancellations

What each reason means

When it goes wrong

Will your connection be tight enough?

Best time to fly

By day and hour

By departure window

By departure hour

Why SNA → DFW runs late

Airlines on this route

Other ways to fly Los Angeles to Dallas–Fort Worth

Flights on this route

Weekly and seasonal patterns

By day of week

By month

Reliability over time

Data and methodology