United Airlines: on-time record for the flights it operated itself, July 2026

These figures count only flights United Airlines operated itself. Flights sold as United Express and operated by partners such as SkyWest Airlines and Republic Airways are not included here.

United Airlines ran 71.5% of the 74,318 flights it operated itself on time in July 2026, within a few points of the national share of 69.4%. One month of data cannot separate a gap that small, so it reads as average.

By raw on-time share United Airlines was number 5 of the 12 airlines with at least 5,000 flights in July 2026, in the middle third of the order. Many of the gaps between neighbours in that order are within what one month of data can move, so the order is a listing, not a verdict.

Against the 11 other airlines with at least 5,000 flights in July 2026, United Airlines was clearly ahead of 4 and clearly behind 1, counting only gaps one month of data can separate.

No single cause clearly led the delay minutes BTS attributed to flights United Airlines operated itself: Late-arriving aircraft at 36.2% and National Aviation System (NAS) at 32.4% were within 5 points of each other, unlike the national total for July 2026, where Late-arriving aircraft led.

By flights operated it was a mid-sized reporting airline, number 5 of 12, large enough to compare but not a driver of the national total.

The routes did not lean either way: 67 of its 234 ranked routes ran clearly above the national share, 40 clearly below, and 127 within what one month of data can separate. Routes above and below the national figure were about as many, or most were within noise.

Its five best routes are spread across different airports, and no airport appears in more than two of them.

4 of its five weakest routes touch San Francisco (SFO), so its weakest results sat around one airport.

Inside its own network the gap was wide: KOA to SFO ran on time 93.5% while SEA to SFO managed 33.3%, a spread of 30 points or more.

DEN, its busiest airport, is an endpoint of its best routes, so its busiest hub is part of its strongest results and the network's highs are not found only at its edges.

Its weakest routes avoid DEN, its busiest airport, so the poorer results sit away from the main hub, out in the rest of the network.

DEN, its busiest airport, appeared among the five routes with the highest raw on-time share and on none of the five lowest.

Departures were spread across its network; even the busiest airport, Denver (DEN), handled just 13.2%, under a quarter.

Its main hub tracked its network: departures from DEN ran on time 69.5%, close to the airline-wide 71.5%. The airport carrying most of its traffic neither lifted nor dragged the overall figure.

With no single cause clearly in front, extreme weather added 5.6% of the attributed minutes for flights United Airlines operated itself, close to its national share of 6.4%.

With the leading causes close together, NAS delays pulled ahead of air carrier delays for flights United Airlines operated itself, 32.4% against 25.8%, a different order from the national figures.

Late-arriving aircraft supplied 36.2% of the attributed delay minutes for flights United Airlines operated itself, a clear lead but short of a near-majority, with the rest spread over the other causes. Another cause ran within 5 points of it, so the lead is not clear.

The National Aviation System ranked second for flights United Airlines operated itself, with 32.4% of the attributed delay minutes.

Delay causes are shares of the delay minutes BTS attributes to flights that arrived 15 minutes or more late, not shares of flights. Extreme weather here means BTS's extreme-weather category only; milder weather delays are generally reported under NAS.

A flight counts as on time unless it arrives 15 minutes or more late. Cancelled and diverted flights count as not on time.

Routes are ranked only with at least 100 of its flights, and airlines are compared only with others that flew at least 5,000 flights.

A difference of a few points between two airlines, or between two directions, is within what one month of data can move. These figures describe July 2026 only.

These are figures for one month, July 2026, not a trend or forecast.

Source: US Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance, July 2026, as loaded by BookWithAI.