How often are these flights late or cancelled?
American Airlines
In the twelve months from July 2025 to June 2026, 28.3% of 7,958 movements arriving into the UK were disrupted — more than fifteen minutes late or cancelled at short notice.
Put the other way round, 71.7% of 7,958 movements met the fifteen-minute convention. These are historical observations, not a forecast.
Definitions, denominators and limits
Arrivals into UK reporting airports only unless labelled departures. Denominator: operated movements plus short-notice cancellations (M+C). A movement is not a scheduled flight. Unmatched records are data quality, not outcomes. Cells below twenty movements are suppressed; twenty to forty-nine are descriptive and not ranked.
Source: CAA punctuality statistics · snapshot 17/08/2026 10:24 · method route-record-v2.1 · Versioned claims, formulas and entity mapping.
0 operations (0.00%) excluded because their published percentages could not be reconciled to whole numbers. Excluded operations enter neither the numerator nor the denominator. Outcome figures and comparisons are unavailable when the excluded share exceeds fifteen percent.
The four numbers at a glance
28.3% of 7,958 movements were disrupted over July 2025 to June 2026.
Average delay covers delayed movements only. Its range reflects rounded source means and the unknown count of exactly punctual movements.
| Disruption | Short-notice cancellations | Delay among delayed movements | Over three hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| 28.3% of 7,958 movements | 2.4% of 7,958 movements | 62.6–109.6 minutes; delayed denominator 2,065–3,493 | 2.6% of 7,958 movements |
Definitions, denominators and limits
Arrivals into UK reporting airports only unless labelled departures. Denominator: operated movements plus short-notice cancellations (M+C). A movement is not a scheduled flight. Unmatched records are data quality, not outcomes. Cells below twenty movements are suppressed; twenty to forty-nine are descriptive and not ranked.
When late, how late?
2.6% of 7,958 movements passed the three-hour mark.
The ladder shows how many movements crossed each threshold. Cancellations are separate: 2.4% of 7,958 movements.
| Delay | Share and sample | One event per movements |
|---|---|---|
| More than 15 minutes | 25.9% of 7,958 movements | 3.9 |
| More than 30 minutes | 16.9% of 7,958 movements | 5.9 |
| More than 60 minutes | 9.3% of 7,958 movements | 10.8 |
| More than 120 minutes | 4.1% of 7,958 movements | 24.6 |
| More than 180 minutes | 2.6% of 7,958 movements | 39.2 |
| More than 360 minutes | 1.1% of 7,958 movements | 88.4 |
Definitions, denominators and limits
Arrivals into UK reporting airports only unless labelled departures. Denominator: operated movements plus short-notice cancellations (M+C). A movement is not a scheduled flight. Unmatched records are data quality, not outcomes. Cells below twenty movements are suppressed; twenty to forty-nine are descriptive and not ranked.
Slightly late or occasionally a disaster?
4.1% of 7,958 movements passed two hours.
The histogram shows the published delay bands. Bucket shares use all reported operations, including unmatched records; cancellations are reported separately.
Definitions, denominators and limits
Arrivals into UK reporting airports only unless labelled departures. Denominator: operated movements plus short-notice cancellations (M+C). A movement is not a scheduled flight. Unmatched records are data quality, not outcomes. Cells below twenty movements are suppressed; twenty to forty-nine are descriptive and not ranked.
Better or worse since the start of the archive?
Best month: Jan 2021, 5.3% of 94 movements. Worst month: Mar 2018, 36.6% of 614 movements.
The line traces every month. Lower disruption is better; gaps are never zeros. Pandemic readings describe a different operating regime.
