Dallas-Fort Worth to Phoenix

Between Dallas-Fort Worth and Phoenix, 2.4 million passengers flew nonstop in 2025, on 16 thousand flights of about 872 miles and 2.0 hours in the air. The average passenger accounted for about 127 kg of CO2 from the fuel burned, from 96 kg on Frontier Airlines to 141 kg on Southwest Airlines.

127 kgCO2 per passenger, average
872 milesabout 2.0 hours in the air
2.4 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.

Dallas-Fort Worth to Phoenix by airline, 2025

Airline	Share of passengers	Flights (thousands)	Main aircraft	Seats per flight	Seats filled	kg CO2 per passenger
American Airlines	61%	8.9	Airbus A321, Airbus A321neo	190	85%	124
Southwest Airlines	30%	5.8	Boeing 737 MAX 8, Boeing 737-800	166	72%	141
Frontier Airlines	7%	1.0	Airbus A320neo, Airbus A321neo	210	85%	96
Spirit Airlines	2%	0.3	Airbus A320neo, Airbus A321	198	83%	107

What explains the differences

It's number 52 of the 100 busiest city pairs by passengers, and number 38 for the lowest CO2 per mile flown (0.15 kg per passenger-mile, number 1 being the lowest). A typical route of 872 miles in this set comes out at about 136 kg, so this one is 6.3% below it.

The flights use more than one pair of airports: DFW to PHX (70%), DAL to PHX (30%). The figures here cover all of them.

The airlines on this route differ by 46% per passenger. Frontier Airlines burned 1,762 gallons per flight and 178 passengers on each, and Southwest Airlines 1,738 gallons and 120 passengers. The gap comes from how many passengers share each flight, not from fuel burned per flight. Frontier Airlines flew 85% full here against 72% for Southwest Airlines, flying mostly Airbus A320neo against Boeing 737 MAX 8.

For comparison, the EPA default factor for a flight of this length (0.129 kg per passenger-mile) would give 112 kg. The EPA figure is a national average for flights of that length. The measured figure for this route is 13% higher.

2019 compared with 2025

In 2019 the route carried 2.0 million passengers on 13 thousand flights. In 2025 it carried 2.4 million, up 20%, on 16 thousand flights, up 19%. The average flight had 169 seats then and 182 now, and 87% of them were filled against 81%.

CO2 per passenger was 133 kg in 2019 and 127 kg in 2025, down 4.5%. Fuel burned per flight was down 4.0% (2,006 gallons to 1,926) and passengers per flight were up 0.5% (147 to 148). The distance flown was about the same (871 miles then, 872 now).

American Airlines led in both years, with 62% of passengers in 2019 and 61% in 2025. Spirit Airlines lost the most, 6% to 2%. Frontier Airlines didn't have 1% of the passengers in 2019 and now carries 7%. Mesa Airlines no longer reaches 1% of passengers, having had 2% in 2019.

Airline by airline, American Airlines went from 135 kg to 124 kg per passenger (183 seats per flight to 190, main aircraft Airbus A321 in both years); Southwest Airlines went from 129 kg to 141 kg per passenger (155 seats per flight to 166, main aircraft Boeing 737-700 then and Boeing 737 MAX 8 now).

Dallas-Fort Worth to Phoenix, 2019 and 2025

Measure	2019	2025
Passengers (thousands)	1,967	2,361
Flights (thousands)	13.4	16.0
Seats filled	87%	81%
Gallons of fuel per flight	2,006	1,926
kg CO2 per passenger	133	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 Phoenix and back: time in the air

Flights from Dallas-Fort Worth to Phoenix spent 129 minutes in the air on average in 2025, against 113 minutes from Phoenix to Dallas-Fort Worth: 15 minutes longer, 13% 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 955 gallons per flight hour, those extra minutes cost about 242 gallons per flight, which is about 1.6 gallons or 16 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
Dallas-Fort Worth to Phoenix	128.6	7,987
Phoenix to Dallas-Fort Worth	113.4	8,005

Fly or drive

Driving is about 1,020 miles by road, which we estimate as 1.17 times the straight-line distance. An average car emits about 303 kg of CO2 on the trip, at the EPA figure of 0.297 kg per vehicle-mile. Alone, that's 138% more than the 127 kg for a passenger on the flight.

With 3 people in the car, driving comes out lower per person than the flight (101 kg each, and 76 kg each for four). A larger SUV or pickup (0.394 kg per mile) would emit about 402 kg per vehicle.

CO2 per person, Dallas-Fort Worth to Phoenix. 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

Los Angeles to Dallas-Fort Worth171 kg CO2 per passenger over 1,222 miles Los Angeles to Phoenix74 kg CO2 per passenger over 354 miles New York to Dallas-Fort Worth203 kg CO2 per passenger over 1,384 miles Dallas-Fort Worth to Washington, DC178 kg CO2 per passenger over 1,193 miles Chicago to Denver129 kg CO2 per passenger over 890 miles Denver to Las Vegas91 kg CO2 per passenger over 628 miles New York to Miami158 kg CO2 per passenger over 1,082 miles

Airports on this route: Dallas/Fort Worth 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.