George Bush Intercontinental/Houston in March 2026

74.3%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 March 2026, reporting carriers scheduled 10,492 domestic departures from George Bush Intercontinental/Houston (IAH). 74.3% left less than 15 minutes late and 73.9% reached their destination on time; 2.9% were cancelled.

Nationally that month, 72.8% of flights departed on time and 73.2% arrived on time, so IAH departures were 1.5 points above the national departure figure.

A year earlier, in March 2025, the airport had 9,849 departures with 78.7% leaving on time: a change of −4.4 points, with flights up 7%.

Flights arriving at IAH that month were on time 76.5% of the time (10,496 scheduled arrivals).

Of the delay minutes that carriers assigned to a BTS cause category that month, late-arriving aircraft 37%, air carrier 33% and national aviation system 23%.

On time 73.9%
Arrived 15+ minutes late 22.8%
Cancelled 2.9%
Diverted 0.4%

Every scheduled departure from IAH in March 2026, judged by arrival at the destination.

March 2026 against a year earlier, the airport's year and the nation

Measure	Mar 2026	Mar 2025	IAH, 12 months to Jul 2026	All reported flights, Mar 2026
Departed on time	74.3%	78.7%	78.1%	72.8%
Arrived on time	73.9%	78.7%	77.6%	73.2%
Cancelled	2.9%	0.7%	1.1%	2.9%
Average departure delay (late minutes only)	23.2 min	15.9 min	17.2 min	20.3 min
Scheduled departures a day	350	328	326	20,403
Scheduled departures	10,492	9,849	119,020	612,102

Airlines that month

Reporting carrier	Flights	Share	On time	Avg arrival delay	Cancelled
UA United Airlines	6,498	62%	77.3%	8.7 min	1.8%
OO SkyWest Airlines	1,380	13%	71.6%	20.3 min	3.6%
DL Delta Air Lines	713	7%	70.4%	15.3 min	5.2%
AA American Airlines	612	6%	72.5%	24.7 min	3.6%
NK Spirit Airlines	477	5%	53.9%	30.6 min	8.4%
F9 Frontier Airlines	450	4%	62.0%	24.8 min	4.7%
MQ Envoy Air	156	1%	77.6%	9.0 min	3.2%
AS Alaska Airlines	91	1%	70.3%	8.9 min	1.1%
YX Republic Airline	57	1%	71.9%	17.9 min	5.3%
B6 JetBlue Airways	31	0%	77.4%	2.4 min	0.0%
OH PSA Airlines	27	0%	44.4%	21.8 min	14.8%

Busiest routes that month

Route	Cities	Flights	On time	Avg arrival delay	Cancelled
IAH–ORD	Houston to Chicago	514	65.2%	27.8 min	2.5%
IAH–DFW	Houston to Dallas/Fort Worth	488	77.3%	14.6 min	2.9%
IAH–LAX	Houston to Los Angeles	446	84.8%	-5.1 min	1.1%
IAH–ATL	Houston to Atlanta	440	61.4%	19.8 min	6.8%
IAH–DEN	Houston to Denver	406	81.0%	7.0 min	1.5%
IAH–MCO	Houston to Orlando	366	75.1%	11.8 min	4.4%
IAH–MIA	Houston to Miami	341	66.6%	31.9 min	2.9%
IAH–LAS	Houston to Las Vegas	323	82.7%	-2.7 min	2.5%
IAH–EWR	Houston to Newark	312	68.9%	15.0 min	3.2%
IAH–SFO	Houston to San Francisco	310	87.1%	-6.7 min	1.6%
IAH–PHX	Houston to Phoenix	302	76.8%	3.6 min	2.0%
IAH–FLL	Houston to Fort Lauderdale	293	63.5%	24.8 min	3.1%

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), March 2026.

Delay causes

BTS cause category	Share of delay minutes	National, Mar 2026	Minutes
Air carrier	32.6%	33.5%	73,899
Late-arriving aircraft	36.5%	39.3%	82,730
National Aviation System	22.7%	21.0%	51,491
Extreme weather	8.0%	5.9%	18,158
Security	0.2%	0.2%	555

226,833 delay minutes on 2,394 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 March 2026?

74.3% of 10,492 scheduled domestic departures left less than 15 minutes late, and 73.9% reached their destination on time. The national figures that month were 72.8% and 73.2%.

How does that compare with a year earlier?

In March 2025, 78.7% of 9,849 departures left on time and 0.7% were cancelled, against 74.3% and 2.9% in March 2026.

Provenance

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance, file for March 2026; 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.