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Rankings / Routes / New York to Dallas-Fort Worth

2025 flights

New York to Dallas-Fort Worth

Between New York and Dallas-Fort Worth, 3.6 million passengers flew nonstop in 2025, on 27 thousand flights of about 1,384 miles and 3.1 hours in the air. The average passenger accounted for about 203 kg of CO2 from the fuel burned, from 145 kg on Frontier Airlines to 241 kg on Delta Air Lines.

  • 203 kgCO2 per passenger, average
  • 1,384 milesabout 3.1 hours in the air
  • 3.6 millionpassengers in 2025
  • 84%of seats filled

CO2 per passenger, airline by airline

CO2 per passenger by airline, New York to Dallas-Fort WorthBar chart of kilograms of CO2 per passenger on each airline between New York and Dallas-Fort Worth in 2025.0100200Frontier Airlines145 kgSpirit Airlines153 kgSouthwest Airlines189 kgAmerican Airlines203 kgUnited Airlines223 kgDelta Air Lines241 kg
CO2 per passenger by airline, New York to Dallas-Fort WorthBar chart of kilograms of CO2 per passenger on each airline between New York and Dallas-Fort Worth in 2025.0100200Frontier Airlines145 kgSpirit Airlines153 kgSouthwest Airlines189 kgAmerican Airlines203 kgUnited Airlines223 kgDelta Air Lines241 kg
Kilograms of CO2 per passenger, one way, 2025. Fuel burned only. Less is better.
New York to Dallas-Fort Worth by airline, 2025
AirlineShare of passengersFlights (thousands)Main aircraftSeats per flightSeats filledkg CO2 per passenger
American Airlines54%13.3Boeing 737-800, Airbus A32117485%203
Delta Air Lines13%5.3Airbus A220-30011179%241
United Airlines11%3.2Airbus A319, Boeing 737-70014782%223
Southwest Airlines10%2.8Boeing 737-800, Boeing 737 MAX 816681%189
Spirit Airlines6%1.3Airbus A320-200, Airbus A321neo19589%153
Frontier Airlines6%1.1Airbus A321neo, Airbus A320neo22283%145

What explains the differences

It's number 18 of the 100 busiest city pairs by passengers, and number 40 for the lowest CO2 per mile flown (0.15 kg per passenger-mile, number 1 being the lowest). A typical route of 1,384 miles in this set comes out at about 199 kg, so this one is close to that.

The flights use more than one pair of airports: DFW to LGA (49%), DFW to EWR (26%), DFW to JFK (15%). The figures here cover all of them.

The airlines on this route differ by 66% per passenger. Frontier Airlines burned 2,720 gallons per flight and 183 passengers on each, and Delta Air Lines 2,166 gallons and 88 passengers. The gap comes from how many passengers share each flight, not from fuel burned per flight. Frontier Airlines flew 83% full here against 79% for Delta Air Lines, flying mostly Airbus A321neo against Airbus A220-300.

For comparison, the EPA default factor for a flight of this length (0.129 kg per passenger-mile) would give 179 kg. The EPA figure is a national average for flights of that length. The measured figure for this route is 14% higher.

2019 compared with 2025

In 2019 the route carried 3.3 million passengers on 26 thousand flights. In 2025 it carried 3.6 million, up 11%, on 27 thousand flights, up 4%. The average flight had 148 seats then and 160 now, and 85% of them were filled against 84%.

CO2 per passenger was 225 kg in 2019 and 203 kg in 2025, down 9.8%. Fuel burned per flight was down 3.6% (2,893 gallons to 2,788) and passengers per flight were up 6.8% (126 to 134). The distance flown was about the same (1,384 miles then, 1,384 now).

American Airlines led in both years, with 59% of passengers in 2019 and 54% in 2025. Delta Air Lines gained the most share, 10% to 13%. American Airlines lost the most, 59% to 54%. Frontier Airlines didn't have 1% of the passengers in 2019 and now carries 6%. Endeavor Air and Republic Airways no longer reach 1% of passengers, having had 4% in 2019.

