Houston to Fayetteville

What the Data Says About IAH to XNA

The Houston to Fayetteville corridor (IAH → XNA) covers roughly 438 miles and is served by 13 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 1,409 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 89.4% on-time rate with an average delay of 75.1 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 1,409 flights were recorded on this pairing — 55 cancelled (3.9%) and 1 diverted (0.1%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 13 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 1,409 total flights analyzed, the 89.4% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 75.1-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 99% on-time, while Apr 2024 came in at 74% on-time — a 25-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the IAH to XNA route, the combination of a 89.4% on-time rate, 75.1-minute average delay, 3.9% recent cancellation rate, and 13 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.