Chicago to Dallas-Fort Worth

Between Chicago and Dallas-Fort Worth, 2.7 million passengers flew nonstop in 2025, on 20 thousand flights of about 800 miles and 1.9 hours in the air. The average passenger accounted for about 126 kg of CO2 from the fuel burned, from 94 kg on Frontier Airlines to 145 kg on United Airlines.

126 kgCO2 per passenger, average
800 milesabout 1.9 hours in the air
2.7 millionpassengers in 2025
81%of seats filled

CO2 per passenger, airline by airline

Kilograms of CO2 per passenger, one way, 2025. Fuel burned only. Less is better.

Chicago to Dallas-Fort Worth by airline, 2025

Airline	Share of passengers	Flights (thousands)	Main aircraft	Seats per flight	Seats filled	kg CO2 per passenger
American Airlines	44%	7.8	Boeing 737-800, Airbus A321	181	85%	127
Southwest Airlines	28%	6.1	Boeing 737 MAX 8, Boeing 737-700	165	76%	123
United Airlines	17%	3.9	Airbus A319, Boeing 737-700	143	81%	145
Frontier Airlines	8%	1.4	Airbus A320neo, Airbus A321neo	198	84%	94
Spirit Airlines	3%	0.4	Airbus A320-200, Airbus A320neo	190	89%	96

What explains the differences

It's number 29 of the 100 busiest city pairs by passengers, and number 56 for the lowest CO2 per mile flown (0.16 kg per passenger-mile, number 1 being the lowest). A typical route of 800 miles in this set comes out at about 127 kg, so this one is close to that.

The flights use more than one pair of airports: DFW to ORD (69%), DAL to MDW (20%), DAL to ORD (8%). The figures here cover all of them.

The airlines on this route differ by 54% per passenger. Frontier Airlines burned 1,603 gallons per flight and 165 passengers on each, and United Airlines 1,731 gallons and 116 passengers. Fuel burned per flight explains about 18% of the gap and the number of passengers on each flight the other 82%. Frontier Airlines flew 84% full here against 81% for United Airlines, flying mostly Airbus A320neo against Airbus A319.

For comparison, the EPA default factor for a flight of this length (0.129 kg per passenger-mile) would give 103 kg. The EPA figure is a national average for flights of that length. The measured figure for this route is 22% higher.

2019 compared with 2025

In 2019 the route carried 2.8 million passengers on 20 thousand flights. In 2025 it carried 2.7 million, down 4%, on 20 thousand flights, up 1%. The average flight had 168 seats then and 168 now, and 86% of them were filled against 81%.

CO2 per passenger was 132 kg in 2019 and 126 kg in 2025, down 4.9%. Fuel burned per flight was down 9.7% (1,960 gallons to 1,770) and passengers per flight were down 5.1% (144 to 137). The distance flown was about the same (799 miles then, 800 now).

American Airlines led in both years, with 54% of passengers in 2019 and 44% in 2025. Southwest Airlines gained the most share, 21% to 28%. American Airlines lost the most, 54% to 44%. Frontier Airlines didn't have 1% of the passengers in 2019 and now carries 8%.

Airline by airline, American Airlines went from 136 kg to 127 kg per passenger (190 seats per flight to 181, main aircraft Boeing 737-800 in both years); United Airlines went from 142 kg to 145 kg per passenger (140 seats per flight to 143, main aircraft Airbus A319 in both years).

The airports changed too: DFW to ORD handled 79% of the passengers in 2019 and 69% in 2025.

Chicago to Dallas-Fort Worth, 2019 and 2025

Measure	2019	2025
Passengers (thousands)	2,836	2,720
Flights (thousands)	19.7	19.9
Seats filled	86%	81%
Gallons of fuel per flight	1,960	1,770
kg CO2 per passenger	132	126

Kilograms of CO2 per passenger on the airlines that flew the route in both years. 2019 figures use that year's filings and estimated aircraft fuel rates, with type-average replacements for missing or outlying filings as described in the methodology. Less is better.

Chicago to Dallas-Fort Worth and back: time in the air

Flights from Chicago to Dallas-Fort Worth spent 116 minutes in the air on average in 2025, against 109 minutes from Dallas-Fort Worth to Chicago: 7 minutes longer, 6% more. That's the westbound direction, into the prevailing west-to-east winds, which at flight levels often blow at well over 50 miles an hour.

At this route's average burn of about 942 gallons per flight hour, those extra minutes cost about 108 gallons per flight, which is about 0.8 gallons or 8 kg of CO2 for each passenger on the slower direction. The route figure above averages both directions.

Time in the air by direction, 2025

Direction	Average minutes in the air	Flights
Chicago to Dallas-Fort Worth	116.2	9,921
Dallas-Fort Worth to Chicago	109.3	9,938

Fly or drive

Driving is about 936 miles by road, which we estimate as 1.17 times the straight-line distance. An average car emits about 278 kg of CO2 on the trip, at the EPA figure of 0.297 kg per vehicle-mile. Alone, that's 121% more than the 126 kg for a passenger on the flight.

With 3 people in the car, driving comes out lower per person than the flight (93 kg each, and 69 kg each for four). A larger SUV or pickup (0.394 kg per mile) would emit about 369 kg per vehicle.

CO2 per person, Chicago to Dallas-Fort Worth. Driving figures divide one car's emissions between the people in it. See flying vs driving for other trip lengths.

Flights are listed under the airline that operates them, so regional flying appears under the regional. How the CO2 and drive figures are worked out is in the methodology.

Routes with shared cities or nearby CO2 per mile

Airports on this route: Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, O'Hare International Airport, Dallas Love Field, Midway International Airport.

Airport and airline references

Source: US Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), T-100 traffic and Schedule T-2 fuel filings; US EPA transport emission factors. See the methodology.

See all routes, or how the airlines compare overall on the airline pages.