EWR → IAH Flight Reliability

Right now

Origin · EWRNo disruption reported

Aviation weather is not currently a factor.

Updated 08:51 UTC

Newark airport profile →

Destination · IAHNo disruption reported

Aviation weather is not currently a factor.

Updated 08:53 UTC

Houston airport profile →

Route reliability

July 2023 – July 2026

Route Reliability Score

57/ 100Fair

Better than 28% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)

Calculated from 11,537 flights. How this is calculated

On-time arrivals

77.7%

8,754 of 11,265

Cancellation rate

2.15%

248 cancelled

Median arrival delay

-8 min

Average 6.2 min

Severe delays

9.0%

60+ minutes late

Delay when late

77 min

Average, when 15+ min late

Flights analyzed

11,537

2 carriers

EWR → IAH arrives on time 77.7% of the time; the return trip, IAH → EWR, arrives on time 75.3% of the time, a 2.4-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.

EWR → IAH spends 35.2 minutes on the ground on a 1,400-mile trip: 24.5 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at EWR and 10.7 minutes from touchdown to gate at IAH.

Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026

What stands out

Every day of the week performs about the same on this route, steadier than 92% of 4,467 comparable routes.

80.9% on time on the best day (Tuesday) against 76.3% on the worst (Sunday).

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · Ranked against every other route with the same kind of figure and at least 4,467 in the comparison.

Why EWR → IAH flights are cancelled

July 2023 – July 2026

EWR → IAH cancelled 248 of 11,537 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 47. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 62.5% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 74 scheduled flights.

Share of cancellations

Weather62.5%

Airline27.8%

Air traffic9.7%

Security0.0%

Of 248 cancelled departures carrying a reason code.

What each reason means

Extreme weather1 in 74

Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.

155 cancellations, 62.5% of the total.

The airline1 in 167

Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.

69 cancellations, 27.8% of the total.

The air traffic system1 in 481

Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.

24 cancellations, 9.7% of the total.

Security—

A terminal evacuation, a security breach, screening equipment failure, or screening queues over 29 minutes.

0 cancellations, 0.0% of the total.

Reason codes are the operating airline’s own filing with US DOT, not an independent finding of fault. With only one or two carriers on the route, the split mostly reflects how they file. Ordinary bad weather is filed under air traffic, so weather’s full share is larger than its bar.

248 coded cancellations were recorded on EWR → IAH; the section appears from 50.

When it goes wrong

July 2023 – July 2026

One arrival in ten is worse than

52 min late

against a median of 8 min early

Arrived an hour or more late9.0%

Typical delay when late77 min

Cancelled2.15%

Landed somewhere else0.21%

EWR → IAH has an average that understates its risk: a typical arrival is 8 min early, but the worst tenth are 60 minutes worse than that. If the trip has something unmissable at the end of it, the median is the wrong number to plan against.

Percentiles over 11,537 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.

Will your connection be tight enough?

Layovers at IAH after arriving from EWR.

Connection buffer and chance of missing by layover length, EWR → IAH arrivals
Connection time	Chance of missing	Reads as
30 min	36%	Likely to miss
45 min	22%	High risk
60 min	15%	High risk
90 min	8.8%	Some risk
120 min	5.8%	Some risk

This is one leg of a connection. Gate changes and the next flight's own schedule matter too. And a connection can fail before delay is even the question — this route cancels 2.15% of the time and diverts 0.21% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.

Chance of missing is the share of 11,265 arrivals on this route that landed later than the connection time less 30 minutes to reach the next gate.

The worst tenth of arrivals on this route land at least 52 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 11,537 operations.

Any other layover length: connection checker.

Best time to fly

EWR → IAH flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 89.1% of the time, against 61.7% for 9 PM–5 AM departures, a gap of 27.4 percentage points.

By day and hour

On-time arrival rate for each weekday and scheduled departure hour, in local time at the departure airport (EWR).

Hour of departure matters more than day of the week: hourly averages sit a typical 9.2 points from the route-wide rate, weekday averages 1.6 points.

On-time arrival rate for EWR to IAH by weekday and scheduled departure hour, local time. Each button reads out one slot.
Hour	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
5 AM–6 AM
6 AM–7 AM
7 AM–8 AM
8 AM–9 AM
9 AM–10 AM
10 AM–11 AM
11 AM–12 PM
12 PM–1 PM
1 PM–2 PM
2 PM–3 PM
3 PM–4 PM
4 PM–5 PM
5 PM–6 PM
6 PM–7 PM
7 PM–8 PM
8 PM–9 PM

On-time rate, % · stronger color, fewer on time

60–64
65–69
70–74
75–79
80–84
85–89
90–94

Fewer than 120 flights, not scored

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · On time is arrival within 15 minutes of schedule. Cells round to whole percentages; the table shows one decimal.

