Houston to Harlingen/San Benito

What the Data Says About IAH to HRL

The Houston to Harlingen/San Benito corridor (IAH → HRL) covers roughly 295 miles and is served by 11 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 1,505 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 88.4% on-time rate with an average delay of 102.7 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 1,505 flights were recorded on this pairing — 49 cancelled (3.3%) and 4 diverted (0.3%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 11 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 1,505 total flights analyzed, the 88.4% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 102.7-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, Mar 2020 posted the best performance on this corridor at 95% on-time, while Sep 2023 came in at 78% on-time — a 16-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the IAH to HRL route, the combination of a 88.4% on-time rate, 102.7-minute average delay, 3.3% recent cancellation rate, and 11 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.