ORD to IAH flight delays

ORD IAH Chicago O'Hare to George Bush · 925 miles

16,464 flights were scheduled from ORD to IAH over July 2023 through June 2026. Of the 16,199 that made the trip, 77% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. These are arrival figures: “on time” means the flight reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Arrivals are what decide whether you make the connection, so route and airline pages are scored on them rather than on pushback.

Data through June 2026 · Bureau of Transportation Statistics

The route in brief

Flights in the window
16,464
Arrived on time
77%
Cancelled
1.3%
Scheduled distance
925 miles

Cancellations are counted against everything scheduled. Diverted flights are counted with them rather than as very late arrivals, which is why the on-time share and the cancellation rate do not add up to everything that happened.

Airline by airline

Airlines with at least 100 flights on ORD–IAH, busiest first. Same route, same weather, same air traffic — which makes this the fairest comparison on the site.

Airline Arrived on time Typical delay Cancelled Flights
United Airlines 79.7% 65 min 0.9% 11,393
American Airlines 68.1% 78 min 1.9% 2,047
Spirit Airlines 70.7% 86 min 2.6% 1,318
Envoy Air 75.9% 60 min 1.3% 686
Republic Airways 74.4% 70 min 2.5% 554
Frontier Airlines 73.3% 87 min 2.6% 459

Month by month

July was the month to avoid on ORD–IAH: 63.5% of flights arrived on time, against 84.7% in February. Each bar pools three years of that calendar month.

Share of flights that arrived on time, by calendar month. Best month in green, worst in amber. The hairline sits at the overall rate, 77%.
Arrival on-time share, ORD to IAH, by calendar month
Month Share flights that arrived on time Flights
January 75.4% 1,285
February 84.7% 1,136
March 78.2% 1,344
April 76.7% 1,389
May 70.3% 1,533
June 69.6% 1,520
July 63.5% 1,406
August 76.3% 1,430
September 84.6% 1,381
October 84.4% 1,383
November 83.3% 1,281
December 79.9% 1,376

Both ends of the route

A route’s record is built out of two airports’ habits. The hour-by-hour grid for each is on its own page.

ORD to IAH in one number

ORD → IAH

When a flight on this route was late, it was late by about 70 min.

July 2023–June 2026 · 16,464 flights

77% of flights arrived on time

Questions about ORD to IAH

Which airline is most reliable from ORD to IAH?
United Airlines — its flights on this pairing arrived on time 79.7% of the time, with 11,393 scheduled. American Airlines came in at 68.1% over 2,047 scheduled. Airlines with fewer than 100 flights on the route are not rated.
What is the worst month to fly ORD to IAH?
July, at 63.5% of arrivals on time, with 1,406 flights scheduled. February was the best of the year at 84.7%.
How late are ORD–IAH flights when they are late?
70 min on average, counting only the flights that arrived 15 minutes or more behind schedule. The on-time flights are left out of that average on purpose — mixing them in would flatter it.
How often is the ORD to IAH flight cancelled?
1.3% of scheduled flights on this route were cancelled, July 2023 through June 2026. Diverted flights are counted with the cancellations rather than as late arrivals.
Are these departure or arrival numbers?
Arrival. A flight counts as on time here if it reached the gate at IAH less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Airport pages score departures instead, because that is the number you can act on when you pick a booking time.