Harlingen/San Benito to Houston

What the Data Says About HRL to IAH

The Harlingen/San Benito to Houston corridor (HRL → IAH) covers roughly 295 miles and is served by 10 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 1,495 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 89% on-time rate with an average delay of 94.0 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 1,495 flights were recorded on this pairing — 46 cancelled (3.1%) and 2 diverted (0.1%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 10 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 1,495 total flights analyzed, the 89% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 94.0-minute average delay applies only to flights that actually ran late, so it is not the average wait across all departures — the majority of flights on this route depart on time under the BTS definition of a delay (15+ minutes past schedule).

Looking at recent months, Sep 2021 posted the best performance on this corridor at 95% on-time, while May 2021 came in at 79% on-time — a 16-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the HRL to IAH route, the combination of a 89% on-time rate, 94.0-minute average delay, 3.1% recent cancellation rate, and 10 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.