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.

Share of departures that left on time, by hour band and day of week.
Departure time MonTueWedThuFriSatSun
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
fewer left on time more left on time

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.

Share of departures that left on time, by calendar month. Best month in green, worst in amber. The hairline sits at the overall rate, 73.1%.
Departure on-time share at DAL by calendar month
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 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.

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.

July 2023–June 2026 · 215,143 departures flown

73.1% of departures left on time

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.