Airport month record
IAHFEB
George Bush Intercontinental in February 2026
- Departures
- 8,976
- Month
- February 2026
- National, same month
- 80.2%
- Carriers
- 9
Historical statistics for February 2026, not live status or a forecast for this year’s February. For today’s conditions at IAH, see live FAA status.
IAH in February earns an A. More than four flights in five arrive inside the 15-minute window the DOT uses to define an on-time arrival, which puts it 5 points better than the national rate of 80.2%. When something does go wrong the average delay runs about an hour. That rests on 8,976 flights, of which United Airlines flew 5,734 at 87.6% on time.
United Airlines is the most reliable of the five carriers covered here at 87.6% on time across 5,734 flights.
Key figures
On time
85.6%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 8,871 completed departures
Avg delay
68 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
1.06%
Nationally in February: 2.25%
Whole year
78.4%
IAH across all twelve months
These figures cover 8,976 departures from George Bush Intercontinental in February 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
February next to IAH's other months
Against IAH's own year, February ran 7 points better than the twelve-month rate of 78.4%, which makes it number three of twelve months, best first. Either side of it, January ran 85.7% on time and March 76.4%, 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 | 10,311 | 68.8% | 88 min | 1.74% | C |
| August 2025 | 9,889 | 74.1% | 74 min | 0.87% | C+ |
| September 2025 | 9,493 | 85.6% | 69 min | 0.20% | A+ |
| October 2025 | 10,247 | 80.7% | 65 min | 0.30% | B+ |
| November 2025 | 10,022 | 78.2% | 73 min | 1.06% | B |
| December 2025 | 9,971 | 79.4% | 71 min | 0.60% | B+ |
| January 2026 | 9,656 | 85.7% | 74 min | 3.07% | A− |
| February 2026 (this page) | 8,976 | 85.6% | 68 min | 1.06% | A |
| March 2026 | 10,492 | 76.4% | 95 min | 2.89% | B |
| April 2026 | 10,022 | 80.4% | 69 min | 0.57% | B+ |
| May 2026 | 10,105 | 77.1% | 73 min | 0.46% | B+ |
| June 2026 | 9,903 | 69.9% | 79 min | 0.75% | C+ |
Departure window
The best time of day to leave IAH in February
Departure time is the single lever a traveller controls, and it moves the odds more than most people expect. Each bar below is the on-time rate for flights scheduled to leave inside that window, across 8,976 flights.
- 5am–8am1,468 flights89.5%
- 8am–11am1,303 flights86.5%
- 11am–2pm1,549 flights88.7%
- 2pm–5pm1,716 flights84.2%
- 5pm–8pm1,530 flights79.9%
- 8pm–5am1,410 flights85.0%
Scale runs 70% to 95%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.
Book the early departure. Flights leaving between 5am–8am arrive on time 89.5% of the time, against 79.9% for the evening window. That is 10 points of difference for no extra money, and it comes from the same aircraft having had no earlier flight to fall behind on. The 2pm–5pm window is the busiest, with 1,716 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Wednesday is the strongest day at 89.1% on time and Saturday the weakest at 80.6%. 9 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at IAH in February
The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. United Airlines arrives on time 87.6% of the time; Spirit Airlines manages 71.4%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 430 flights means less than a ten-point one.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Airlines | 5,734 | 87.6% | 54 min | 0.61% | A+ |
| SkyWest Airlines | 1,031 | 82.5% | 81 min | 0.58% | B+ |
| Delta Air Lines | 599 | 87.2% | 85 min | 1.84% | A |
| American Airlines | 543 | 85.8% | 153 min | 1.47% | A |
| Spirit Airlines | 430 | 71.4% | 79 min | 5.58% | C− |
| Frontier Airlinesthin sample | 343 | 81.5% | 62 min | 0.87% | B+ |
| Envoy Airthin sample | 102 | 89.1% | 61 min | 0.98% | A+ |
| Alaska Airlinesthin sample | 80 | 77.5% | 37 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| Republic Airwaysthin sample | 73 | 69.6% | 61 min | 5.48% | C− |
Spirit Airlines cancels 5.6% of what it schedules here, the highest in the table. A cancelled flight never appears in an on-time rate, so read that column alongside the punctuality one rather than after it.
