Route profile
SNA→IAH
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Santa Ana to Houston, 1,346 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 90% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 3,722 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
SNA → IAH arrives on time 87.8% of the time; the return trip, IAH → SNA, arrives on time 83.5% of the time, a 4.3-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
SNA → IAH spends 27.2 minutes on the ground on a 1,346-mile trip: 16.4 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at SNA and 10.8 minutes from touchdown to gate at IAH.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
This route has stayed remarkably steady year over year, a smaller swing than 97% of 5,368 comparable routes.
87.8% on time over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), against 88.0% in the 12 months before (2024-08 to 2025-07), virtually unchanged.
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 SNA to IAH differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
SNA to IAH is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 3 PM: 82.6% arrive on time, 11.5 points ahead of the 71.1% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 9.9 points.
SNA to IAH holds up on Fridays better than routes of similar length do: 87.3% on time to their 76.5%, a 10.8 points lead. Against all other routes the gap is 11.1 points.
January is kinder to SNA to IAH than to routes of similar length: 93.1% on time against 78.6%, 14.5 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 14 points.
United Airlines does better on SNA to IAH than on its routes of similar length: 87.8% on time here, 81.1% there, 6.7 points apart. Against all other routes the gap is 7.9 points.
SNA to IAH against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 3 PM departures | 82.6% | routes of similar length | 71.1% | +11.5 pts | 827 here, 84,199 there |
| Weekday: Friday | 87.3% | routes of similar length | 76.5% | +10.8 pts | 535 here, 255,508 there |
| Month: January | 93.1% | routes of similar length | 78.6% | +14.5 pts | 317 here, 126,985 there |
| Airline: United Airlines | 87.8% | routes of similar length | 81.1% | +6.7 pts | 3,679 here, 311,863 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 1,346 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
20 min late
against a median of 9 min early
Percentiles over 3,722 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at IAH after arriving from SNA.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 27% | High risk |
| 45 min | 12% | Some risk |
| 60 min | 7.8% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 4.7% | Low risk |
| 120 min | 3.3% | 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 0.64% of the time and diverts 0.51% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 3,679 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 20 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 3,722 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
SNA → IAH flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 94.2% of the time, against 82.6% for 3–6 PM departures, a gap of 11.6 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 5 AM: too few flights to score
- 6 AM: 92.1% on time from 308 flights
- 7 AM: 93.8% on time from 128 flights
- 8 AM: 95.0% on time from 863 flights
- 9 AM: too few flights to score
- 10 AM: 91.9% on time from 337 flights
- 11 AM: 73.5% on time from 161 flights
- 12 PM: 85.7% on time from 964 flights
- 1 PM: too few flights to score
- 2 PM: 80.8% on time from 127 flights
- 3 PM: 82.6% on time from 834 flights
- 4 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why SNA → IAH 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
Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for SNA → IAH. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on SNA → IAH, at 46.3%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 94.2% of the time and 3–6 PM departures 82.6%.
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 | 3,722 | 87.8% | 0.64% | -9 min | 4.8% |
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 |
| SNA→IAH this route Santa Ana to Houston | 3,722 | 87.8% | 0.64% | -9 min | 82 |
Flying to IAH from the Los Angeles area? Compare SNA, LAX, BUR, ONT for IAH, 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 Sunday the least, a gap of 5.3 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 93.1%
- Feb: 93.4%
- Mar: 91.7%
- Apr: 91.1%
- May: 82.0%
- Jun: 82.1%
- Jul: 74.3%
- Aug: 87.1%
- Sep: 94.3%
- Oct: 93.9%
- Nov: 88.4%
- Dec: 87.4%
July is historically the weakest month and September the strongest, a spread of 20.0 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 72.6% from 121 flights
- August 2023: 88.5% from 124 flights
- September 2023: too few flights to score (117)
- October 2023: too few flights to score (93)
- November 2023: too few flights to score (90)
- December 2023: too few flights to score (93)
- January 2024: too few flights to score (113)
- February 2024: too few flights to score (112)
- March 2024: too few flights to score (119)
- April 2024: too few flights to score (90)
- May 2024: too few flights to score (101)
- June 2024: 85.5% from 120 flights
- July 2024: 71.6% from 124 flights
- August 2024: too few flights to score (111)
- September 2024: too few flights to score (90)
- October 2024: too few flights to score (93)
- November 2024: too few flights to score (89)
- December 2024: too few flights to score (118)
- January 2025: 89.7% from 120 flights
- February 2025: too few flights to score (108)
- March 2025: too few flights to score (118)
- April 2025: too few flights to score (90)
- May 2025: too few flights to score (93)
- June 2025: too few flights to score (90)
- July 2025: too few flights to score (93)
- August 2025: too few flights to score (93)
- September 2025: too few flights to score (90)
- October 2025: too few flights to score (93)
- November 2025: too few flights to score (89)
- December 2025: too few flights to score (93)
- January 2026: too few flights to score (93)
- February 2026: too few flights to score (84)
- March 2026: too few flights to score (93)
- April 2026: too few flights to score (90)
- May 2026: too few flights to score (93)
- June 2026: too few flights to score (90)
- July 2026: too few flights to score (91)
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 87.8% against 88.0% in the 12 months before — broadly unchanged.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 3,722 SNA → 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
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