Dallas-Fort Worth to Houston

Between Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston, 2.4 million passengers flew nonstop in 2025, on 25 thousand flights of about 233 miles and 47 minutes in the air. The average passenger accounted for about 67 kg of CO2 from the fuel burned, from 60 kg on Southwest Airlines to 103 kg on SkyWest Airlines.

67 kgCO2 per passenger, average
233 milesabout 47 minutes in the air
2.4 millionpassengers in 2025
71%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 Houston by airline, 2025

Airline	Share of passengers	Flights (thousands)	Main aircraft	Seats per flight	Seats filled	kg CO2 per passenger
Southwest Airlines	36%	8.1	Boeing 737-700, Boeing 737 MAX 8	158	67%	60
American Airlines	26%	5.1	Boeing 737-800, Airbus A319	162	75%	61
United Airlines	18%	4.4	Airbus A319, Boeing 737-700	144	69%	68
Envoy Air	11%	4.3	Embraer 175	74	82%	88
Mesa Airlines	3%	1.2	Embraer 175	74	80%	75
SkyWest Airlines	3%	1.2	Embraer 175	66	74%	103
PSA Airlines	1%	0.6		75	74%	88

What explains the differences

It's number 53 of the 100 busiest city pairs by passengers, and number 97 for the lowest CO2 per mile flown (0.29 kg per passenger-mile, number 1 being the lowest). A typical route of 233 miles in this set comes out at about 57 kg, so this one is 17% above it.

The flights use more than one pair of airports: DFW to IAH (54%), DAL to HOU (36%), DFW to HOU (10%). The figures here cover all of them.

The airlines on this route differ by 70% per passenger. Southwest Airlines burned 654 gallons per flight and 106 passengers on each, and SkyWest Airlines 515 gallons and 49 passengers. The gap comes from how many passengers share each flight, not from fuel burned per flight. Southwest Airlines flew 67% full here against 74% for SkyWest Airlines, flying mostly Boeing 737-700 against Embraer 175.

For comparison, the EPA default factor for a flight of this length (0.207 kg per passenger-mile) would give 48 kg. The EPA figure is a national average for flights of that length. The measured figure for this route is 39% higher.

2019 compared with 2025

In 2019 the route carried 2.9 million passengers on 29 thousand flights. In 2025 it carried 2.4 million, down 18%, on 25 thousand flights, down 15%. The average flight had 126 seats then and 132 now, and 77% of them were filled against 71%.

CO2 per passenger was 62 kg in 2019 and 67 kg in 2025, up 7.8%. Fuel burned per flight was up 4.5% (617 gallons to 645) and passengers per flight were down 3.0% (97 to 94). The distance flown was about the same (234 miles then, 233 now).

Southwest Airlines led in both years, with 46% of passengers in 2019 and 36% in 2025. United Airlines gained the most share, 7% to 18%. Mesa Airlines lost the most, 15% to 3%. PSA Airlines didn't have 1% of the passengers in 2019 and now carries 1%. Republic Airways no longer reaches 1% of passengers, having had 1% in 2019.

Airline by airline, American Airlines went from 59 kg to 61 kg per passenger (156 seats per flight to 162, main aircraft Boeing 737-800 in both years); United Airlines went from 62 kg to 68 kg per passenger (145 seats per flight to 144, main aircraft Airbus A319 in both years).

The airports changed too: DFW to IAH handled 43% of the passengers in 2019 and 54% in 2025.

Dallas-Fort Worth to Houston, 2019 and 2025

Measure	2019	2025
Passengers (thousands)	2,858	2,357
Flights (thousands)	29.5	25.1
Seats filled	77%	71%
Gallons of fuel per flight	617	645
kg CO2 per passenger	62	67

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 Houston and back: time in the air

The time in the air is almost the same each way: 46 minutes on average from Dallas-Fort Worth to Houston and 47 minutes back. A difference of 1 minute is within what routing and congestion alone produce.

Time in the air by direction, 2025

Direction	Average minutes in the air	Flights
Houston to Dallas-Fort Worth	46.9	12,628
Dallas-Fort Worth to Houston	46.0	12,450

Fly or drive

Driving is about 273 miles by road, which we estimate as 1.17 times the straight-line distance. An average car emits about 81 kg of CO2 on the trip, at the EPA figure of 0.297 kg per vehicle-mile. Alone, that's 21% more than the 67 kg for a passenger on the flight.

With 2 people in the car, driving comes out lower per person than the flight (40 kg each, and 20 kg each for four). A larger SUV or pickup (0.394 kg per mile) would emit about 107 kg per vehicle.

CO2 per person, Dallas-Fort Worth to Houston. 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, George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Dallas Love Field, William P. Hobby 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.