Airport month record
DALMAY
Dallas Love Field in May 2026
- Departures
- 6,141
- Month
- May 2026
- National, same month
- 78.6%
- Carriers
- 2
Historical statistics for May 2026, not live status or a forecast for this year’s May. For today’s conditions at DAL, see live FAA status.
DAL in May draws a D. About one flight in three arrives at least 15 minutes late, and the typical late arrival is about an hour behind schedule. Build slack into anything you connect to. That rests on 6,141 flights, with a median arrival 3 minutes late.
The national on-time rate over the same period is 78.6%, so dal in may runs 14 points behind the country as a whole. Across a thousand flights that is about 143 extra late arrivals.
Key figures
On time
64.3%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 6,020 completed departures
Avg delay
62 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
1.69%
Nationally in May: 0.92%
Whole year
73.2%
DAL across all twelve months
These figures cover 6,141 departures from Dallas Love Field in May 2026. On time means an arrival less than 15 minutes after the scheduled gate time, the DOT's threshold, and the national comparison uses every US departure in the same month rather than the whole year.
Against the year
May next to DAL's other months
Against DAL's own year, May ran 9 points worse than the twelve-month rate of 73.2%, which makes it number eleven of twelve months, best first. Either side of it, April ran 71.1% on time and June 56.5%, so this month sits in line with its neighbours.
| Month | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2025 | 6,349 | 68.5% | 62 min | 1.32% | C |
| August 2025 | 5,730 | 75.5% | 61 min | 0.54% | B+ |
| September 2025 | 5,518 | 81.9% | 56 min | 0.13% | B+ |
| October 2025 | 6,100 | 75.9% | 57 min | 0.80% | B+ |
| November 2025 | 5,799 | 76.4% | 62 min | 2.71% | B |
| December 2025 | 6,070 | 78.7% | 50 min | 0.38% | B+ |
| January 2026 | 5,470 | 82.8% | 49 min | 5.54% | B− |
| February 2026 | 5,163 | 79.7% | 44 min | 0.87% | B+ |
| March 2026 | 6,221 | 70.3% | 56 min | 1.29% | C |
| April 2026 | 5,965 | 71.1% | 51 min | 0.70% | C+ |
| May 2026 (this page) | 6,141 | 64.3% | 62 min | 1.69% | D |
| June 2026 | 6,025 | 56.5% | 60 min | 1.18% | D |
Departure window
The best time of day to leave DAL in May
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 53 points, against half a point between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.
- 5am–8am773 flights91.2%
- 8am–11am1,212 flights86.3%
- 11am–2pm1,132 flights67.5%
- 2pm–5pm1,136 flights54.9%
- 5pm–8pm1,068 flights46.0%
- 8pm–5am820 flights37.9%
Scale runs 30% to 95%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.
The 8pm–5am window is where this operation falls apart: 37.9% on time, against 91.2% for the 5am–8am slot. By evening the aircraft flying these rotations have absorbed a full day of small delays and there is no slack left to recover in. The 8am–11am window is the busiest, with 1,212 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Saturday is the strongest day at 74.1% on time and Tuesday the weakest at 59.0%. 15 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at DAL in May
Only one carrier clears this site's 365-flight floor here, so there is no comparison to draw. The table below is the full picture.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 5,968 | 64.0% | 61 min | 1.68% | D |
| Delta Air Linesthin sample | 173 | 74.4% | 106 min | 2.31% | C |
Route by route
Busiest routes out of DAL in May
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DAL to HOU · Houstonthin sample | 350 | 65.2% | 53 min | 2.86% | C |
| DAL to ATL · Atlantathin sample | 292 | 69.4% | 87 min | 2.40% | C |
| DAL to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample | 260 | 64.8% | 59 min | 1.15% | D |
