George Bush Intercontinental/Houston in December 2024

74.8%departed on time

BTS: A flight is counted as on time if it arrived less than 15 minutes after its scheduled time. Only carriers with at least 0.5 percent of domestic scheduled passenger revenue report.

In December 2024, reporting carriers scheduled 9,572 domestic departures from George Bush Intercontinental/Houston (IAH). 74.8% left less than 15 minutes late and 75.7% reached their destination on time; 1.2% were cancelled.

Nationally that month, 77.8% of flights departed on time and 78.1% arrived on time, so IAH departures were 3.0 points below the national departure figure.

A year earlier, in December 2023, the airport had 9,076 departures with 84.7% leaving on time: a change of −9.9 points, with flights up 5%.

Flights arriving at IAH that month were on time 77.8% of the time (9,579 scheduled arrivals).

Of the delay minutes that carriers assigned to a BTS cause category that month, air carrier 38%, late-arriving aircraft 32% and national aviation system 17%.

On time 75.7%
Arrived 15+ minutes late 22.8%
Cancelled 1.2%
Diverted 0.3%

Every scheduled departure from IAH in December 2024, judged by arrival at the destination.

December 2024 against a year earlier, the airport's year and the nation

Measure	Dec 2024	Dec 2023	IAH, 12 months to Jul 2026	All reported flights, Dec 2024
Departed on time	74.8%	84.7%	78.1%	77.8%
Arrived on time	75.7%	84.8%	77.6%	78.1%
Cancelled	1.2%	0.1%	1.1%	0.7%
Average departure delay (late minutes only)	20.1 min	10.4 min	17.2 min	16.6 min
Scheduled departures a day	319	303	326	19,686
Scheduled departures	9,572	9,076	119,020	590,581

Airlines that month

Reporting carrier	Flights	Share	On time	Avg arrival delay	Cancelled
UA United Airlines	6,011	63%	75.7%	10.7 min	1.3%
OO SkyWest Airlines	933	10%	76.7%	13.3 min	2.0%
NK Spirit Airlines	798	8%	76.9%	8.4 min	0.3%
DL Delta Air Lines	655	7%	78.0%	11.5 min	0.2%
AA American Airlines	551	6%	77.9%	14.9 min	1.1%
F9 Frontier Airlines	322	3%	64.6%	20.7 min	0.6%
MQ Envoy Air	139	1%	79.9%	15.7 min	4.3%
AS Alaska Airlines	62	1%	80.6%	0.6 min	0.0%
B6 JetBlue Airways	62	1%	50.0%	32.5 min	1.6%
OH PSA Airlines	24	0%	66.7%	22.8 min	0.0%
YX Republic Airline	15	0%	66.7%	86.1 min	0.0%

Busiest routes that month

Route	Cities	Flights	On time	Avg arrival delay	Cancelled
IAH–LAX	Houston to Los Angeles	494	84.2%	3.9 min	0.8%
IAH–ORD	Houston to Chicago	476	74.4%	13.2 min	0.2%
IAH–DFW	Houston to Dallas/Fort Worth	466	73.2%	20.0 min	2.8%
IAH–DEN	Houston to Denver	388	78.6%	12.7 min	0.3%
IAH–LGA	Houston to New York	379	75.2%	8.8 min	0.0%
IAH–ATL	Houston to Atlanta	375	73.9%	10.6 min	0.5%
IAH–EWR	Houston to Newark	340	68.5%	19.0 min	0.9%
IAH–LAS	Houston to Las Vegas	330	79.7%	4.8 min	0.3%
IAH–MIA	Houston to Miami	328	68.6%	18.2 min	0.9%
IAH–MCO	Houston to Orlando	296	78.7%	6.6 min	1.7%
IAH–SFO	Houston to San Francisco	280	70.4%	12.8 min	1.4%
IAH–MSY	Houston to New Orleans	253	81.8%	4.9 min	2.0%

By scheduled departure hour

On-time share:under 62%6270768288% and over

Share of departures that left less than 15 minutes late, by scheduled hour (local time), December 2024.

Delay causes

BTS cause category	Share of delay minutes	National, Dec 2024	Minutes
Air carrier	38.0%	34.3%	66,155
Late-arriving aircraft	31.7%	40.2%	55,206
National Aviation System	17.3%	17.8%	30,171
Extreme weather	12.9%	7.5%	22,553
Security	0.0%	0.2%	80

174,165 delay minutes on 2,181 flights that arrived 15 or more minutes late and carried a cause report. Carriers assign the categories; see what each category means.

Questions and answers

How many flights left IAH on time in December 2024?

74.8% of 9,572 scheduled domestic departures left less than 15 minutes late, and 75.7% reached their destination on time. The national figures that month were 77.8% and 78.1%.

How does that compare with a year earlier?

In December 2023, 84.7% of 9,076 departures left on time and 0.1% were cancelled, against 74.8% and 1.2% in December 2024.

Provenance

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance, file for December 2024; public domain. Domestic scheduled flights by reporting carriers, totals and averages only. The site's data runs through July 2026. Full record for IAH · methodology · corrections.