North Texas Airport Ranked as 'Worst Offender' for On-Time Departures

If you haven’t cried, cussed or collapsed in anger at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, can you say that you’ve really traveled? We don’t think so, but since we’ve done all three multiple times, maybe we’re not the best judges.

Unsurprisingly, it's not just locals who have trouble getting in and out of DFW Airport. According to Travel and Leisure magazine, our gargantuan airport is a hall of horrors for travelers.

“A flight delay can be a traveler’s worst nightmare, and a new report revealed some airports are more delay-prone than others,” the article notes. “The worst offender for on-time departures of major airports across the United States was Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), which had an on-time rate of just 71.1 percent, according to the 2025 Bureau of Transportation Statistics from January through May.”

No one should be all that surprised, of course. It wasn't all that long ago that the same airport was home to the “No. 1 most lawless baggage claim in all of America.”

In addition, this latest dubious distinction isn't new, as the airport that connects Grapevine and Irving ranked as the worst major airport for on-time departures during the same time period last year, according to the report.

The difference between DFW at the bottom of the list and Salt Lake City International Airport at No. 1 is quite significant. DFW Airport finished with a 69.28% on-time departure rate, while SLC delivered a highly respectable 83.94% rate.

“When it came to delays, the leading cause for holdups was an aircraft arriving late, which can create a negative cascading effect on a carrier's schedule,” Travel and Leisure reports. “Extreme weather accounted for just 0.85 percent of all nationwide delays during the survey period, while cancelled or diverted flights accounted for 1.7 percent of all delays.”

Dallas Love Field wasn’t included in the survey, and that’s a good thing for them. According to the Aviation Database, Love Field clocked in with only a 77.1% on-time rate in 2025, and 78.1% in 2025. Better than DFW, sure, but far short of the top few.

Perhaps the worst part about these results is that both Houston and Austin finished higher than DFW, with on-time departure rates of 75.38% and 76.25% respectively. But hey, that’s lower than Love Field at least.