Summary
- American Airlines operates to both Houston airports from Dallas, with 13,132 seats to Hobby and 38,490 to George Bush International.
- Only four airlines currently operate between Dallas and George Bush International Airport, with American Airlines offering the most seats.
- Flying between Dallas and Houston may not save much time compared to driving due to distance and flight preparation requirements.
Dallas and Houston/Fort Worth are the two largest cities in Texas and have two of Texas’s busiest airports. For the month of September, four airlines operated between the two destinations and will carry almost exactly one hundred thousand seats between the two cities (100,410). The following data is per Cirium, an aviation analytics company.
Dallas-Fort Worth To William P. Hobby Airport
American Airlines is unique in operating flights from Dallas-Fort Worth to both of Houston’s main airports – George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) and William P. Hobby Airport (colloquially Houston Hobby – HOU). Houston Hobby is Houston’s oldest commercial airport and was the primary airport until the George Bush airport opened in 1969. After closing for a while, Houston Hobby reopened as Houston’s secondary airport.
Photo: Wenjie Zheng | Shutterstock
For the month of September, American Airlines has 189 operations scheduled with a total of 13,132 seats (operated by American Eagle). Hobby has the advantage of being only 7 miles from Downtown Houston.
While Hobby is a notable operating base for Southwest Airlines, other airlines only have a limited presence there. American Airlines’ sole route is to Dallas, while Delta only operates flights from there to Atlanta. Some other low-cost carriers serve the airport, although United doesn’t fly there at all.
Dallas-Fort Worth to George Bush International Airport
Goerge Bush International Airport is the international airport serving the greater Houston area. Four airline operators fly from Dallas to it, with American Airlines offering the most. American Airlines has 276 scheduled operations for September and 38,490 seats. A close second is United Airlines, which has 265 operations and 25,970 seats for September.
Photo: Spirit Airlines
The only two other airlines operating on the route are Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines (both of which are ultra-low-cost airlines). Spirit Airlines has 60 operations carrying 13,890 seats scheduled for September while Frontier Airlines has the least at 48 operations and only 8,928 seats. With a total of 51,622 seats, American Airlines accounts for more than half of the total flights between the two cities (United, Spirit, and Frontier have 48,788 seats between them).
A short route competing with driving
Assuming free-flowing traffic, it only takes three hours and thirty minutes to drive from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport to George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. So, the route is one where the airlines face competition from driving.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying
The scheduled flight time is between one hour and ten minutes and one hour and twenty minutes. Considering passengers must arrive 30 to 45 minutes before the flight departs, flying might not save much time.