Bush Intercontinental vs. Hobby: Which Houston Airport Is More Reliable?

George Bush Intercontinental (IAH) is slightly more reliable than Hobby (HOU) on delays — 77.4% vs. 75.8% on-time departures and 79.8% vs. 79.1% on-time arrivals — but Hobby cancels less often (1.2% vs. 1.5%). The bigger factor for most travelers: United dominates IAH while Southwest dominates HOU, so the airline you’d fly matters as much as the airport.

Key Takeaways

• IAH edges out HOU on both on-time measures: 77.4% vs. 75.8% departures, 79.8% vs. 79.1% arrivals.
• HOU has the lower cancellation rate: 1.2% vs. IAH’s 1.5%, meaning Hobby travelers are somewhat less likely to lose their flight entirely.
• It’s the closest of the major-metro airport comparisons in FlightRecord’s data — both airports land within about 4 points of the 78.2% national on-time average.
• United dominates IAH with 144,208 flights (61% of IAH’s traffic); Southwest dominates HOU with 101,932 flights (93% of HOU’s traffic).
• IAH is the far bigger hub — 236,083 departures to 123 destinations on 12 airlines, versus HOU’s 110,149 departures to 72 destinations on 7 airlines.

Which Houston airport has better on-time performance, IAH or Hobby?

Bush Intercontinental (IAH) has the better on-time record, though the margin is narrow. Based on FlightRecord’s dataset of 14.1M US DOT flight records (June 2024–May 2026), IAH posted a 77.4% on-time departure rate and 79.8% on-time arrival rate, compared to Hobby’s 75.8% and 79.1%. That’s a gap of 1.6 points on departures and 0.7 points on arrivals — real, but small next to the Bay Area’s 9-point spread between SFO and SJC.

What makes this comparison different from most airport-pair matchups is that the bigger, busier hub actually wins on delays. IAH handles more than double HOU’s traffic (236,083 vs. 110,149 departures) and serves nearly twice as many destinations, yet it doesn’t pay a reliability penalty for that scale the way some large hubs do.

Which Houston airport cancels flights less often?

Hobby (HOU) cancels less often: a 1.2% cancellation rate versus IAH’s 1.5%. That’s the one metric where the smaller airport clearly wins, and it matters — a cancellation typically costs a traveler more disruption than even a lengthy delay, since it usually means rebooking rather than just waiting.

Both airports sit below the 1.6% national cancellation rate in FlightRecord’s dataset, so neither is a standout risk. But if minimizing the odds of an outright cancelled flight is the priority over shaving a few points off the on-time rate, Hobby has the edge.

Why does the airline matter more than the airport in Houston?

Because each Houston airport is functionally a one-airline operation. United Airlines operates 144,208 of IAH’s flights — about 61% of all IAH departures — at a 78.3% on-time rate with a 16.2-minute average delay and 1.1% cancel rate. Southwest operates 101,932 of HOU’s flights, roughly 93% of Hobby’s traffic, at a 75.5% on-time rate with a 14-minute average delay and 1.0% cancel rate.

In other words, comparing "IAH vs. Hobby" is close to comparing United’s Houston operation against Southwest’s. Travelers whose loyalty or itinerary is tied to one of those two carriers will end up at the corresponding airport regardless of which one posts the better airport-wide number — our national Southwest vs. Delta comparison shows Southwest’s overall on-time rate (78.8%) actually runs a bit higher than its Houston-specific rate (75.5%), so Hobby’s numbers reflect something specific to that airport’s operation, not just Southwest generally.

What other airlines fly IAH and Hobby?

Beyond the two dominant carriers, both airports host a longer tail of regional and low-cost operators, each with meaningfully different performance:

• IAH: United (144,208 flights, 78.3% on-time), SkyWest (27,974, 77.2%), Delta (16,266, 79.2%), Spirit (15,715, 75.8%), American (15,100, 75.7%).
• HOU: Southwest (101,932 flights, 75.5% on-time), Delta (3,018, 83.0%), Envoy/American Eagle (2,585, 79.6%), SkyWest (955, 75.3%), PSA (858, 75.7%).

Notably, Delta’s small HOU operation (3,018 flights) posts an 83.0% on-time rate — the best of any carrier at either Houston airport in this comparison, though on a much smaller sample than United’s or Southwest’s hub-scale operations. IAH’s American Airlines flights run the worst average delay of the group at 29.8 minutes, well above every other Houston carrier.

A note on methodology: figures are drawn from FlightRecord’s dataset of 14.1M US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics flight records, June 2024–May 2026. On-time follows the DOT standard (arrived under 15 minutes late); cancelled and diverted flights are tracked separately from delay averages, as explained on our methodology page. Every carrier and airport cited here clears FlightRecord’s 30-flight minimum sample threshold by a wide margin.

These numbers describe two years of historical patterns, not a guarantee about any specific upcoming flight — weather, staffing, and single-day disruptions can move either airport’s performance on any given date. For current figures, see IAH and HOU directly, check United or Southwest’s national pages, or browse the most reliable airports ranking to see how both Houston airports compare nationally. If you’re weighing a similar multi-airport metro decision, our SFO vs. Oakland vs. San Jose comparison covers the same tradeoff for the Bay Area.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Bush Intercontinental (IAH) bigger than Hobby (HOU)?

Yes, significantly. IAH logged 236,083 departures over the 24 months in FlightRecord’s dataset versus HOU’s 110,149 — more than double. IAH also serves far more destinations (123 vs. 72) and airlines (12 vs. 7), reflecting its role as United’s international gateway hub versus Hobby’s primarily domestic, Southwest-focused operation.

Which Houston airport should I choose if I want the fewest delays?

IAH has the edge on both departure on-time rate (77.4% vs. 75.8%) and arrival on-time rate (79.8% vs. 79.1%). The gap is modest, though, so if your specific route or preferred airline is only available at Hobby, the small reliability difference likely isn’t worth a major itinerary change.

Does Southwest or United perform better in Houston?

United’s IAH operation posts a 78.3% on-time rate versus Southwest’s 75.5% at Hobby, based on FlightRecord’s 24-month dataset. Southwest does cancel slightly less often at HOU (1.0%) than United does at IAH (1.1%), so the two carriers essentially trade a small on-time edge for United and a small cancellation edge for Southwest.

Is IAH an international airport?

Yes — George Bush Intercontinental is Houston’s primary international gateway and a major United Airlines hub, serving 123 destinations in FlightRecord’s dataset. Hobby is a smaller, mostly domestic airport closer to downtown Houston, built around Southwest’s point-to-point network of 72 destinations.

Why is Hobby’s cancellation rate lower than IAH’s despite lower on-time performance?

Cancellations and delays are measured independently and don’t always move together — a flight that departs late still counts as delayed, not cancelled, and vice versa. Hobby’s 1.2% cancel rate versus IAH’s 1.5% could reflect differences in fleet type, route length, connection complexity, or operational buffer between the two airports’ dominant carriers; FlightRecord’s dataset doesn’t attribute a specific cause to that gap.