Route by route
Busiest routes out of IAH in February
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IAH to ORD · Chicago | 435 | 85.0% | 50 min | 0.46% | A+ |
| IAH to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worth | 413 | 85.4% | 108 min | 0.48% | A+ |
| IAH to LAX · Los Angeles | 398 | 85.6% | 52 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| IAH to ATL · Atlanta | 381 | 85.5% | 57 min | 0.52% | A+ |
| IAH to DEN · Denverthin sample | 347 | 86.5% | 89 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| IAH to MCO · Orlandothin sample | 318 | 88.5% | 74 min | 0.94% | A+ |
| IAH to MIA · Miamithin sample | 309 | 81.6% | 56 min | 1.29% | B |
| IAH to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample | 291 | 90.9% | 54 min | 1.37% | A |
| IAH to EWR · Newarkthin sample | 281 | 80.1% | 75 min | 6.76% | B− |
| IAH to SFO · San Franciscothin sample | 277 | 85.5% | 69 min | 0.36% | A+ |
| IAH to DCA · Washingtonthin sample | 259 | 76.8% | 51 min | 1.93% | B |
| IAH to FLL · Fort Lauderdalethin sample | 248 | 85.3% | 64 min | 1.21% | A |
| IAH to PHX · Phoenixthin sample | 242 | 90.9% | 52 min | 0.41% | A+ |
| IAH to LGA · New Yorkthin sample | 241 | 79.6% | 94 min | 6.22% | B− |
| IAH to MSY · New Orleansthin sample | 227 | 86.3% | 65 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| IAH to AUS · Austinthin sample | 213 | 90.1% | 43 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| IAH to CLT · Charlottethin sample | 192 | 89.9% | 249 min | 1.56% | A |
| IAH to SLC · Salt Lake Citythin sample | 175 | 90.2% | 50 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| IAH to SAT · San Antoniothin sample | 168 | 91.6% | 32 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| IAH to DTW · Detroitthin sample | 150 | 81.1% | 95 min | 0.67% | B+ |
| IAH to MSP · Minneapolisthin sample | 135 | 85.1% | 43 min | 0.74% | A+ |
| IAH to SAN · San Diegothin sample | 127 | 91.3% | 50 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| IAH to PHL · Philadelphiathin sample | 127 | 91.0% | 71 min | 3.94% | A− |
| IAH to OKC · Oklahoma Citythin sample | 126 | 79.4% | 56 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| IAH to BOS · Bostonthin sample | 123 | 88.4% | 74 min | 8.94% | A− |
Delay causes
What held IAH up in February
One category carries most of the weight here. Carrier accounts for 43% of the 87,000 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.
- 43%Carrier
- 30%Late-arriving aircraft
- 21%National Airspace System
- 6%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
The largest share of delay minutes, 43%, falls under carrier control: crew scheduling, maintenance, fuelling, baggage. Unlike weather, that is a management outcome, and it is the category where the gap between two carriers on the same schedule is genuinely earned. It accounts for 37,000 of the 87,000 delay minutes reported here. The split is drawn from 86,680 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations sit at 1.06% against a national 2.25%, which is ordinary. Diversions add another 0.11%.
Badly late arrivals are rare here: only 4.8% land an hour or more behind schedule, against 6.5% nationally. Connections built on this flight are about as safe as US domestic connections get, though a cancelled flight still ignores every layover you give it.
What to do with this
Flying from IAH in February
For a February trip through IAH: this is one of the better months to be flying from here, 85.6% on time with 1.06% cancelled. That is a base rate for the month as a whole; a single storm can still spoil a particular day.
Related
Where to go next
- George Bush Intercontinental (IAH), the whole year
- IAH in July68.8%
- IAH in August74.1%
- IAH in September85.6%
- IAH in October80.7%
- IAH in November78.2%
- IAH in December79.4%
- IAH in January85.7%
- IAH in March76.4%
- IAH in April80.4%
- IAH in May77.1%
- IAH in June69.9%
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.