Airline reliability
United Airlines on-time performance
Reliability of United Airlines flights across 135 airports and 914 routes, September 2025 to August 2026.
135 airports914 routes
- On time
- 77.8% Rank 5 of 14 airlines
- Cancelled
- 1.0% All airlines 1.9%
- 60+ minutes late
- 7.7% All airlines 8.1%
- Scheduled flights
- 830,825 12 months
What this means
United Airlines ranked 5 of 14 on on-time arrival.
- United Airlines reported 830,825 scheduled flights over the 12 months to August 2026. 77.8% arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, 2.2 points higher than the average for all reporting airlines (75.6%).
- 1.0% of its flights were cancelled (all-airline average 1.9%) and 7.7% arrived an hour or more late.
- Its most punctual busy route was Sacramento (SMF) to Washington (IAD) (94.2% on time); its least punctual was San Luis Obispo (SBP) to San Francisco (SFO) (50.8%).
- Over the last 3 years, October was the most reliable month for United Airlines (84.7% on time) and July the least reliable (69.3%).
- Cancellations peaked in January, when 4.0% of flights were cancelled.
- Flights scheduled to depart before 6 am were the most punctual (91.5% on time); flights scheduled to depart 6 pm to 7 pm were the least (66.6%).
Month by month, last 12 months
Share of scheduled flights on time All airlines 75.6%
Show as table
| Period | On time | Flights |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 82.6% | 67,550 |
| Oct 2025 | 80.1% | 71,415 |
| Nov 2025 | 78.0% | 66,691 |
| Dec 2025 | 76.8% | 65,865 |
| Jan 2026 | 80.0% | 63,781 |
| Feb 2026 | 82.7% | 59,806 |
| Mar 2026 | 77.6% | 70,757 |
| Apr 2026 | 81.9% | 69,451 |
| May 2026 | 79.5% | 74,200 |
| Jun 2026 | 73.9% | 72,791 |
| Jul 2026 | 71.5% | 74,440 |
| Aug 2026 | 70.6% | 74,078 |
Best and worst months for United Airlines
Share of scheduled flights on time 12-month average 77.8%
Show as table
| Period | On time | Flights |
|---|---|---|
| January | 77.6% | 184,643 |
| February | 82.3% | 174,268 |
| March | 80.1% | 202,680 |
| April | 81.1% | 194,751 |
| May | 75.7% | 206,163 |
| June | 73.7% | 202,120 |
| July | 69.3% | 209,691 |
| August | 73.5% | 208,963 |
| September | 83.4% | 194,353 |
| October | 84.7% | 205,714 |
| November | 82.8% | 188,169 |
| December | 81.1% | 189,739 |
On-time rate by departure hour
Share of scheduled flights on time
Show as table
| Period | On time | Flights |
|---|---|---|
| Departing before 6 am | 91.5% | 16,192 |
| Departing 6 am to 7 am | 89.8% | 48,329 |
| Departing 7 am to 8 am | 86.5% | 71,142 |
| Departing 8 am to 9 am | 85.4% | 64,718 |
| Departing 9 am to 10 am | 83.2% | 59,151 |
| Departing 10 am to 11 am | 80.7% | 49,750 |
| Departing 11 am to noon | 80.4% | 48,615 |
| Departing noon to 1 pm | 79.7% | 49,694 |
| Departing 1 pm to 2 pm | 77.5% | 53,582 |
| Departing 2 pm to 3 pm | 73.3% | 47,388 |
| Departing 3 pm to 4 pm | 72.0% | 37,445 |
| Departing 4 pm to 5 pm | 70.7% | 58,746 |
| Departing 5 pm to 6 pm | 68.9% | 54,663 |
| Departing 6 pm to 7 pm | 66.6% | 50,086 |
| Departing 7 pm to 8 pm | 68.5% | 46,373 |
| Departing 8 pm to 9 pm | 68.8% | 30,702 |
| Departing 9 pm to 10 pm | 71.7% | 18,985 |
| Departing 10 pm to 11 pm | 81.0% | 13,424 |
| Departing 11 pm to midnight | 84.2% | 11,840 |
Most punctual United Airlines routes
| Route | On time | Cancelled | 60+ min late | Flights |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sacramento (SMF) to Washington (IAD) | 94.2% | 1.6% | 1.1% | 365 |
| Los Angeles (LAX) to Lihue (LIH) | 93.9% | 0.8% | 1.6% | 377 |
