Route profile
IAH→BOS
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Houston to Boston, 1,597 miles.
Right now
Aviation weather is not currently a factor.
Aviation weather is not currently a factor.
Route reliability
July 2023 – July 2026
Better than 12% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 6,154 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
IAH → BOS arrives on time 73.3% of the time; the return trip, BOS → IAH, arrives on time 78.1% of the time, a 4.9-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
IAH → BOS spends 28.5 minutes on the ground on a 1,597-mile trip: 21.6 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at IAH and 6.9 minutes from touchdown to gate at BOS.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
This route's worst arrivals run unusually far past its typical one, a bigger gap than 94% of 4,598 comparable routes.
A typical arrival is 4 min early, but the worst tenth run 75 minutes worse than that.
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 4,598 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where IAH to BOS differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
IAH to BOS struggles most at 1 PM: 62.5% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 12.9 points behind the 75.4% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 14.6 points.
IAH to BOS is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 7 AM: 92.4% arrive on time, 4.6 points ahead of the 87.8% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 4.6 points.
Friday is the day IAH to BOS slips furthest against routes of similar length, 68.5% on time where they average 76.5%, 8 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 7.7 points.
In September, IAH to BOS runs 13.3 points below routes of similar length, 68.9% on time to 82.2%. Against all other routes the gap is 13.5 points.
JetBlue’s flights on IAH to BOS arrive on time 59.4% of the time, 10 points below the 69.4% it manages on its routes of similar length. Against all other routes the gap is 12.8 points.
IAH to BOS against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 1 PM departures | 62.5% | routes of similar length | 75.4% | −12.9 pts | 299 here, 93,478 there |
| Hour: 7 AM departures | 92.4% | routes of similar length | 87.8% | +4.6 pts | 1,104 here, 140,716 there |
| Weekday: Friday | 68.5% | routes of similar length | 76.5% | −8.0 pts | 899 here, 238,708 there |
| Month: September | 68.9% | routes of similar length | 82.2% | −13.3 pts | 489 here, 126,914 there |
| Airline: JetBlue | 59.4% | routes of similar length | 69.4% | −10.0 pts | 1,346 here, 51,901 there |
Each comparison pools the flights of other routes, with this route’s own left out. Similar length means within 15% of this route’s 1,597 miles, with at least 5 such routes. A bucket is set against the most comparable group that has enough flights: similar length, then the same origin (at least 3 routes), then all other routes. Hours, weekdays and months appear only where both sides have 120 completed flights, and airlines where both have 600. The gap must be at least 2 points and 2 standard errors, and only the largest gap each way is kept per measure. These are differences in the flights counted, not causes.
Why IAH → BOS flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
IAH → BOS cancelled 94 of 6,154 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 65. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 53.2% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 123 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 94 cancelled departures carrying a reason code.
What each reason means
Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.
50 cancellations, 53.2% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
30 cancellations, 31.9% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
14 cancellations, 14.9% of the total.
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.
94 coded cancellations were recorded on IAH → BOS; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
71 min late
against a median of 4 min early
IAH → BOS has an average that understates its risk: a typical arrival is 4 min early, but the worst tenth are 75 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 6,154 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at BOS after arriving from IAH.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 42% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 26% | High risk |
| 60 min | 20% | High risk |
| 90 min | 12% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 7.2% | 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 1.53% of the time and diverts 0.24% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 6,045 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 71 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 6,154 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
IAH → BOS flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 92.4% of the time, against 63.4% for 3–6 PM departures, a gap of 29.0 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 6 AM: too few flights to score
- 7 AM: 92.4% on time from 1,114 flights
- 8 AM: too few flights to score
- 9 AM: 82.9% on time from 745 flights
- 10 AM: too few flights to score
- 11 AM: 68.6% on time from 485 flights
- 12 PM: 69.4% on time from 788 flights
- 1 PM: 62.5% on time from 311 flights
- 2 PM: 61.2% on time from 494 flights
- 3 PM: too few flights to score
- 4 PM: 68.0% on time from 496 flights
- 5 PM: 57.4% on time from 316 flights
- 6 PM: 69.8% on time from 1,079 flights
- 7 PM: 62.0% on time from 170 flights
- 8 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why IAH → BOS runs late
July 2023 – July 2026
the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late
airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control
crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control
weather severe enough to stop this flight specifically
screening or terminal security incidents
Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for IAH → BOS. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on IAH → BOS, at 34.2%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 92.4% of the time and 3–6 PM departures 63.4%.
Airlines on this route
Carriers with at least 200 flights, by the airline that operated each one.
| Carrier | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Severe |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Airlines | 4,592 | 78.1% | 1.15% | -6 min | 9.5% |
| JetBlue | 1,383 | 59.4% | 2.17% | 5 min | 20.0% |
United Airlines flew 76.9% of the 5,975 flights listed. JetBlue cancelled 2.17% of its flights here against 1.15% for United Airlines.
United Airlines arrived on time 18.7 percentage points more often than JetBlue on this route.
Flights on this route
Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.
| Flight | Scheduled | Operations | On time |
|---|---|---|---|
| B6932 JetBlue | 2:00 PM | 991 | 59.7% |
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Saturday is historically the most reliable day and Friday the least, a gap of 9.6 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 81.1%
- Feb: 86.0%
- Mar: 79.3%
- Apr: 78.1%
- May: 70.0%
- Jun: 64.8%
- Jul: 62.3%
- Aug: 68.7%
- Sep: 68.9%
- Oct: 74.9%
- Nov: 79.8%
- Dec: 82.6%
July is historically the weakest month and February the strongest, a spread of 23.7 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 58.7% from 183 flights
- August 2023: 67.9% from 186 flights
- September 2023: 68.1% from 164 flights
- October 2023: 82.0% from 179 flights
- November 2023: 84.0% from 144 flights
- December 2023: 84.0% from 144 flights
- January 2024: 76.0% from 130 flights
- February 2024: 86.6% from 127 flights
- March 2024: 81.0% from 142 flights
- April 2024: 79.5% from 167 flights
- May 2024: 62.8% from 192 flights
- June 2024: 63.5% from 209 flights
- July 2024: 59.5% from 211 flights
- August 2024: 66.3% from 200 flights
- September 2024: 80.2% from 172 flights
- October 2024: 88.3% from 163 flights
- November 2024: 79.7% from 139 flights
- December 2024: 76.2% from 132 flights
- January 2025: too few flights to score (113)
- February 2025: too few flights to score (119)
- March 2025: 80.0% from 150 flights
- April 2025: 81.1% from 150 flights
- May 2025: 74.5% from 206 flights
- June 2025: 63.2% from 197 flights
- July 2025: 70.3% from 216 flights
- August 2025: 71.8% from 196 flights
- September 2025: 57.3% from 158 flights
- October 2025: 56.4% from 189 flights
- November 2025: 76.6% from 189 flights
- December 2025: 86.3% from 175 flights
- January 2026: too few flights to score (115)
- February 2026: 88.4% from 123 flights
- March 2026: 76.9% from 148 flights
- April 2026: 73.5% from 151 flights
- May 2026: 72.5% from 178 flights
- June 2026: 67.9% from 187 flights
- July 2026: 59.7% from 210 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 71.6% against 76.1% in the 12 months before — declining by 4.5 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 6,154 IAH → BOS 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
Related research: How Long a Layover Needs to Be · Two Airlines on One Route · Best Time of Day to Fly From Major US Airports
Analysis last recomputed