Originally Posted by Nil SeAnn

I've been flying this route very regularly for almost a decade and load factor has been very high for years whether on BA or AA (with the exception of Covid restricted travel era).
Anecdotal experience from my flight LHR-DFW on BA193 on July 11.
Flight arrived over 2 hours late after departure was delayed - not as bad as my 6+ hour delay in May.
On approach to DFW the IFM announced that it was a completely full flight with 469 passengers and that over 200 of us were due to transfer on to connecting flights.
He went on to read out a list of passengers who now had new revised flight assignments. Connections varied from Cancun to Calgary and many other far flung places. It seemed to take forever to get through the list. I have to admit that I was surprised that almost half of the folks on that particular flight were connecting onwards. Got me thinking how many had also connected from elsewhere to join the flight at LHR (as I had).
The first flight of my forward bookings that is not very full is at the end of October.
Another anecdote is that even as Gold, upgrades are almost a thing of the past on this route. Over the years I have enjoyed many pleasant surprises from WT+ to Club, or even Club to First, but these are just memories now.
I also always opt for the BA option on the DFW-LHR leg to keep my EU261 "card in the deck".