Best time to fly out of Dallas Love (DAL)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Dallas Love: departures in the 6–8am band left on time 93% of the time, against 49.9% in the 10pm–12am band. These are historical odds, not forecasts. The records say what happened on this schedule over three years; they know nothing about tomorrow’s thunderstorm.
Data through June 2026 · Bureau of Transportation Statistics
On-time rate by hour and day
On this page, “on time” means a departure that pushed back less than 15 minutes behind its scheduled time — the Bureau of Transportation Statistics definition, and the one airlines are held to.
| Departure time | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before 6am | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 6–8am | 92 | 94 | 93 | 93 | 93 | 91 | 94 |
| 8–10am | 87 | 91 | 89 | 88 | 87 | 87 | 87 |
| 10am–12pm | 80 | 85 | 83 | 80 | 79 | 79 | 81 |
| 12–2pm | 75 | 79 | 79 | 72 | 71 | 77 | 71 |
| 2–4pm | 71 | 75 | 73 | 67 | 66 | 72 | 67 |
| 4–6pm | 64 | 70 | 66 | 55 | 58 | 64 | 56 |
| 6–8pm | 60 | 68 | 63 | 49 | 56 | 60 | 49 |
| 8–10pm | 58 | 65 | 60 | 51 | 55 | 49 | 47 |
| 10pm–12am | 55 | 61 | 58 | 48 | 53 | 43 | 44 |
The steadiest stretch at DAL was 6–8am — 93% of departures left on time across 29,708 flights. The weakest was 10pm–12am at 49.9%. 6–8am departures from DAL left on time 93% of the time across 29,708 flights; 6–8pm departures, 57.8% across 25,525. That is a gap of 35.2 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
The year at DAL
June was the hard month at DAL: 61% of departures left on time, across 18,505 flights. February was the easy one at 79.9%. Each month pools three years of that month, so a single bad week does not decide it.
| Month | Share departures that left on time | Flights |
|---|---|---|
| January | 77.7% | 17,262 |
| February | 79.9% | 16,028 |
| March | 72.2% | 18,737 |
| April | 71.8% | 18,112 |
| May | 62.1% | 18,534 |
| June | 61% | 18,505 |
| July | 66.4% | 19,302 |
| August | 76.5% | 18,232 |
| September | 79.9% | 17,341 |
| October | 77.7% | 18,831 |
| November | 78.5% | 18,079 |
| December | 74.9% | 18,847 |
Airlines at DAL
Every airline with at least 100 departures from DAL, busiest first. These are that airline’s departures from this airport only — its record across the country sits on its own page.
| Airline | Left on time | Typical delay | Cancelled | Departures |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 72.8% | 52 min | 1.2% | 210,698 |
| Delta Air Lines | 80.8% | 87 min | 1.4% | 6,233 |
| Alaska Airlines | 83.2% | 41 min | 1.3% | 879 |
What delays out of DAL were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 50,912 flights that departed DAL and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 50.3% put down to late-arriving aircraft and 29.1% to airline operations.
- Late-arriving aircraft 50.3%
- Airline operations 29.1%
- Air traffic & airport volume 16.5%
- Severe weather 4%
- Security 0.2%
Late-arriving aircraft is the knock-on category: the plane came in late, so it went out late again. It is why a 7am problem in Newark is still a problem in Denver at dinnertime, and why it is usually the biggest slice on the bar.
If you are connecting through DAL
Of 217,798 scheduled arrivals into DAL, 77.9% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 44,578 arrivals that ran late, 59.5% were no more than 45 minutes behind — which is the difference between a tight connection and a new boarding pass.
Work out a specific layover — pick the airport and the minutes you have, and the tool reads the same arrival records back as a share.
Busiest routes out of DAL
Ranked by flights, with the share that arrived on time at the far end. Where a route carries enough flights for a page of its own the chip goes there; otherwise it goes to the destination airport.
- HOU 76.8% on time · 12,339 flights
- ATL 79.3% on time · 10,505 flights
- DEN 73.6% on time · 9,681 flights
- PHX 77.8% on time · 9,050 flights
- LAS 76.8% on time · 8,847 flights
- SAT 80.4% on time · 8,355 flights
- MCO 73.4% on time · 8,086 flights
- AUS 79.6% on time · 7,516 flights
- BNA 76.7% on time · 7,247 flights
- MSY 77.3% on time · 6,955 flights
DAL in one number
Dallas Love (DAL)
Rank 30 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: 6–8am. Hardest month: June.
Questions about DAL
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Dallas Love?
- 6–8am. Departures in that band left on time 93% of the time across 29,708 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 10pm–12am band was the weakest at 49.9%.
- Is the early flight out of DAL really more reliable?
- 6–8am departures from DAL left on time 93% of the time across 29,708 flights; 6–8pm departures, 57.8% across 25,525. That is a gap of 35.2 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
- What is the worst month to fly out of DAL?
- June: 61% of the departures that flew left on time, with 18,505 scheduled. February was the other end of the year at 79.9%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- Which airline is most on time at DAL?
- Alaska Airlines — 83.2% of its 879 departures from DAL left on time. Southwest Airlines sat at the other end at 72.8% over 210,698 flights. Only airlines with at least 100 departures here are ranked.
- How often are flights cancelled at DAL?
- 1.2% of scheduled departures were cancelled over July 2023 through June 2026. Cancellations are counted against everything scheduled, not against everything that flew — a rate that looks small still adds up to real people in a rebooking line.