Dallas-Fort Worth to Washington, DC

Between Dallas-Fort Worth and Washington, DC, 2.7 million passengers flew nonstop in 2025, on 20 thousand flights of about 1,193 miles and 2.6 hours in the air. The average passenger accounted for about 178 kg of CO2 from the fuel burned, from 134 kg on Frontier Airlines to 200 kg on United Airlines.

178 kgCO2 per passenger, average
1,193 milesabout 2.6 hours in the air
2.7 millionpassengers in 2025
79%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 Washington, DC by airline, 2025

Airline	Share of passengers	Flights (thousands)	Main aircraft	Seats per flight	Seats filled	kg CO2 per passenger
American Airlines	53%	10.1	Boeing 737-800, Airbus A321	175	82%	178
Southwest Airlines	31%	7.0	Boeing 737 MAX 8, Boeing 737-700	165	73%	181
United Airlines	8%	1.8	Airbus A319, Boeing 737-700	141	84%	200
Frontier Airlines	4%	0.7	Airbus A320neo, Airbus A321neo	212	79%	134
Spirit Airlines	3%	0.5	Airbus A320-200, Airbus A321	195	88%	141

What explains the differences

It's number 28 of the 100 busiest city pairs by passengers, and number 48 for the lowest CO2 per mile flown (0.15 kg per passenger-mile, number 1 being the lowest). A typical route of 1,193 miles in this set comes out at about 175 kg, so this one is close to that.

The flights use more than one pair of airports: DFW to DCA (35%), DFW to IAD (18%), DAL to BWI (17%). The figures here cover all of them.

The airlines on this route differ by 49% per passenger. Frontier Airlines burned 2,306 gallons per flight and 168 passengers on each, and United Airlines 2,418 gallons and 118 passengers. Fuel burned per flight explains about 12% of the gap and the number of passengers on each flight the other 88%. Frontier Airlines flew 79% full here against 84% 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 154 kg. The EPA figure is a national average for flights of that length. The measured figure for this route is 16% higher.

2019 compared with 2025

In 2019 the route carried 2.7 million passengers on 20 thousand flights. In 2025 it carried 2.7 million, up 3%, on 20 thousand flights, up 1%. The average flight had 156 seats then and 169 now, and 85% of them were filled against 79%.

CO2 per passenger was 180 kg in 2019 and 178 kg in 2025, down 1.3%. Fuel burned per flight was up 0.5% (2,443 gallons to 2,454) and passengers per flight were up 1.8% (132 to 134). The distance flown was about the same (1,193 miles then, 1,193 now).

American Airlines led in both years, with 59% of passengers in 2019 and 53% in 2025. United Airlines gained the most share, 2% to 8%. American Airlines lost the most, 59% to 53%. Frontier Airlines didn't have 1% of the passengers in 2019 and now carries 4%. Mesa Airlines no longer reaches 1% of passengers, having had 4% in 2019.

Airline by airline, American Airlines went from 185 kg to 178 kg per passenger (164 seats per flight to 175, main aircraft Boeing 737-800 in both years); Southwest Airlines went from 172 kg to 181 kg per passenger (159 seats per flight to 165, main aircraft Boeing 737-800 then and Boeing 737 MAX 8 now).

Dallas-Fort Worth to Washington, DC, 2019 and 2025

Measure	2019	2025
Passengers (thousands)	2,655	2,728
Flights (thousands)	20.1	20.3
Seats filled	85%	79%
Gallons of fuel per flight	2,443	2,454
kg CO2 per passenger	180	178

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 Washington, DC and back: time in the air

Flights from Washington, DC to Dallas-Fort Worth spent 171 minutes in the air on average in 2025, against 146 minutes from Dallas-Fort Worth to Washington, DC: 25 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 930 gallons per flight hour, those extra minutes cost about 381 gallons per flight, which is about 2.8 gallons or 28 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
Washington, DC to Dallas-Fort Worth	170.7	10,134
Dallas-Fort Worth to Washington, DC	146.1	10,168

Fly or drive

Driving is about 1,396 miles by road, which we estimate as 1.17 times the straight-line distance. An average car emits about 415 kg of CO2 on the trip, at the EPA figure of 0.297 kg per vehicle-mile. Alone, that's 133% more than the 178 kg for a passenger on the flight.

With 3 people in the car, driving comes out lower per person than the flight (138 kg each, and 104 kg each for four). A larger SUV or pickup (0.394 kg per mile) would emit about 550 kg per vehicle.

CO2 per person, Dallas-Fort Worth to Washington, DC. 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, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Washington Dulles International Airport, Dallas Love Field, Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall 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.