No slot is named best or worst: too few reach 500 flights. Departures after 9 PM (381 flights) are not drawn: no slot in those hours has enough flights to score.

View as tableHide table

On-time arrival rate (%) with flights beneath, by scheduled departure hour and weekday for EWR to IAH. A dash means fewer than 120 flights, which are not scored.
Hour	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
5 AM–6 AM	88.3% on time133 flights	99 flights, too few to score	105 flights, too few to score	93.4% on time139 flights	89.7% on time141 flights	87.4% on time145 flights	118 flights, too few to score
6 AM–7 AM	98 flights, too few to score	93 flights, too few to score	85 flights, too few to score	98 flights, too few to score	90 flights, too few to score	102 flights, too few to score	85.2% on time120 flights
7 AM–8 AM	88.9% on time158 flights	89.8% on time164 flights	89.1% on time166 flights	86.2% on time160 flights	88.1% on time161 flights	87.1% on time172 flights	91.4% on time156 flights
8 AM–9 AM	94 flights, too few to score	89 flights, too few to score	87 flights, too few to score	90 flights, too few to score	92 flights, too few to score	64 flights, too few to score	91 flights, too few to score
9 AM–10 AM	32 flights, too few to score	34 flights, too few to score	34 flights, too few to score	35 flights, too few to score	33 flights, too few to score	27 flights, too few to score	36 flights, too few to score
10 AM–11 AM	81.6% on time129 flights	78.7% on time127 flights	82.4% on time127 flights	75.4% on time127 flights	73.0% on time128 flights	80.0% on time134 flights	79.5% on time126 flights
11 AM–12 PM	47 flights, too few to score	40 flights, too few to score	43 flights, too few to score	49 flights, too few to score	41 flights, too few to score	39 flights, too few to score	48 flights, too few to score
12 PM–1 PM	87.9% on time132 flights	92.7% on time129 flights	94.2% on time121 flights	81.0% on time129 flights	81.2% on time138 flights	80.3% on time129 flights	76.8% on time131 flights
1 PM–2 PM	24 flights, too few to score	15 flights, too few to score	6 flights, too few to score	22 flights, too few to score	25 flights, too few to score	19 flights, too few to score	24 flights, too few to score
2 PM–3 PM	75.5% on time167 flights	75.5% on time158 flights	72.1% on time165 flights	75.8% on time165 flights	75.6% on time166 flights	72.0% on time171 flights	70.3% on time162 flights
3 PM–4 PM	118 flights, too few to score	114 flights, too few to score	112 flights, too few to score	118 flights, too few to score	119 flights, too few to score	100 flights, too few to score	119 flights, too few to score
4 PM–5 PM	56 flights, too few to score	61 flights, too few to score	58 flights, too few to score	57 flights, too few to score	54 flights, too few to score	75 flights, too few to score	62 flights, too few to score
5 PM–6 PM	69.3% on time153 flights	79.7% on time154 flights	72.8% on time150 flights	67.4% on time146 flights	65.8% on time152 flights	65.4% on time154 flights	64.0% on time154 flights
6 PM–7 PM	23 flights, too few to score	23 flights, too few to score	25 flights, too few to score	25 flights, too few to score	23 flights, too few to score	26 flights, too few to score	22 flights, too few to score
7 PM–8 PM	68.4% on time122 flights	76.6% on time126 flights	67.7% on time125 flights	74.6% on time121 flights	71.3% on time124 flights	114 flights, too few to score	67.5% on time124 flights
8 PM–9 PM	73.3% on time124 flights	71.3% on time147 flights	71.2% on time152 flights	66.7% on time120 flights	66.7% on time122 flights	116 flights, too few to score	75.2% on time122 flights

By departure window

5–9 AM89.1%

9 AM–12 PM79.9%

12–3 PM77.7%

3–6 PM69.2%

6–9 PM69.5%

9 PM–5 AM61.7%

By departure hour

12 AM

3 AM

6 AM

9 AM

12 PM

3 PM

6 PM

9 PM

Why EWR → IAH runs late

July 2023 – July 2026

Late-arriving aircraft36.0%

the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late

The airline30.5%

crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control

Air traffic control27.6%

airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control

Weather6.0%

weather severe enough to stop this flight specifically

Security0.1%

screening or terminal security incidents

Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for EWR → IAH. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.

Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on EWR → IAH, at 36.0%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 89.1% of the time and 9 PM–5 AM departures 61.7%.

How this route holds up in bad weather

July 2023 – July 2026

Bad weather raises cancellations by a similar amount at both ends of EWR to IAH: 3.3 times the normal rate at EWR and 3.4 times at IAH. Cancelled in bad weather against normal hours: EWR 6.9% against 2.1%, IAH 4.1% against 1.2%. Flights that did leave IAH in bad weather arrived on time 63.8% of the time, against 78.6% in normal hours.

Bad weather and normal hours at the airports

Scheduled departures, July 2023 – July 2026

Departures from EWR and IAH in hours of bad weather and in normal hours
Departures from	EWR	IAH
Cancelled in bad weather	6.9%	4.1%
Cancelled in normal hours	2.1%	1.2%
Arrived on time, bad weather	65.8%	63.8%
Arrived on time, normal hours	80.0%	78.6%
Departures in bad weather	51,613	28,922

Of the carriers on this route, United Airlines (5.3% cancelled against 8.9% for the other carriers at EWR) cancelled the fewest departures from EWR in bad weather and Spirit Airlines (8.7% cancelled against 6.4% for the other carriers at EWR) the most.

This route’s airlines in bad weather at EWR

All departures from EWR

Cancellation rates in bad weather at EWR for the airlines that fly EWR to IAH, against the other carriers at EWR in the same months
Airline	Bad-weather departures	Cancelled	Other carriers
United Airlines	28,226	5.3%below the others	8.9%
Spirit Airlines	3,882	8.7%above the others	6.4%

These are airport figures, not route figures: every scheduled departure from EWR and IAH, to any destination, in hours the weather report called bad. The airline rows count each carrier’s departures from EWR on every route.

Weather source and limits. In full: EWR (airlines), IAH, What Weather Costs Each Airport, Who Cancels More When the Weather Turns, Airports That Change Places When Weather Turns.

Airlines on this route

Carriers with at least 200 flights, by the airline that operated each one.

Airlines on this route
Carrier	Flights	On time	Cancelled	Median delay	Severe
United Airlines	10,567	78.1%	2.00%	-8 min	8.7%
Spirit Airlines	970	73.9%	3.81%	-10 min	12.0%

United Airlines flew 91.6% of the 11,537 flights listed. Spirit Airlines cancelled 3.81% of its flights here against 2.00% for United Airlines.

United Airlines arrived on time 4.2 percentage points more often than Spirit Airlines on this route.

Other ways to fly New York to Houston

Airport pairs in the same two city markets, as the DOT defines them.

Other ways to fly New York to Houston
Route	Flights	On time	Cancelled	Median delay	Score
LGA→IAH New York to Houston	12,405	78.7%	2.31%	-11 min	56
EWR→IAH this route Newark to Houston	11,537	77.7%	2.15%	-8 min	57

Flying to IAH from the New York area? Compare EWR, LGA, JFK for IAH, with the same test for what counts as a real difference.

Flights on this route

Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.

Flights on this route
Flight	Scheduled	Operations	On time
UA492 United Airlines	6:00 AM	1,052	92.5%
UA2425 United Airlines	8:40 PM	819	66.7%

Weekly and seasonal patterns

By day of week

Mon79.0%

Tue80.9%

Wed77.8%

Thu77.2%

Fri76.5%

Sat76.4%

Sun76.3%

Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 4.6 percentage points.

By month

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

July is historically the weakest month and November the strongest, a spread of 22.0 percentage points.

Reliability over time

July 2023 – July 2026

24

25

26

Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 80.4% against 77.2% in the 12 months before — improving by 3.2 percentage points.

Data and methodology

Calculated by FlyerIntel from 11,537 EWR → IAH flight records from the US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, covering July 2023 – July 2026. Late means 15 or more minutes past scheduled arrival; cancelled and diverted flights are left out of on-time rates.

Full methodology · Data sources · Report a problem

Analysis last recomputed September 26, 2026

EWR airport IAH airport Return direction IAH → EWR

EWR→IAH

Right now

Route reliability

What stands out

Why EWR → IAH flights are cancelled

Share of cancellations

What each reason means

When it goes wrong

Will your connection be tight enough?

Best time to fly

By day and hour

By departure window

By departure hour

Why EWR → IAH runs late

How this route holds up in bad weather

Bad weather and normal hours at the airports

This route’s airlines in bad weather at EWR

Airlines on this route

Other ways to fly New York to Houston

Flights on this route

Weekly and seasonal patterns

By day of week

By month

Reliability over time

Data and methodology