Airport month record

DALOCT

Dallas Love Field in October 2025

Departures: 6,100
Month: October 2025
National, same month: 79.7%
Carriers: 2

Historical statistics for October 2025, not live status or a forecast for this year’s October. For today’s conditions at DAL, see live FAA status.

DAL in October sits in the middle of the pack with a B+. Close to three flights in four arrive on time by the DOT's definition, 4 points worse than the national rate of 79.7%. The late ones land about an hour behind schedule. That rests on 6,100 flights, with a median arrival 1 minute early.

On time

75.9%

Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 6,044 completed departures

Avg delay

57 min

Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights

Cancelled

0.80%

Nationally in October: 0.53%

Whole year

73.2%

DAL across all twelve months

These figures cover 6,100 departures from Dallas Love Field in October 2025. 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

October next to DAL's other months

Against DAL's own year, October ran 3 points better than the twelve-month rate of 73.2%, which makes it number six of twelve months, best first. Cancellations were unusually low for DAL in October, at 0.80% against 1.41% across the year. Either side of it, September ran 81.9% on time and November 76.4%, so a trip moved by a few weeks would have landed in a better stretch.

DAL month by month
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 (this page)	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	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 October

Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 29 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–8am756 flights92.1%
8am–11am1,239 flights88.0%
11am–2pm1,167 flights74.2%
2pm–5pm1,101 flights72.9%
5pm–8pm1,029 flights64.4%
8pm–5am808 flights62.7%

Scale runs 55% to 100%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.

The 8pm–5am window is where this operation falls apart: 62.7% on time, against 92.1% 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 1,239 flights scheduled in it.

Across the week, Wednesday is the strongest day at 87.8% on time and Sunday the weakest at 61.9%. 26 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.

Carrier by carrier

Which airlines ran best at DAL in October

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.

Carriers at DAL in October 2025
Airline	Flights	On time	Avg delay	Cancelled	Grade
Southwest Airlines	5,930	75.7%	57 min	0.83%	B+
Delta Air Linesthin sample	170	83.5%	74 min	0.00%	B+

Route by route

Busiest routes out of DAL in October

Routes from DAL in October 2025
Route	Flights	On time	Avg delay	Cancelled	Grade
DAL to HOU · Houstonthin sample	353	80.6%	57 min	0.57%	B+
DAL to ATL · Atlantathin sample	316	81.6%	67 min	0.00%	B+
DAL to PHX · Phoenixthin sample	259	74.0%	57 min	1.16%	C
DAL to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample	257	78.6%	53 min	1.95%	B
DAL to SAT · San Antoniothin sample	254	86.6%	72 min	0.39%	A+
DAL to DEN · Denverthin sample	237	69.5%	55 min	0.42%	C+
DAL to MCO · Orlandothin sample	228	74.6%	59 min	0.88%	C+
DAL to MSY · New Orleansthin sample	224	74.2%	48 min	1.34%	C
DAL to BNA · Nashvillethin sample	212	68.4%	59 min	1.42%	C
DAL to AUS · Austinthin sample	207	77.2%	48 min	0.48%	B+
DAL to MDW · Chicagothin sample	195	79.4%	57 min	0.51%	B+
DAL to MCI · Kansas Citythin sample	181	74.7%	50 min	1.66%	C
DAL to BWI · Baltimorethin sample	165	78.8%	65 min	0.00%	B+
DAL to ABQ · Albuquerquethin sample	162	77.2%	53 min	2.47%	B
DAL to STL · St. Louisthin sample	156	79.9%	57 min	1.28%	B
DAL to ELP · El Pasothin sample	150	75.8%	64 min	0.67%	B+
DAL to DCA · Washingtonthin sample	146	64.8%	46 min	0.00%	D+
DAL to SAN · San Diegothin sample	140	75.4%	41 min	0.71%	B+
DAL to LBB · Lubbockthin sample	138	77.4%	55 min	0.72%	B+
DAL to LGA · New Yorkthin sample	120	68.1%	65 min	3.33%	C−
DAL to LAX · Los Angelesthin sample	119	72.3%	51 min	0.00%	C+
DAL to TPA · Tampathin sample	119	78.0%	61 min	0.84%	B+
DAL to AMA · Amarillothin sample	114	84.1%	61 min	0.88%	B+
DAL to MAF · Midlandthin sample	111	80.0%	58 min	0.90%	B+
DAL to TUL · Tulsathin sample	93	85.7%	59 min	1.08%	A

Delay causes

What held DAL up in October

One category carries most of the weight here. Late-arriving aircraft accounts for 55% of the 83,000 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.

Late-arriving aircraft
55%
Carrier
30%
National Airspace System
13%
Extreme weather
2%
Security
0%

55% 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 83,000 reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 31 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 82,926 reported delay minutes.

Cancellations are rare at 0.80%, below the national 0.53% and low enough to earn the plus on the grade. Roughly one flight in 100 is called off; the risk here is arriving late, not not arriving.

7.0% of arrivals land an hour or more late, close to the national 6.3%. That is the figure that decides a connection, and it says a 60 to 75 minute layover is reasonable here while anything under 45 minutes is a bet. Most delays on this route last about an hour, which a normal layover absorbs.

What to do with this

Flying from DAL in October

For a October trip through DAL: expect 75.9% on time and 0.80% cancelled, going by October 2025. The 5am–8am window was the strongest part of the day.

Where to go next

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.

Key figures