Houston to Los Angeles

What the Data Says About IAH to LAX

The Houston to Los Angeles corridor (IAH → LAX) covers roughly 1,379 miles and is served by 25 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 28,113 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 83.4% on-time rate with an average delay of 73.5 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 10,839 flights were recorded on this pairing — 139 cancelled (1.3%) and 13 diverted (0.1%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 25 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 28,113 total flights analyzed, the 83.4% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 73.5-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, Oct 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 92% on-time, while Jul 2024 came in at 64% on-time — a 28-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the IAH to LAX route, the combination of a 83.4% on-time rate, 73.5-minute average delay, 1.3% recent cancellation rate, and 25 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.