Dallas-Fort Worth to Atlanta

Between Dallas-Fort Worth and Atlanta, 2.6 million passengers flew nonstop in 2025, on 20 thousand flights of about 728 miles and 1.7 hours in the air. The average passenger accounted for about 127 kg of CO2 from the fuel burned, from 84 kg on Frontier Airlines to 140 kg on Delta Air Lines.

127 kgCO2 per passenger, average
728 milesabout 1.7 hours in the air
2.6 millionpassengers in 2025
78%of seats filled

CO2 per passenger, airline by airline

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

Dallas-Fort Worth to Atlanta by airline, 2025

Airline	Share of passengers	Flights (thousands)	Main aircraft	Seats per flight	Seats filled	kg CO2 per passenger
Delta Air Lines	43%	9.1	Airbus A321	154	80%	140
American Airlines	28%	5.2	Boeing 737-800, Airbus A321	180	77%	128
Southwest Airlines	14%	3.2	Boeing 737-700, Boeing 737 MAX 8	163	70%	124
Frontier Airlines	9%	1.3	Airbus A320neo, Airbus A321neo	210	86%	84
Spirit Airlines	6%	0.8	Airbus A320-200, Airbus A321neo	201	86%	91

What explains the differences

It's number 41 of the 100 busiest city pairs by passengers, and number 72 for the lowest CO2 per mile flown (0.17 kg per passenger-mile, number 1 being the lowest). A typical route of 728 miles in this set comes out at about 118 kg, so this one is 7.4% above it.

The flights use more than one pair of airports: DFW to ATL (73%), DAL to ATL (27%). The figures here cover all of them.

The airlines on this route differ by 68% per passenger. Frontier Airlines burned 1,545 gallons per flight and 180 passengers on each, and Delta Air Lines 1,759 gallons and 123 passengers. Fuel burned per flight explains about 25% of the gap and the number of passengers on each flight the other 75%. Frontier Airlines flew 86% full here against 80% for Delta Air Lines, flying mostly Airbus A320neo against Airbus A321.

For comparison, the EPA default factor for a flight of this length (0.129 kg per passenger-mile) would give 94 kg. The EPA figure is a national average for flights of that length. The measured figure for this route is 35% higher.

2019 compared with 2025

In 2019 the route carried 2.6 million passengers on 20 thousand flights. In 2025 it carried 2.6 million, down 1%, on 20 thousand flights, down 3%. The average flight had 156 seats then and 167 now, and 83% of them were filled against 78%.

CO2 per passenger was 127 kg in 2019 and 127 kg in 2025, unchanged. Fuel burned per flight was up 1.6% (1,676 gallons to 1,703) and passengers per flight were up 1.5% (129 to 131). The distance flown was about the same (728 miles then, 728 now).

Delta Air Lines led in both years, with 50% of passengers in 2019 and 43% in 2025. Delta Air Lines lost the most, 50% to 43%. Frontier Airlines didn't have 1% of the passengers in 2019 and now carries 9%.

Airline by airline, American Airlines went from 132 kg to 128 kg per passenger (162 seats per flight to 180, main aircraft Boeing 737-800 in both years); Southwest Airlines went from 117 kg to 124 kg per passenger (152 seats per flight to 163, main aircraft Boeing 737-700 in both years).

Dallas-Fort Worth to Atlanta, 2019 and 2025

Measure	2019	2025
Passengers (thousands)	2,627	2,593
Flights (thousands)	20.3	19.8
Seats filled	83%	78%
Gallons of fuel per flight	1,676	1,703
kg CO2 per passenger	127	127

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.

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

Flights from Atlanta to Dallas-Fort Worth spent 112 minutes in the air on average in 2025, against 96 minutes from Dallas-Fort Worth to Atlanta: 16 minutes longer, 17% 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 980 gallons per flight hour, those extra minutes cost about 260 gallons per flight, which is about 2.0 gallons or 19 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
Atlanta to Dallas-Fort Worth	112.2	9,872
Dallas-Fort Worth to Atlanta	96.3	9,913

Fly or drive

Driving is about 852 miles by road, which we estimate as 1.17 times the straight-line distance. An average car emits about 253 kg of CO2 on the trip, at the EPA figure of 0.297 kg per vehicle-mile. Alone, that's 100% more than the 127 kg for a passenger on the flight.

With 2 people in the car, driving comes out lower per person than the flight (126 kg each, and 63 kg each for four). A larger SUV or pickup (0.394 kg per mile) would emit about 336 kg per vehicle.

CO2 per person, Dallas-Fort Worth to Atlanta. 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, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Dallas Love Field.

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.