Airport month record
HOUMAY
William P. Hobby in May 2026
- Departures
- 4,533
- Month
- May 2026
- National, same month
- 78.6%
- Carriers
- 5
Historical statistics for May 2026, not live status or a forecast for this year’s May. For today’s conditions at HOU, see live FAA status.
HOU in May sits in the middle of the pack with a C+. About seven flights in ten arrive on time by the DOT's definition, 7 points worse than the national rate of 78.6%. The late ones land about 50 minutes behind schedule. That rests on 4,533 flights, with a median arrival right on schedule.
The national on-time rate over the same period is 78.6%, so hou in may runs 7 points behind the country as a whole. Across a thousand flights that is about 67 extra late arrivals.
Key figures
On time
71.9%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 4,483 completed departures
Avg delay
51 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
0.79%
Nationally in May: 0.92%
Whole year
76.9%
HOU across all twelve months
These figures cover 4,533 departures from William P. Hobby in May 2026. On time means an arrival less than 15 minutes after the scheduled gate time, the DOT's threshold, and the national comparison uses every US departure in the same month rather than the whole year.
Against the year
May next to HOU's other months
Against HOU's own year, May ran 5 points worse than the twelve-month rate of 76.9%, which makes it number nine of twelve months, best first. Either side of it, April ran 75.8% on time and June 63.6%, so a trip moved by a few weeks would have landed in a worse stretch.
| Month | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2025 | 5,093 | 70.7% | 59 min | 0.79% | C+ |
| August 2025 | 4,640 | 78.2% | 56 min | 0.37% | B+ |
| September 2025 | 4,452 | 86.1% | 45 min | 0.11% | A+ |
| October 2025 | 4,887 | 78.0% | 50 min | 0.23% | B+ |
| November 2025 | 4,552 | 80.1% | 58 min | 2.20% | B |
| December 2025 | 4,634 | 82.0% | 49 min | 0.43% | B+ |
| January 2026 | 4,081 | 88.0% | 44 min | 2.55% | A |
| February 2026 | 3,832 | 84.2% | 48 min | 0.68% | B+ |
| March 2026 | 4,578 | 67.5% | 54 min | 1.42% | C |
| April 2026 | 4,418 | 75.8% | 50 min | 0.14% | B+ |
| May 2026 (this page) | 4,533 | 71.9% | 51 min | 0.79% | C+ |
| June 2026 | 4,514 | 63.6% | 56 min | 0.62% | D+ |
Departure window
The best time of day to leave HOU in May
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 33 points, against half a point between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.
- 5am–8am467 flights91.6%
- 8am–11am1,036 flights87.5%
- 11am–2pm662 flights76.5%
- 2pm–5pm925 flights59.0%
- 5pm–8pm737 flights59.0%
- 8pm–5am706 flights62.1%
Scale runs 50% to 95%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.
