Houston to Panama City

What the Data Says About IAH to ECP

The Houston to Panama City corridor (IAH → ECP) covers roughly 572 miles and is served by 7 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 1,038 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 86.1% on-time rate with an average delay of 80.1 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 1,038 flights were recorded on this pairing — 29 cancelled (2.8%) and 3 diverted (0.3%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 7 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 1,038 total flights analyzed, the 86.1% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 80.1-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, Aug 2020 posted the best performance on this corridor at 97% on-time, while Aug 2021 came in at 60% on-time — a 37-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the IAH to ECP route, the combination of a 86.1% on-time rate, 80.1-minute average delay, 2.8% recent cancellation rate, and 7 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.