On-Time Report

Routes › Columbus (CMH) › CMH to IAH

Route · 12 months to July 2026

Columbus to Houston: on-time record

John Glenn Columbus International to George Bush Intercontinental/Houston

77.2%arrived 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. Data through July 2026; this is a monthly history, not live flight status.

In the 12 months to July 2026, reporting carriers scheduled 522 flights from Columbus (CMH) to Houston (IAH), a distance of 986 miles. 77.2% of them arrived within 15 minutes of schedule.

That is 1.2 points above the national on-time share of 76.0% for the same period and 1.8 points below the 79.0% recorded for all departures from CMH. Flights that did arrive were 8.4 min late on average, and 1.1% of scheduled flights were cancelled (national: 1.8%).

United Airlines is the only reporting carrier on the route, with 517 flights in the period.

By scheduled departure hour (local time at CMH), flights leaving from 6 am to 7 am had the highest on-time share, 83.1%; those leaving from 5 pm to 6 pm had the lowest, 64.5%.

The on-time share is about level with the previous 12 months (77.1%); cancellations moved from 1.0% to 1.1%.

Of the delay minutes that carriers assigned to a BTS cause category on this route, air carrier 37%, late-arriving aircraft 32% and national aviation system 28%.

77.2%arrived on timenational 76.0%
8.4 minaverage arrival delayearly arrivals count as negative; national 8.1 min
1.1%cancellednational 1.8%
44flights a month522 in 12 months · 986 miles
Every scheduled CMH to IAH flight by a reporting carrier, August 2025 to July 2026.

Airlines on the route compared

Reporting carrierFlightsShareOn timeAvg arrival delayCancelled
UA United Airlines51799%77.0%8.6 min1.2%

Carriers with at least 24 flights in the 12 months to July 2026. The on-time pill is green when a carrier is at or above the route's overall share. Regional carriers operate flights sold under larger airlines' brands; BTS lists the carrier that operated the flight.

Compared with the airports and the nation

MeasureCMH to IAHAll departures from CMHAll arrivals at IAHAll reported flights
Arrived on time77.2%79.0%79.5%76.0%
Arrived 15+ minutes late21.5%18.8%19.1%21.9%
Cancelled1.1%2.0%1.1%1.8%
Diverted0.2%0.2%0.2%0.3%
Average arrival delay8.4 min5.2 min4.6 min8.1 min
Delay minutes per 100 flights1,9981,5001,5221,684
Scheduled flights52244,711119,0117,043,858

12 months to July 2026. Delay minutes count late arrivals only (an early arrival is zero), so the per-100-flights row is a normalised total rather than an average of early and late.

The return direction, IAH to CMH, recorded 76.6% on time across 522 flights in the same period.

Month by month

100%columns start at 40%
Share of scheduled CMH to IAH flights that arrived on time, Aug 2023 to Jul 2026. Green columns are at or above the national figure for that month (the dark tick), amber below it, red more than eight points below.

Year on year: on time 77.2% against 77.1% (+0.1 pts), cancelled 1.1% against 1.0%, flights 522 against 576.

By scheduled departure hour

On-time share:under 62%6270768288% and over
Share of flights that arrived on time, by the hour they were scheduled to leave CMH (local time), 12 months to July 2026. Faded cells have few flights. Hover or tap a cell for counts.

Delay causes

BTS cause categoryShare of delay minutesNationalMinutes
Air carrier37.4%33.3%3,724
Late-arriving aircraft32.1%39.7%3,195
National Aviation System27.6%20.7%2,747
Extreme weather2.8%6.1%282
Security0.0%0.1%0
9,948 delay minutes on 112 flights that arrived 15 or more minutes late and carried a cause report. Carriers assign the categories; see what each category means.

Seasonality

Calendar monthFlightsOn timeCancelledAvg arrival delayYears in sample
Jan15070.7%6.0%3.3 min3
Feb12282.8%0.0%-1.6 min3
Mar11984.9%1.7%-4.6 min3
Apr9090.0%0.0%-8.2 min3
May11769.2%1.7%11.6 min3
Jun15064.7%3.3%24.9 min3
Jul14161.0%4.3%29.3 min3
Aug17582.9%1.1%8.7 min3
Sep17283.7%0.0%6.2 min3
Oct18284.6%0.0%3.1 min3
Nov17577.7%0.0%10.8 min3
Dec14873.0%0.7%5.2 min3

Each calendar month summed across the 36 months on file, so most rows combine three years. The pill compares the month with the route's own 12-month share.

Other routes from Columbus (CMH)

RouteCitiesFlightsOn timeAvg arrival delayCancelled
CMH–ORDColumbus to Chicago4,93074.0%13.3 min2.7%
CMH–ATLColumbus to Atlanta3,15583.7%0.4 min1.6%
CMH–LGAColumbus to New York3,04876.1%6.0 min4.2%
CMH–MCOColumbus to Orlando2,14876.6%8.4 min1.5%
CMH–EWRColumbus to Newark2,06379.0%0.2 min4.0%
CMH–DCAColumbus to Washington2,05167.5%14.0 min3.0%
CMH–CLTColumbus to Charlotte2,04682.8%1.2 min1.9%
CMH–BOSColumbus to Boston2,00580.9%-1.1 min2.1%

All 40 routes and the airport record for CMH · airport record for IAH

Questions and answers

How often are flights from Columbus to Houston on time?

77.2% of the 522 flights scheduled from CMH to IAH in the 12 months to July 2026 arrived less than 15 minutes after their scheduled time. The national share for the same period was 76.0%. Cancelled and diverted flights count as not on time.

Which airline has the highest on-time share from CMH to IAH?

United Airlines is the only reporting carrier with at least 60 flights on the route in the period, so there is no comparison to make.

What causes delays between Columbus and Houston?

For flights that arrived 15 or more minutes late, carriers attributed the delay minutes as follows: air carrier 37%, late-arriving aircraft 32%, national aviation system 28%, extreme weather 3%, security 0%. The categories are the carriers' own reports to BTS; weather that slows the wider system is usually recorded under the National Aviation System rather than extreme weather.

What time of day has the highest on-time share from CMH?

Flights scheduled to leave CMH from 6 am to 7 am arrived on time 83.1% of the time, the highest of any hour with enough flights to compare. The lowest was 5 pm to 6 pm at 64.5%. Delays tend to build through the day as late aircraft carry over to later flights.

Is it getting better?

The on-time share for the 12 months to July 2026 was 77.2%, about level with the previous 12 months (77.1%). The monthly chart on this page shows each of the last 36 months. Across those months, April had the highest on-time share (90.0%) and July the lowest (61.0%).

Where does this data come from?

Every figure is computed from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance files, which list each scheduled domestic flight by the carriers required to report. This page covers August 2023 to July 2026. It shows totals and averages only; it is not a live flight-status service.

Provenance

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance (1987 to present), monthly files August 2023 to July 2026, a US government work in the public domain. Figures are totals and averages over all scheduled flights by reporting carriers on the route; no individual flight or aircraft is identified. Times are local to the departure airport. The load factor and passenger counts from the BTS T-100 series are not included in this edition. See the methodology; report processing errors through corrections.