| Lihue (LIH) to Denver (DEN) | 92.9% | 2.4% | 1.1% | 379 |
| Albuquerque (ABQ) to Houston (IAH) | 92.2% | 0.9% | 3.8% | 425 |
| San Antonio (SAT) to Washington (IAD) | 91.9% | 0.6% | 1.9% | 644 |
| Dayton (DAY) to Denver (DEN) | 91.9% | 0.3% | 3.6% | 308 |
| Los Angeles (LAX) to Cleveland (CLE) | 91.9% | 0.3% | 1.1% | 640 |
| New Orleans (MSY) to Washington (IAD) | 91.3% | 0.5% | 3.8% | 608 |
| Fresno (FAT) to Denver (DEN) | 91.3% | 0.3% | 4.4% | 344 |
| Sacramento (SMF) to Houston (IAH) | 91.2% | 0.1% | 1.6% | 670 |
Least punctual United Airlines routes
| Route | On time | Cancelled | 60+ min late | Flights |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Luis Obispo (SBP) to San Francisco (SFO) | 50.8% | 1.0% | 18.8% | 303 |
| Chicago (ORD) to Sioux Falls (FSD) | 57.2% | 2.9% | 17.6% | 346 |
| Reno (RNO) to San Francisco (SFO) | 57.4% | 0.5% | 15.2% | 943 |
| Burbank (BUR) to San Francisco (SFO) | 57.4% | 0.6% | 18.8% | 1,662 |
| Seattle (SEA) to San Francisco (SFO) | 58.6% | 0.8% | 14.2% | 2,062 |
| Palm Springs (PSP) to San Francisco (SFO) | 58.6% | 0.3% | 17.6% | 307 |
| Chicago (ORD) to Cedar Rapids/Iowa City (CID) | 60.3% | 1.3% | 17.0% | 542 |
| Chicago (ORD) to Knoxville (TYS) | 62.0% | 1.2% | 17.2% | 332 |
| Chicago (ORD) to Reno (RNO) | 62.3% | 1.1% | 14.9% | 363 |
| Chicago (ORD) to Rochester (ROC) | 62.3% | 1.2% | 12.2% | 583 |
Routes with the most United Airlines cancellations
| Route | On time | Cancelled | 60+ min late | Flights |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York (LGA) to Chicago (ORD) | 62.5% | 4.2% | 14.8% | 4,671 |
| Chicago (ORD) to Memphis (MEM) | 62.5% | 4.2% | 12.9% | 333 |
| Memphis (MEM) to Chicago (ORD) | 79.3% | 4.1% | 6.2% | 338 |
| Chicago (ORD) to New York (LGA) | 63.0% | 4.0% | 15.4% | 4,671 |
| Boston (BOS) to Newark (EWR) | 73.1% | 3.5% | 10.5% | 2,695 |
| Minneapolis (MSP) to Newark (EWR) | 75.4% | 3.4% | 11.7% | 495 |
| Newark (EWR) to Boston (BOS) | 68.7% | 3.2% | 13.0% | 2,695 |
| Newark (EWR) to Cleveland (CLE) | 74.1% | 3.0% | 10.9% | 1,445 |
| Aguadilla (BQN) to Newark (EWR) | 76.7% | 3.0% | 4.1% | 365 |
| Atlanta (ATL) to Newark (EWR) | 76.2% | 2.9% | 9.7% | 2,024 |
Busiest United Airlines routes
| Route | On time | Cancelled | 60+ min late | Flights |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York (LGA) to Chicago (ORD) | 62.5% | 4.2% | 14.8% | 4,671 |
| Chicago (ORD) to New York (LGA) | 63.0% | 4.0% | 15.4% | 4,671 |
| Newark (EWR) to Chicago (ORD) | 68.1% | 2.8% | 11.2% | 4,415 |
| Chicago (ORD) to Newark (EWR) | 69.7% | 2.9% | 12.3% | 4,415 |
| Houston (IAH) to Chicago (ORD) | 77.2% | 0.6% | 7.6% | 4,084 |
| Chicago (ORD) to Houston (IAH) | 79.3% | 0.7% | 7.1% | 4,080 |
| Newark (EWR) to Orlando (MCO) | 77.7% | 2.2% | 7.9% | 4,019 |
| Orlando (MCO) to Newark (EWR) | 76.4% | 2.4% | 9.4% | 4,019 |
| Denver (DEN) to Houston (IAH) | 79.4% | 0.3% | 6.8% | 3,894 |
| Houston (IAH) to Denver (DEN) | 83.2% | 0.2% | 5.9% | 3,894 |
Sources & data dates
- Source
- U.S. DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance (1987-present)
- Period
- September 2025 to August 2026 (12 months); month-of-year patterns September 2023 to August 2026
- Data through
- August 2026
- Processed
- 2026-11-03
- Scope
- Scheduled nonstop domestic flights operated by United Airlines (UA).
- Method
- Rates use all scheduled flights as the denominator; cancelled and diverted flights count as not on time. Figures based on fewer than 50 scheduled flights are suppressed. Full methodology.