Los Angeles to Houston

What the Data Says About LAX to IAH

The Los Angeles to Houston corridor (LAX → IAH) covers roughly 1,379 miles and is served by 25 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 28,102 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 86.2% on-time rate with an average delay of 75.7 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 10,832 flights were recorded on this pairing — 140 cancelled (1.3%) and 51 diverted (0.5%). 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 28,102 total flights analyzed, the 86.2% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 75.7-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, Sep 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 94% on-time, while Jul 2024 came in at 74% on-time — a 20-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the LAX to IAH route, the combination of a 86.2% on-time rate, 75.7-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.