Historical on-time performance
Houston to Des Moines
802 miData through May 2026Source: US DOT · BTS
Flights on IAH–DSM arrive on time 70% of the time over the last 12 months.
On-time rate70%arrived within 15 min
p90 delay60 min1 in 10 flights is worse (tail risk)
Cancelled1.2%of scheduled flights
based on 245 flights over the last 12 months. On-time means arriving within 15 minutes (BTS standard).
By airline
How each carrier compares
- United AirlinesOn-time70%Medianon timep9060 minCancel1.2%Flights245
Why flights run late
Delay causes
- Airline42%
- Weather4%
- Air traffic (NAS)6%
- Late aircraft49%
- Security0%
Most delay minutes here are attributed to Late aircraft.
When flights don't go
Why flights were cancelled
- Airline33%
- Weather67%
- Air traffic (NAS)0%
- Security0%
Most cancellations here are attributed to Weather. Shares are among 3 cancellations with a reported cause (BTS reports causes from June 2003).
Over time
On-time trend
By season
On-time rate by month
When to fly
Best time to fly IAH → DSM
All airlines · rolling 36 months (2023-06 .. 2026-05).
Best time of day
Middays are the most reliable time of day to fly this route — 79% on time.
- Middays79% on time · p90 30 min · 189 flights · limited
- Overnights67% on time · p90 60 min · 762 flights
- Evenings59% on time · p90 70 min · 192 flights · limited
Best day of week
On-time rates are fairly even by day on this route — ranging from 59% to 75% on time.
- Mondays75% on time · p90 70 min · 160 flights · limited
- Tuesdays74% on time · p90 40 min · 154 flights · limited
- Wednesdays72% on time · p90 45 min · 166 flights · limited
- Saturdays66% on time · p90 50 min · 176 flights · limited
- Thursdays65% on time · p90 65 min · 159 flights · limited
- Fridays62% on time · p90 70 min · 165 flights · limited
- Sundays59% on time · p90 85 min · 165 flights · limited
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