Route profile
LAX→HOU
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Los Angeles to Houston, 1,390 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 71% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 3,720 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
LAX → HOU arrives on time 76.3% of the time; the return trip, HOU → LAX, arrives on time 77.2% of the time.
LAX → HOU spends 21.1 minutes on the ground on a 1,390-mile trip: 15.6 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at LAX and 5.5 minutes from touchdown to gate at HOU.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
Reliability on this route has fallen unusually sharply over the past year, a bigger swing than 97% of 5,368 comparable routes.
71.1% on time over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), against 84.6% in the 12 months before (2024-08 to 2025-07), a change of 13.5 points.
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 5,368 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where LAX to HOU differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
LAX to HOU struggles most at 2 PM: 57.1% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 16.2 points behind the 73.3% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 17.5 points.
LAX to HOU is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 3 PM: 78.8% arrive on time, 7.5 points ahead of the 71.3% those routes manage at that hour.
Friday is the day LAX to HOU slips furthest against routes of similar length, 70.3% on time where they average 76.5%, 6.2 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 5.9 points.
In March, LAX to HOU runs 8.6 points below routes of similar length, 69.1% on time to 77.7%. Against all other routes the gap is 8.8 points.
LAX to HOU against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 2 PM departures | 57.1% | routes of similar length | 73.3% | −16.2 pts | 294 here, 98,885 there |
| Hour: 3 PM departures | 78.8% | routes of similar length | 71.3% | +7.5 pts | 146 here, 91,340 there |
| Weekday: Friday | 70.3% | routes of similar length | 76.5% | −6.2 pts | 580 here, 267,130 there |
| Month: March | 69.1% | routes of similar length | 77.7% | −8.6 pts | 285 here, 152,194 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 1,390 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.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
36 min late
against a median of 0 min early
Percentiles over 3,720 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at HOU after arriving from LAX.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 48% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 22% | High risk |
| 60 min | 12% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 4.1% | Low risk |
| 120 min | 1.8% | Low 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 0.43% of the time and diverts 0.40% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 3,689 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 36 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 3,720 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
LAX → HOU flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 90.3% of the time, against 61.3% for 6–9 PM departures, a gap of 29.0 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 4 AM: too few flights to score
- 5 AM: 95.1% on time from 816 flights
- 6 AM: 92.2% on time from 129 flights
- 7 AM: too few flights to score
- 8 AM: 73.8% on time from 245 flights
- 9 AM: 79.5% on time from 165 flights
- 10 AM to 11 AM: too few flights to score
- 12 PM: 70.2% on time from 239 flights
- 1 PM: 68.1% on time from 284 flights
- 2 PM: 57.1% on time from 297 flights
- 3 PM: 78.8% on time from 148 flights
- 4 PM to 5 PM: too few flights to score
- 6 PM: 54.2% on time from 242 flights
- 7 PM: 66.8% on time from 199 flights
- 8 PM: 65.9% on time from 140 flights
- 9 PM to 10 PM: too few flights to score
- 11 PM: 78.6% on time from 389 flights
Why LAX → HOU runs late
July 2023 – July 2026
the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late
crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control
airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow 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 LAX → HOU. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on LAX → HOU, at 51.8%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 90.3% of the time and 6–9 PM departures 61.3%.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 3,720 | 76.3% | 0.43% | 0 min | 4.3% |
Other ways to fly Los Angeles to Houston
Airport pairs in the same two city markets, as the DOT defines them.
| Route | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LAX→IAH Los Angeles to Houston | 16,477 | 85.3% | 1.03% | -9 min | 78 |
| LAX→HOU this route Los Angeles to Houston | 3,720 | 76.3% | 0.43% | 0 min | 73 |
LAX → IAH is the most reliable pairing for this journey at 85.3% on time, against 76.3% for LAX → HOU.
Flying to HOU from the Los Angeles area? Compare LAX, SNA, BUR, ONT for HOU, with the same test for what counts as a real difference.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Friday the least, a gap of 12.0 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 83.1%
- Feb: 79.6%
- Mar: 69.1%
- Apr: 78.6%
- May: 75.7%
- Jun: 69.3%
- Jul: 70.1%
- Aug: 80.7%
- Sep: 81.3%
- Oct: 77.0%
- Nov: 79.9%
- Dec: 76.4%
March is historically the weakest month and January the strongest, a spread of 14.0 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 71.1% against 84.6% in the 12 months before — declining by 13.5 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 3,720 LAX → HOU 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