| DAL to DEN · Denverthin sample | 257 | 58.6% | 55 min | 1.95% | D |
| DAL to PHX · Phoenixthin sample | 256 | 67.1% | 53 min | 2.73% | C |
| DAL to SAT · San Antoniothin sample | 252 | 68.4% | 75 min | 0.79% | C+ |
| DAL to MCO · Orlandothin sample | 237 | 64.7% | 56 min | 1.69% | D |
| DAL to BNA · Nashvillethin sample | 209 | 60.9% | 74 min | 0.96% | D+ |
| DAL to AUS · Austinthin sample | 204 | 66.0% | 58 min | 0.49% | C+ |
| DAL to MSY · New Orleansthin sample | 202 | 64.6% | 57 min | 1.49% | D |
| DAL to MCI · Kansas Citythin sample | 178 | 69.0% | 50 min | 2.81% | C |
| DAL to MDW · Chicagothin sample | 176 | 64.5% | 56 min | 3.41% | D− |
| DAL to STL · St. Louisthin sample | 167 | 66.9% | 77 min | 1.80% | C |
| DAL to DCA · Washingtonthin sample | 145 | 62.9% | 76 min | 1.38% | D |
| DAL to BWI · Baltimorethin sample | 145 | 69.5% | 76 min | 1.38% | C |
| DAL to ELP · El Pasothin sample | 145 | 54.9% | 61 min | 0.69% | F+ |
| DAL to LGA · New Yorkthin sample | 145 | 51.4% | 62 min | 3.45% | F− |
| DAL to ABQ · Albuquerquethin sample | 136 | 68.4% | 76 min | 1.47% | C |
| DAL to SAN · San Diegothin sample | 135 | 69.9% | 61 min | 1.48% | C |
| DAL to LAX · Los Angelesthin sample | 131 | 62.0% | 50 min | 1.53% | D |
| DAL to LBB · Lubbockthin sample | 119 | 70.1% | 54 min | 1.68% | C |
| DAL to TPA · Tampathin sample | 114 | 64.3% | 57 min | 0.88% | D+ |
| DAL to MAF · Midlandthin sample | 109 | 66.1% | 70 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| DAL to AMA · Amarillothin sample | 101 | 62.0% | 54 min | 0.99% | D+ |
| DAL to BHM · Birminghamthin sample | 88 | 67.1% | 52 min | 3.41% | C− |
Delay causes
What held DAL up in May
One category carries most of the weight here. Late-arriving aircraft accounts for 54% of the 132,000 delay minutes carriers reported, and the remaining four split what is left. The split is by minutes rather than by flights, so a few very long delays count for as much as many short ones.
- 54%Late-arriving aircraft
- 28%Carrier
- 13%National Airspace System
- 4%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
54% of delay minutes trace back to a late-arriving aircraft, meaning the plane was already behind before it got here. That is a cascade, and cascades start small and grow through the day. Across 132,000 reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 12 to one. It is the strongest argument for booking the first departure of the morning, when the aircraft has been sitting at the gate overnight with nothing to inherit. The split is drawn from 131,766 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations sit at 1.69% against a national 0.92%, which is ordinary. Diversions add another 0.28%.
For anyone connecting, the number to weigh is not the on-time rate but the tail behind it. 11.3% of arrivals land a full hour or more behind schedule, against 7.1% nationally. A 45-minute layover does not survive that, and no amount of walking quickly changes it. Ninety minutes is the honest minimum here, and two hours if the onward flight is on a separate ticket.
What to do with this
Flying from DAL in May
For a May trip through DAL: plan on this being one of the airport's harder months. The 5am–8am departures held up best at 91.2% on time, and with 11.3% of arrivals an hour or more late, a connection here deserves more slack than the same trip in January would.
Related
Where to go next
- Dallas Love Field (DAL), the whole year
- DAL in July68.5%
- DAL in August75.5%
- DAL in September81.9%
- DAL in October75.9%
- DAL in November76.4%
- DAL in December78.7%
- DAL in January82.8%
- DAL in February79.7%
- DAL in March70.3%
- DAL in April71.1%
- DAL in June56.5%
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, on-time performance data, July 2025 to June 2026. Last updated 15 September 2026; recomputed monthly. How this data is collected.