According to PlainFlights' airport traffic ranking (BTS On-Time Performance total flights), Houston, TX (HOU) ranks #34 of 382 tracked US airports by total flights (most flights = #1). Houston, TX posts bottom-quartile on-time performance among the 382 tracked U.S. airports, as a high-volume U.S. airport.
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HOU on-time rate vs. the national average
Ahead of the U.S. average across all 382 tracked airports.
Delay Cause Breakdown
Top delay cause: Late Aircraft.
Total delay minutes: 3,265,703.
Late Aircraft44.4% (1,448,773 min)
Carrier34.9% (1,138,656 min)
NAS (National Aviation System)15.9% (518,950 min)
Weather4.5% (146,735 min)
Security0.4% (12,589 min)
HOU - seasonal on-time pattern
Best: February (91.3%) · worst: June (84%)
HOU - on-time rate by year
2020–2025, year-over-year trend.
HOU - taxi-out and taxi-in (monthly)
Average taxi-out 12.8 min · taxi-in 5.6 min over the last 24 reported months (U.S. airport mean taxi-out ≈ 16.4 min).
HOU's average taxi-out (12.8 min) stays shorter than the recent U.S. airport mean (~16.4 min). Even the heaviest month (January 2024, 14.0 min) is milder than many hubs' typical book.
Two PlainFlights-derived comparison paths for Houston, TX, both outside Texas so the neighborhoods are not same-state geography. Axes stay disjoint: volume peers exclude the on-time peer set. Same-state compare stays below.
The standout signal at Houston, TX is the delay mix: Late Aircraft owns 44.4% of 3,265,703 delay minutes across 618,821 BTS flights. The on-time headline is 79.4% (0.4 pts above the 79% national average), with 127,699 delayed and 7,742 cancelled (1.25%).
Delay minutes concentrate in Late Aircraft (44.4% late-aircraft, 34.9% carrier, 15.9% NAS, 4.5% weather, 0.4% security). As a busy airport, that mix matters more for connection planning than for a thin schedule.
On the multi-year calendar, HOU is strongest in February (91.3% on-time) and weakest in June (84%), a 7.3-point swing. Volume peaks in July (~9,200 flights/month). The busiest connecting route is to DAL (Dallas) at 80.6% on-time. Field definitions: on-time performance explained.
Houston, TX vs. the national on-time distribution
On-time rate among all 382 tracked U.S. airports
79.4%Top 86%higher than 14% of 382 airports
Houston, TX
60%95%
U.S. airports by on-time rate, bucketed by value
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more airports. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Data Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), On-Time Performance Data (2020–2025).
Statistics reflect cumulative performance across all available reporting periods. On-time rates exclude cancelled and diverted flights.
HOU's on-time book sits in the slower half of the BTS set; check the delay mix and the worst month before treating the headline as typical.
Check the busiest route from HOU before you book a connection. See top routes →
Travel in February rather than June if your dates are flexible. Seasonal patterns →
Gate-to-wheels taxi-out averages 12.8 min here; check the monthly series before a tight connection. Taxi times →
On-time rate reflects the BTS historical average across all reporting carriers at this airport, not any single flight or airline.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Houston, TX's on-time rate?
Houston, TX (HOU) has a 79.4% on-time rate across 618,821 BTS-tracked flights (2020-2025), 0.4 pts above the 79% national flight-weighted average; that places it in roughly the bottom-quartile on-time performance.
How does HOU rank among U.S. airports by traffic volume?
Houston, TX ranks #34 of 382 tracked US airports by total BTS flights (most flights = #1), making it a high-volume U.S. airport.
What's the most common cause of delays at Houston, TX?
Late Aircraft is the leading delay cause at HOU, accounting for 44.4% of delay minutes. The full breakdown: 44.4% late-aircraft, 34.9% carrier, 15.9% NAS/air-traffic-control, 4.5% weather, and 0.4% security.
When is the best time to fly through Houston, TX?
February is historically HOU's strongest month at 91.3% on-time, while June is the weakest at 84%, a 7.3-point swing across the BTS historical record.
Data sourced from U.S. Department of Transportation Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) On-Time Performance data. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainFlights