Is United Airlines on time? UA
Landing within 15 minutes of schedule, over the last 12 months.
Source: US Department of Transportation on-time records, which cover this airline's US flights. Last refreshed: 2026-10-07.
Year by year
Arrival punctuality, whole calendar years| Year | On time | Change | Cancelled |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 79% | 0.9% | |
| 2020 | 90% | +12 pts | 7.3% |
| 2021 | 83% | -8 pts | 1.4% |
| 2022 | 81% | -2 pts | 1.9% |
| 2023 | 79% | -1 pt | 1.4% |
| 2024 | 80% | +1 pt | 1.6% |
| 2025 | 79% | -2 pts | 0.8% |
| 2026part year | 79% | +1 pt | 1.3% |
2020 looks like the best year here, and it was the worst year to fly. Empty aeroplanes run to time, and the flights that would have been late were cancelled instead: cancellations across the industry ran about three times their normal rate that year.
Month by month
| Month | On time | Cancelled |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-07 | 73% | 2.0% |
| 2026-06 | 75% | 0.6% |
| 2026-05 | 80% | 0.4% |
| 2026-04 | 83% | 0.5% |
| 2026-03 | 79% | 1.5% |
| 2026-02 | 84% | 1.6% |
| 2026-01 | 82% | 2.4% |
| 2025-12 | 77% | 0.4% |
| 2025-11 | 79% | 1.5% |
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Busiest routes
| Route | On time | Worst 1 in 10 |
|---|---|---|
| LGA to ORD | 67% | about 94 min |
| ORD to LGA | 66% | about 90 min |
| ORD to EWR | 74% | about 70 min |
| EWR to ORD | 71% | about 71 min |
| EWR to MCO | 81% | about 44 min |
| MCO to EWR | 80% | about 51 min |
| ORD to IAH | 80% | about 42 min |
| IAH to ORD | 77% | about 49 min |
| IAH to DEN | 83% | about 37 min |
| DEN to IAH | 80% | about 41 min |
| ORD to SFO | 68% | about 81 min |
| SFO to ORD | 76% | about 55 min |
How these numbers are made
On time means the aircraft arrived less than 15 minutes after its scheduled time. Cancelled flights are not counted as on time, and they are not counted as late either. They have their own figure.
Worst 1 in 10 is the delay that one arrival in ten exceeds. An average hides the days that ruin a trip; this does not.
A route or an airline appears only once we hold enough measured arrivals for it. Below that the number moves too much on a single bad week to be worth printing.
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