Airport month record
IAHNOV
George Bush Intercontinental in November 2025
- Departures
- 10,022
- Month
- November 2025
- National, same month
- 79.4%
- Carriers
- 10
Historical statistics for November 2025, not live status or a forecast for this year’s November. For today’s conditions at IAH, see live FAA status.
IAH in November lands a B, about a point worse than the national rate of 79.4%. Roughly one flight in five arrives 15 minutes late or worse, and those flights are late by a little over an hour on average. That is a workable record, not a spotless one. That rests on 10,022 flights, of which SkyWest Airlines flew 1,206 at 81.0% on time.
SkyWest Airlines is the most reliable of the six carriers covered here at 81.0% on time across 1,206 flights.
Key figures
On time
78.2%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 9,902 completed departures
Avg delay
73 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
1.06%
Nationally in November: 2.49%
Whole year
78.4%
IAH across all twelve months
These figures cover 10,022 departures from George Bush Intercontinental in November 2025. 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
November next to IAH's other months
Against IAH's own year, November ran level with the twelve-month rate of 78.4%, which makes it number seven of twelve months, best first. Either side of it, October ran 80.7% on time and December 79.4%, so this month sits in line with its neighbours.
| 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 (this page) | 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 | 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 November
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 20 points, against 15 points between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.
- 5am–8am1,720 flights89.4%
- 8am–11am1,255 flights81.7%
- 11am–2pm1,645 flights80.6%
- 2pm–5pm1,815 flights78.4%
- 5pm–8pm1,818 flights69.4%
- 8pm–5am1,769 flights71.2%
Scale runs 60% to 95%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.
Book the early departure. Flights leaving between 5am–8am arrive on time 89.4% of the time, against 69.4% for the evening window. That is 20 points of difference for no extra money, and it comes from the same aircraft having had no earlier flight to fall behind on. The 5pm–8pm window is the busiest, with 1,818 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Wednesday is the strongest day at 87.3% on time and Monday the weakest at 67.3%. 20 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at IAH in November
The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. SkyWest Airlines arrives on time 81.0% of the time; Frontier Airlines manages 66.4%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 391 flights means less than a ten-point one.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Airlines | 6,165 | 78.8% | 64 min | 0.70% | B+ |
| SkyWest Airlines | 1,206 | 81.0% | 79 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| Delta Air Lines | 674 | 80.3% | 111 min | 1.34% | B |
| American Airlines | 658 | 75.8% | 110 min | 3.19% | B− |
| Spirit Airlines | 609 | 76.0% | 72 min | 1.31% | B |
| Frontier Airlines | 391 | 66.4% | 68 min | 3.32% | C− |
| Republic Airwaysthin sample | 105 | 75.0% | 60 min | 8.57% | B− |
| Alaska Airlinesthin sample | 88 | 77.3% | 62 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| Envoy Airthin sample | 72 | 72.9% | 52 min | 2.78% | C |
| JetBlue Airwaysthin sample | 48 | 63.8% | 65 min | 2.08% | D |
Frontier Airlines cancels 3.3% 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 November
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IAH to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worth | 475 | 72.3% | 102 min | 4.63% | C− |
| IAH to ORD · Chicago | 466 | 68.4% | 70 min | 3.65% | C− |
| IAH to LAX · Los Angeles | 446 | 80.6% | 59 min | 0.67% | B+ |
| IAH to ATL · Atlanta | 401 | 79.8% | 68 min | 2.49% | B |
| IAH to DEN · Denverthin sample | 357 | 82.9% | 64 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| IAH to LGA · New Yorkthin sample | 353 | 64.7% | 113 min | 1.13% | D |
| IAH to MIA · Miamithin sample | 333 | 81.4% | 76 min | 1.50% | B |
| IAH to EWR · Newarkthin sample | 326 | 70.0% | 94 min | 0.92% | C+ |
| IAH to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample | 311 | 79.4% | 54 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| IAH to SFO · San Franciscothin sample | 299 | 81.6% | 66 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| IAH to MCO · Orlandothin sample | 290 | 83.3% | 66 min | 1.03% | B |
| IAH to DCA · Washingtonthin sample | 270 | 75.9% | 55 min | 2.96% | B |
| IAH to PHX · Phoenixthin sample | 266 | 71.0% | 77 min | 1.50% | C |
| IAH to FLL · Fort Lauderdalethin sample | 265 | 85.3% | 60 min | 2.26% | A |
| IAH to MSY · New Orleansthin sample | 254 | 82.7% | 80 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| IAH to AUS · Austinthin sample | 222 | 72.5% | 79 min | 1.35% | C |
| IAH to SAT · San Antoniothin sample | 207 | 83.4% | 52 min | 0.97% | B+ |
| IAH to DTW · Detroitthin sample | 190 | 81.9% | 48 min | 1.05% | B |
| IAH to BOS · Bostonthin sample | 189 | 76.6% | 72 min | 0.53% | B+ |
| IAH to CLT · Charlottethin sample | 174 | 83.2% | 136 min | 0.57% | B+ |
| IAH to MSP · Minneapolisthin sample | 157 | 70.5% | 90 min | 0.64% | C+ |
| IAH to TPA · Tampathin sample | 150 | 86.3% | 65 min | 2.67% | A |
| IAH to PHL · Philadelphiathin sample | 150 | 83.1% | 57 min | 1.33% | B |
| IAH to IAD · Washingtonthin sample | 148 | 81.1% | 35 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| IAH to SEA · Seattlethin sample | 148 | 77.7% | 42 min | 0.00% | B+ |
Delay causes
What held IAH up in November
Carriers report a reason for every delay minute they cause, in five DOT categories. The split below is by minutes, not by number of flights, so a handful of very long weather delays weighs as much as many short ones. It covers 157,000 reported delay minutes.
- 33%National Airspace System
- 32%Late-arriving aircraft
- 30%Carrier
- 6%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
33% of delay minutes are charged to the National Airspace System: air traffic volume, runway configuration, ground stops. No carrier can price its way out of that, which is why airport choice moves the number here more than carrier choice does. That is 51,000 minutes out of 157,000, against a national NAS share of 27%. The split is drawn from 156,868 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations sit at 1.06% against a national 2.49%, which is ordinary. Diversions add another 0.14%.
7.9% of arrivals land an hour or more late, close to the national 7.8%. 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 a little over an hour, which a normal layover absorbs.
What to do with this
Flying from IAH in November
For a November trip through IAH: expect 78.2% on time and 1.06% cancelled, going by November 2025. The 5am–8am window was the strongest part of the 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 December79.4%
- IAH in January85.7%
- IAH in February85.6%
- 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.