Flight profile · United Airlines

UA487

Houston (IAH) to San Francisco (SFO) · scheduled 5:00 AM – 7:22 AM

FlyerIntel does not track flights in the air. This page describes how UA487 has historically performed, which is a different and more useful question when you are deciding what to book. For today’s status, check with United Airlines.

How UA487 performs

278 operations, 2025-09-25 to 2026-06-30.

On-time arrivals
96.7%
267 of 276 completed
Cancellation rate
0.36%
1 cancelled
Median arrival delay
-18 min
Average -13.9 min
Severe delays
1.8%
Arrived 60+ minutes late
Delay when late
104 min
Average, when 15+ min late
Departure punctuality
95.3%
Left the gate on time

UA487 arrived on time 96.7% of the time, against 77.3% for all IAHSFO flights — this specific departure is 19.4 percentage points better than the route as a whole. Against United Airlines’s own flights on this route it is 19.4 points better.

Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · 278 operations between 2025-09-25 to 2026-06-30

Against the rest of the route

On timeCancelledMedian delaySevereFlights
UA48796.7%0.36%-18 min1.8%278
United Airlines on IAHSFO77.3%0.97%-6 min8.0%10,034
All IAHSFO flights77.3%0.97%-6 min8.0%10,034

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · 2025-09-25 to 2026-06-30

Other routes UA487 has flown

A flight number is a slot in a schedule, and carriers reassign it. These are the other city pairs this number served in the analysis period.

RouteOperatedFlightsOn time
SFOSBP San Francisco to San Luis Obispo2026-06-252026-06-306
SFOIND San Francisco to Indianapolis2026-03-292026-05-2053
INDORD Indianapolis to Chicago2026-04-302026-04-301
SFOOGG San Francisco to Kahului2026-03-052026-03-2723
SFOPDX San Francisco to Portland2026-02-122026-03-0421
SFOONT San Francisco to Ontario2026-01-062026-02-0925
MFEIAH McAllen to Houston2026-02-042026-02-041
SFOBUR San Francisco to Burbank2025-12-182026-01-0519
SFOMFR San Francisco to Medford2025-05-012025-10-2514390.9%
ATLSFO Atlanta to San Francisco2025-02-132025-08-1814180.1%
SATIAD San Antonio to Washington2025-06-012025-06-2317
DENRDU Denver to Raleigh–Durham2025-01-072025-02-1237
DENPBI Denver to West Palm Beach2024-12-192025-01-0619
IAHORD Houston to Chicago2024-12-032024-12-1816
SFOCLE San Francisco to Cleveland2024-10-272024-12-0237
ABQSFO Albuquerque to San Francisco2024-08-202024-10-3142
SFOIAD San Francisco to Washington2023-09-052024-10-2631981.1%
IADBOS Washington to Boston2024-05-232024-09-2573
LAXSFO Los Angeles to San Francisco2023-07-012024-08-1814383.7%
SFOEWR San Francisco to Newark2024-06-272024-06-304
RNOSFO Reno to San Francisco2024-05-232024-06-2635
IADMCO Washington to Orlando2024-03-072024-03-3024
DENSEA Denver to Seattle2024-02-152024-03-0621
MCOIAD Orlando to Washington2023-11-232023-11-231
IADRDU Washington to Raleigh–Durham2023-09-292023-10-2830
SFOATL San Francisco to Atlanta2023-07-012023-09-0466

Because the same number has served different journeys, the statistics above describe only the route UA487 currently operates. Blending them would produce an average of two different flights.

Data and methodology

Calculated by FlyerIntel from 278 records of UA487 operating IAHSFO, published by the US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics. A flight counts as delayed when it arrives 15 or more minutes after schedule. Cancelled and diverted flights are excluded from the on-time rate and reported separately. Flight numbers are resolved as carrier plus number plus route, because the same number serves different routes over time.

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