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Airport · IAH · Houston, Texas

Houston, TX

According to PlainFlights' airport traffic ranking (BTS On-Time Performance total flights), Houston, TX (IAH) ranks #17 of 382 tracked US airports by total flights (most flights = #1). Houston, TX posts below-median on-time performance among the 382 tracked U.S. airports, as one of the busiest U.S. airports.

Data updated 2026-06-13

81.6%
On-time
Top 71%
on-time, US airports
80 min
Delay when late
1.13%
Cancelled
#17 of 382
Corpus placement
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IAH on-time rate vs. the national average

Ahead of the U.S. average across all 382 tracked airports.

0%100%U.S. average79%81.6%

Delay Cause Breakdown

Top delay cause: Carrier. Total delay minutes: 9,961,952.

Late Aircraft 34.9% (3,475,885 min)
Carrier 38.4% (3,821,797 min)
NAS (National Aviation System) 18.1% (1,806,413 min)
Weather 8.6% (852,957 min)
Security 0.0% (4,900 min)

IAH - seasonal on-time pattern

Best: September (92.8%) · worst: July (86.4%)

86%88%90%92%94% JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec 89.9%

IAH - on-time rate by year

2020–2025, year-over-year trend.

85%90%95%100% 202020212022202320242025 95.8% 88.7% ▼ -7.4%

IAH - taxi-out and taxi-in (monthly)

Average taxi-out 20.2 min · taxi-in 10.9 min over the last 24 reported months (U.S. airport mean taxi-out ≈ 16.4 min).

18 min19 min20 min21 min22 min Jan 24Dec 25 20.7 min 20.5 min ▼ -1.0%

IAH's average taxi-out (20.2 min) runs longer than the recent U.S. airport mean (~16.4 min). The heaviest month in this window is May 2025 at 21.7 min; the lightest is August 2024 at 18.7 min.

Cancellation & Diversion Analysis

Flight disruption statistics for Houston, TX.

Cancellation Rate

1.13%

15,858 of 1,404,392 flights

Diversion Rate

0.12%

1,741 of 1,404,392 flights

Delay Rate

18.4%

258,419 of 1,404,392 flights

Top Routes from IAH

Busiest routes to and from Houston, TX.

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Route Flights On-Time Distance
IAH (Houston) → DFW (Dallas/Fort Worth) 30,197 76.6% 224 mi
DFW (Dallas/Fort Worth) → IAH (Houston) 30,188 76.3% 224 mi
IAH (Houston) → LAX (Los Angeles) 28,113 83.4% 1,379 mi
LAX (Los Angeles) → IAH (Houston) 28,102 86.2% 1,379 mi
IAH (Houston) → DEN (Denver) 27,947 80% 862 mi
IAH (Houston) → ORD (Chicago) 27,946 81% 925 mi
DEN (Denver) → IAH (Houston) 27,936 76.7% 862 mi
ORD (Chicago) → IAH (Houston) 27,881 80.7% 925 mi
ATL (Atlanta) → IAH (Houston) 26,083 79.5% 689 mi
IAH (Houston) → ATL (Atlanta) 26,071 80.8% 689 mi
LAS (Las Vegas) → IAH (Houston) 21,832 82.2% 1,222 mi
IAH (Houston) → LAS (Las Vegas) 21,825 80.3% 1,222 mi
LGA (New York) → IAH (Houston) 21,492 82% 1,416 mi
IAH (Houston) → LGA (New York) 21,489 79.3% 1,416 mi
MCO (Orlando) → IAH (Houston) 20,518 79.5% 854 mi
IAH (Houston) → MCO (Orlando) 20,515 78.4% 854 mi
EWR (Newark) → IAH (Houston) 19,919 78.5% 1,400 mi
IAH (Houston) → EWR (Newark) 19,906 76.6% 1,400 mi
MSY (New Orleans) → IAH (Houston) 18,136 84.4% 305 mi
IAH (Houston) → MSY (New Orleans) 18,111 81.6% 305 mi

Nationwide peers by on-time rate & flight volume

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.

Similar on-time rate

Nearest out-of-state BTS on-time rate (this airport: 81.6%).

Raleigh/Durham, NC

Raleigh/Durham, NC

81.6% on-time 616,332 flights

Norfolk, VA

Norfolk, VA

81.6% on-time 231,501 flights

Richmond, VA

Richmond, VA

81.6% on-time 203,348 flights

Sioux Falls, SD

Sioux Falls, SD

81.6% on-time 83,262 flights

Similar flight volume

Nearest out-of-state total flights (this airport: 1,404,392).

Minneapolis, MN

Minneapolis, MN

1,406,487 flights 85.4% on-time

Washington, DC

Washington, VA

1,425,060 flights 80.8% on-time

Newark, NJ

Newark, NJ

1,354,054 flights 78.1% on-time

Boston, MA

Boston, MA

1,455,478 flights 79.9% on-time

Other Airports in Texas

Compare performance with other Texas airports.

DFW 78.5%

Dallas/Fort Worth, TX

Dallas/Fort Worth · 3,395,134 flights
AUS 79.3%

Austin, TX

Austin · 909,441 flights
DAL 77.6%

Dallas, TX

Dallas · 791,209 flights
HOU 79.4%

Houston, TX

Houston · 618,821 flights
SAT 81.7%

San Antonio, TX

San Antonio · 419,736 flights
ELP 81.4%

El Paso, TX

El Paso · 186,225 flights
MAF 82.9%

Midland/Odessa, TX

Midland/Odessa · 100,719 flights
LBB 82%

Lubbock, TX

Lubbock · 69,433 flights

IAH delay-share reading

The standout signal at Houston, TX is traffic scale: 1,404,392 BTS flights (2020–2025) place it #17 of 382 by book size. That busy-book footprint sits beside a 81.6% on-time rate (2.6 pts above the 79% national flight-weighted average), 258,419 delayed departures, and 15,858 cancellations (1.13% of the book).

Delay minutes concentrate in Carrier (34.9% late-aircraft, 38.4% carrier, 18.1% NAS, 8.6% weather, 0.0% security). As a busy airport, that mix matters more for connection planning than for a thin schedule.

On the multi-year calendar, IAH is strongest in September (92.8% on-time) and weakest in July (86.4%), a 6.4-point swing. Volume peaks in March (~21,723 flights/month). The busiest connecting route is to DFW (Dallas/Fort Worth) at 76.6% on-time. Field definitions: on-time performance explained.

Statewide aggregates for Texas: Texas flight data.

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.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Using IAH's data

IAH'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 IAH before you book a connection. See top routes
  • Travel in September rather than July if your dates are flexible. Seasonal patterns
  • Build extra connection buffer when taxi-out spikes. May 2025 averaged 21.7 min. Taxi times

On-time rate reflects the BTS historical average across all reporting carriers at this airport, not any single flight or airline.

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

Source: U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) Airline on-time performance and operational reliability · 2025

Every figure on PlainFlights is rendered directly from BTS On-Time Performance data, no number is typed in by an editor. Airport figures are computed directly from BTS On-Time Performance data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.