Airport month record
DFWAPR
Dallas/Fort Worth International in April 2026
- Departures
- 25,686
- Month
- April 2026
- National, same month
- 79.8%
- Carriers
- 10
Historical statistics for April 2026, not live status or a forecast for this year’s April. For today’s conditions at DFW, see live FAA status.
DFW in April sits in the middle of the pack with a C. Close to three flights in four arrive on time by the DOT's definition, 6 points worse than the national rate of 79.8%. The late ones land about an hour behind schedule. That rests on 25,686 flights, of which Envoy Air flew 4,745 at 83.2% on time.
Envoy Air is the most reliable of the eight carriers covered here at 83.2% on time across 4,745 flights.
Key figures
On time
73.9%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 25,292 completed departures
Avg delay
66 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
1.33%
Nationally in April: 0.90%
Whole year
72.0%
DFW across all twelve months
These figures cover 25,686 departures from Dallas/Fort Worth International in April 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
April next to DFW's other months
Against DFW's own year, April ran 2 points better than the twelve-month rate of 72.0%, which makes it number six of twelve months, best first. Cancellations were unusually low for DFW in April, at 1.33% against 2.97% across the year. Either side of it, March ran 73.4% on time and May 72.7%, so this month sits in line with its neighbours.
| Month | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2025 | 28,959 | 64.3% | 76 min | 3.10% | D− |
| August 2025 | 27,091 | 65.7% | 80 min | 2.66% | C |
| September 2025 | 25,641 | 77.4% | 74 min | 1.87% | B |
| October 2025 | 27,182 | 75.0% | 64 min | 1.20% | B |
| November 2025 | 25,032 | 74.3% | 76 min | 3.47% | C− |
| December 2025 | 25,770 | 71.7% | 67 min | 0.62% | C+ |
| January 2026 | 24,229 | 75.4% | 79 min | 9.85% | B− |
| February 2026 | 22,019 | 78.9% | 63 min | 1.31% | B |
| March 2026 | 26,008 | 73.4% | 76 min | 2.51% | C |
| April 2026 (this page) | 25,686 | 73.9% | 66 min | 1.33% | C |
| May 2026 | 27,419 | 72.7% | 74 min | 3.34% | C− |
| June 2026 | 27,815 | 63.6% | 82 min | 4.55% | D− |
Departure window
The best time of day to leave DFW in April
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 21 points, against 14 points between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.
- 5am–8am2,458 flights86.0%
- 8am–11am5,005 flights82.6%
- 11am–2pm4,522 flights73.8%
- 2pm–5pm4,273 flights71.8%
- 5pm–8pm4,590 flights68.9%
- 8pm–5am4,838 flights65.4%
Scale runs 55% to 90%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.
Book the early departure. Flights leaving between 5am–8am arrive on time 86.0% of the time, against 65.4% for the overnight window. That is 21 points of difference for no extra money, and it comes from the same aircraft having had no earlier flight to fall behind on. The 8am–11am window is the busiest, with 5,005 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Friday is the strongest day at 79.9% on time and Saturday the weakest at 60.1%. 20 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at DFW in April
The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. Envoy Air arrives on time 83.2% of the time; American Airlines manages 69.3%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 13,877 flights means less than a ten-point one.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Airlines | 13,877 | 69.3% | 62 min | 1.30% | C |
| Envoy Air | 4,745 | 83.2% | 50 min | 1.16% | B |
| PSA Airlines | 2,056 | 71.7% | 95 min | 2.53% | C |
| SkyWest Airlines | 1,856 | 79.0% | 84 min | 1.67% | B |
| Delta Air Lines | 939 | 81.3% | 71 min | 0.43% | B+ |
| United Airlines | 829 | 79.6% | 83 min | 0.36% | B+ |
| Frontier Airlines | 810 | 76.8% | 78 min | 1.23% | B |
| Spirit Airlines | 365 | 69.9% | 60 min | 1.64% | C |
| Alaska Airlinesthin sample | 173 | 86.0% | 33 min | 0.58% | A+ |
| JetBlue Airwaysthin sample | 30 | 83.3% | 157 min | 0.00% | B+ |
The spread between Envoy and American is 14 points, wide enough that it should decide the booking. On a hundred trips that is 14 more arrivals inside the on-time window.
Route by route
Busiest routes out of DFW in April
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DFW to ORD · Chicago | 581 | 69.1% | 92 min | 2.41% | C |
| DFW to ATL · Atlanta | 562 | 75.0% | 58 min | 0.53% | B+ |
| DFW to LGA · New York | 554 | 68.8% | 50 min | 1.08% | C |
| DFW to IAH · Houston | 523 | 72.6% | 87 min | 0.76% | C+ |
| DFW to LAX · Los Angeles | 513 | 74.9% | 58 min | 0.58% | C+ |
| DFW to DEN · Denver | 489 | 72.3% | 75 min | 1.02% | C |
| DFW to PHX · Phoenix | 477 | 74.0% | 63 min | 1.47% | C |
| DFW to LAS · Las Vegas | 468 | 69.0% | 59 min | 1.28% | C |
| DFW to MCO · Orlando | 437 | 71.7% | 67 min | 1.14% | C |
| DFW to SEA · Seattle | 413 | 77.1% | 59 min | 0.73% | B+ |
| DFW to AUS · Austin | 405 | 67.2% | 68 min | 1.98% | C |
| DFW to MIA · Miami | 379 | 77.1% | 56 min | 0.79% | B+ |
| DFW to SAT · San Antoniothin sample | 356 | 69.9% | 65 min | 1.12% | C |
| DFW to SFO · San Franciscothin sample | 337 | 49.0% | 67 min | 0.59% | F+ |
| DFW to CLT · Charlottethin sample | 334 | 78.8% | 52 min | 0.90% | B+ |
| DFW to SLC · Salt Lake Citythin sample | 320 | 71.0% | 69 min | 1.25% | C |
| DFW to XNA · Bentonvillethin sample | 303 | 81.8% | 50 min | 1.98% | B |
| DFW to SAN · San Diegothin sample | 303 | 67.6% | 53 min | 1.32% | C |
| DFW to BOS · Bostonthin sample | 302 | 73.6% | 54 min | 0.99% | C+ |
| DFW to DTW · Detroitthin sample | 300 | 77.9% | 68 min | 0.67% | B+ |
| DFW to FLL · Fort Lauderdalethin sample | 297 | 74.2% | 80 min | 2.02% | C |
| DFW to DCA · Washingtonthin sample | 294 | 75.9% | 57 min | 1.02% | B |
| DFW to BNA · Nashvillethin sample | 293 | 70.0% | 66 min | 1.02% | C |
| DFW to EWR · Newarkthin sample | 285 | 79.2% | 62 min | 0.70% | B+ |
| DFW to PHL · Philadelphiathin sample | 264 | 79.4% | 60 min | 0.76% | B+ |
Delay causes
What held DFW up in April
One category carries most of the weight here. Late-arriving aircraft accounts for 50% of the 435,000 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.
- 50%Late-arriving aircraft
- 27%Carrier
- 15%National Airspace System
- 8%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
50% 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 435,000 reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 6 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 435,066 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations sit at 1.33% against a national 0.90%, which is ordinary. Diversions add another 0.20%.
For anyone connecting, the number to weigh is not the on-time rate but the tail behind it. 9.2% of arrivals land a full hour or more behind schedule, against 6.4% 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 DFW in April
For a April trip through DFW: expect 73.9% on time and 1.33% cancelled, going by April 2026. The 5am–8am window was the strongest part of the day.
Related
Where to go next
- Dallas/Fort Worth International (DFW), the whole year
- DFW in July64.3%
- DFW in August65.7%
- DFW in September77.4%
- DFW in October75.0%
- DFW in November74.3%
- DFW in December71.7%
- DFW in January75.4%
- DFW in February78.9%
- DFW in March73.4%
- DFW in May72.7%
- DFW in June63.6%
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.