The 5pm–8pm window is where this operation falls apart: 59.0% on time, against 91.6% for the 5am–8am slot. By evening the aircraft flying these rotations have absorbed a full day of small delays and there is no slack left to recover in. The 8am–11am window is the busiest, with 1,036 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Sunday is the strongest day at 74.1% on time and Wednesday the weakest at 67.1%. 7 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at HOU in May
Only one carrier clears this site's 365-flight floor here, so there is no comparison to draw. The table below is the full picture.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 4,246 | 71.3% | 49 min | 0.49% | C+ |
| Delta Air Linesthin sample | 118 | 82.3% | 52 min | 4.24% | B− |
| Envoy Airthin sample | 83 | 83.3% | 63 min | 6.02% | B− |
| SkyWest Airlinesthin sample | 37 | 82.4% | 441 min | 8.11% | B− |
| PSA Airlinesthin sample | 32 | 76.7% | 101 min | 6.25% | B− |
Route by route
Busiest routes out of HOU in May
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HOU to DAL · Dallasthin sample | 350 | 79.5% | 63 min | 1.71% | B |
| HOU to ATL · Atlantathin sample | 242 | 72.5% | 47 min | 2.07% | C |
| HOU to PHX · Phoenixthin sample | 197 | 74.0% | 51 min | 0.51% | C+ |
| HOU to MSY · New Orleansthin sample | 194 | 76.8% | 65 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| HOU to MCO · Orlandothin sample | 183 | 76.9% | 52 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| HOU to DEN · Denverthin sample | 180 | 78.1% | 50 min | 0.56% | B+ |
| HOU to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample | 161 | 67.1% | 46 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| HOU to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample | 152 | 81.7% | 161 min | 6.58% | B− |
| HOU to BNA · Nashvillethin sample | 152 | 71.5% | 42 min | 0.66% | C+ |
| HOU to MDW · Chicagothin sample | 149 | 70.5% | 50 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| HOU to STL · St. Louisthin sample | 132 | 72.1% | 45 min | 1.52% | C |
| HOU to BWI · Baltimorethin sample | 124 | 77.4% | 40 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| HOU to LGA · New Yorkthin sample | 119 | 54.4% | 68 min | 1.68% | F |
| HOU to MAF · Midlandthin sample | 114 | 79.8% | 55 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| HOU to SAT · San Antoniothin sample | 103 | 69.9% | 59 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| HOU to AUS · Austinthin sample | 102 | 62.4% | 56 min | 0.98% | D+ |
| HOU to OKC · Oklahoma Citythin sample | 101 | 66.3% | 43 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| HOU to LAX · Los Angelesthin sample | 93 | 53.8% | 48 min | 0.00% | F+ |
| HOU to TPA · Tampathin sample | 93 | 69.6% | 43 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| HOU to ELP · El Pasothin sample | 93 | 73.1% | 36 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| HOU to MCI · Kansas Citythin sample | 92 | 71.9% | 46 min | 1.09% | C |
| HOU to HRL · Harlingenthin sample | 88 | 62.5% | 38 min | 0.00% | D+ |
| HOU to CRP · Corpus Christithin sample | 88 | 72.7% | 41 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| HOU to DCA · Washingtonthin sample | 88 | 69.0% | 49 min | 1.14% | C |
| HOU to SAN · San Diegothin sample | 87 | 62.4% | 40 min | 1.15% | D |
Delay causes
What held HOU up in May
One category carries most of the weight here. Late-arriving aircraft accounts for 46% of the 63,000 delay minutes carriers reported, and the remaining four split what is left. The split is by minutes rather than by flights, so a few very long delays count for as much as many short ones.
- 46%Late-arriving aircraft
- 34%Carrier
- 15%National Airspace System
- 5%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
46% of delay minutes trace back to a late-arriving aircraft, meaning the plane was already behind before it got here. That is a cascade, and cascades start small and grow through the day. Across 63,000 reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 10 to one. It is the strongest argument for booking the first departure of the morning, when the aircraft has been sitting at the gate overnight with nothing to inherit. The split is drawn from 63,305 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations are rare at 0.79%, below the national 0.92% and low enough to earn the plus on the grade. Roughly one flight in 100 is called off; the risk here is arriving late, not not arriving.
6.8% of arrivals land an hour or more late, close to the national 7.1%. That is the figure that decides a connection, and it says a 60 to 75 minute layover is reasonable here while anything under 45 minutes is a bet. Most delays on this route last about 50 minutes, which a normal layover absorbs.
What to do with this
Flying from HOU in May
For a May trip through HOU: expect 71.9% on time and 0.79% cancelled, going by May 2026. The 5am–8am window was the strongest part of the day.
Related
Where to go next
- William P. Hobby (HOU), the whole year
- HOU in July70.7%
- HOU in August78.2%
- HOU in September86.1%
- HOU in October78.0%
- HOU in November80.1%
- HOU in December82.0%
- HOU in January88.0%
- HOU in February84.2%
- HOU in March67.5%
- HOU in April75.8%
- HOU in June63.6%
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, on-time performance data, July 2025 to June 2026. Last updated 15 September 2026; recomputed monthly. How this data is collected.