Airline by airline, Spirit Airlines went from 170 kg to 153 kg per passenger (209 seats per flight to 195, main aircraft Airbus A321 then and Airbus A320-200 now); Delta Air Lines went from 234 kg to 241 kg per passenger (111 seats per flight to 111, main aircraft Airbus A319 then and Airbus A220-300 now).

New York to Dallas-Fort Worth, 2019 and 2025
Measure20192025
Passengers (thousands)3,2623,615
Flights (thousands)26.027.0
Seats filled85%84%
Gallons of fuel per flight2,8932,788
kg CO2 per passenger225203
CO2 per passenger by airline, 2019 and 2025, New York to Dallas-Fort WorthBar chart of kilograms of CO2 per passenger on New York to Dallas-Fort Worth for each major airline in 2019 and in 2025.0100200American Airlines 2019221 kgAmerican Airlines 2025203 kgDelta Air Lines 2019234 kgDelta Air Lines 2025241 kgUnited Airlines 2019232 kgUnited Airlines 2025223 kgSouthwest Airlines 2019206 kgSouthwest Airlines 2025189 kg
CO2 per passenger by airline, 2019 and 2025, New York to Dallas-Fort WorthBar chart of kilograms of CO2 per passenger on New York to Dallas-Fort Worth for each major airline in 2019 and in 2025.0100200American Airlines 2019221 kgAmerican Airlines 2025203 kgDelta Air Lines 2019234 kgDelta Air Lines 2025241 kgUnited Airlines 2019232 kgUnited Airlines 2025223 kgSouthwest Airlines 2019206 kgSouthwest Airlines 2025189 kg
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.

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

Flights from New York to Dallas-Fort Worth spent 198 minutes in the air on average in 2025, against 175 minutes from Dallas-Fort Worth to New York: 22 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 897 gallons per flight hour, those extra minutes cost about 333 gallons per flight, which is about 2.5 gallons or 24 kg of CO2 for each passenger on the slower direction. The route figure above averages both directions.

Time in the air by direction, 2025
DirectionAverage minutes in the airFlights
New York to Dallas-Fort Worth197.613,476
Dallas-Fort Worth to New York175.313,477

Fly or drive

Driving is about 1,619 miles by road, which we estimate as 1.17 times the straight-line distance. An average car emits about 481 kg of CO2 on the trip, at the EPA figure of 0.297 kg per vehicle-mile. Alone, that's 137% more than the 203 kg for a passenger on the flight.

With 3 people in the car, driving comes out lower per person than the flight (160 kg each, and 120 kg each for four). A larger SUV or pickup (0.394 kg per mile) would emit about 638 kg per vehicle.

CO2 per person by way of travel, New York to Dallas-Fort WorthBar chart of kilograms of CO2 per person flying, driving or taking the train between New York and Dallas-Fort Worth.0200400Flight, average203 kgCar, driver alone481 kgCar, 2 people240 kgCar, 4 people120 kg
CO2 per person by way of travel, New York to Dallas-Fort WorthBar chart of kilograms of CO2 per person flying, driving or taking the train between New York and Dallas-Fort Worth.0200400Flight, average203 kgCar, driver alone481 kgCar, 2 people240 kgCar, 4 people120 kg
CO2 per person, New York 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

New York to Miami158 kg CO2 per passenger over 1,082 milesNew York to Orlando141 kg CO2 per passenger over 947 milesNew York to Chicago125 kg CO2 per passenger over 730 milesNew York to Atlanta124 kg CO2 per passenger over 758 milesDallas-Fort Worth to Phoenix127 kg CO2 per passenger over 872 milesMiami to Houston142 kg CO2 per passenger over 964 milesOrlando to Boston163 kg CO2 per passenger over 1,111 miles

Airports on this route: Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, LaGuardia Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport, John F. Kennedy 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.