Every monthly observation
| Month | Disruption on arrivals |
|---|---|
| Jan 2018 | 20.1% of 533 movements |
| Feb 2018 | 17.7% of 496 movements |
| Mar 2018 | 36.6% of 614 movements |
| Apr 2018 | 17.8% of 657 movements |
| May 2018 | 17.8% of 709 movements |
| Jun 2018 | 32.6% of 715 movements |
| Jul 2018 | 32.6% of 745 movements |
| Aug 2018 | 25.9% of 744 movements |
| Sep 2018 | 21.3% of 695 movements |
| Oct 2018 | 16.8% of 672 movements |
| Nov 2018 | 19.0% of 525 movements |
| Dec 2018 | 22.6% of 584 movements |
| Jan 2019 | 22.3% of 525 movements |
| Feb 2019 | 15.5% of 502 movements |
| Mar 2019 | 17.0% of 599 movements |
| Apr 2019 | 21.3% of 689 movements |
| May 2019 | 27.2% of 712 movements |
| Jun 2019 | 34.2% of 691 movements |
| Jul 2019 | 27.3% of 715 movements |
| Aug 2019 | 27.1% of 716 movements |
| Sep 2019 | 19.8% of 691 movements |
| Oct 2019 | 16.4% of 700 movements |
| Nov 2019 | 13.8% of 566 movements |
| Dec 2019 | 21.1% of 610 movements |
| Jan 2020 | 16.2% of 574 movements |
| Feb 2020 | 17.6% of 564 movements |
| Mar 2020 | 26.9% of 469 movements |
| Apr 2020 | 8.3% of 60 movements |
| May 2020 | 6.5% of 62 movements |
| Jun 2020 | 11.6% of 86 movements |
| Jul 2020 | 11.1% of 117 movements |
| Aug 2020 | 13.7% of 124 movements |
| Sep 2020 | 10.7% of 121 movements |
| Oct 2020 | 9.7% of 124 movements |
| Nov 2020 | 15.6% of 122 movements |
| Dec 2020 | 13.9% of 36 movements — small sample, not ranked |
| Jan 2021 | 5.3% of 94 movements |
| Feb 2021 | 19.6% of 97 movements |
| Mar 2021 | 13.8% of 123 movements |
| Apr 2021 | 14.0% of 221 movements |
| May 2021 | 11.9% of 227 movements |
| Jun 2021 | 15.1% of 265 movements |
| Jul 2021 | 26.3% of 278 movements |
| Aug 2021 | 19.3% of 305 movements |
| Sep 2021 | 13.3% of 300 movements |
| Oct 2021 | 15.4% of 311 movements |
| Nov 2021 | 23.2% of 315 movements |
| Dec 2021 | 27.3% of 337 movements |
| Jan 2022 | 20.1% of 338 movements |
| Feb 2022 | 17.7% of 305 movements |
| Mar 2022 | 21.8% of 376 movements |
| Apr 2022 | 22.5% of 590 movements |
| May 2022 | 25.0% of 620 movements |
| Jun 2022 | 30.6% of 682 movements |
| Jul 2022 | 21.4% of 715 movements |
| Aug 2022 | 17.9% of 708 movements |
| Sep 2022 | 26.4% of 666 movements |
| Oct 2022 | 17.0% of 669 movements |
| Nov 2022 | 16.0% of 505 movements |
| Dec 2022 | 36.6% of 536 movements |
| Jan 2023 | 23.4% of 509 movements |
| Feb 2023 | 22.7% of 497 movements |
| Mar 2023 | 26.0% of 593 movements |
| Apr 2023 | 21.7% of 745 movements |
| May 2023 | 24.6% of 798 movements |
| Jun 2023 | 31.8% of 786 movements |
| Jul 2023 | 25.2% of 810 movements |
| Aug 2023 | 20.1% of 810 movements |
| Sep 2023 | 24.0% of 780 movements |
| Oct 2023 | 19.7% of 785 movements |
| Nov 2023 | 13.6% of 612 movements |
| Dec 2023 | 17.7% of 655 movements |
| Jan 2024 | 22.8% of 593 movements |
| Feb 2024 | 17.2% of 483 movements |
| Mar 2024 | 22.0% of 659 movements |
| Apr 2024 | 24.8% of 751 movements |
| May 2024 | 33.2% of 780 movements |
| Jun 2024 | 31.0% of 757 movements |
| Jul 2024 | 30.1% of 780 movements |
| Aug 2024 | 34.1% of 782 movements |
| Sep 2024 | 36.0% of 758 movements |
| Oct 2024 | 22.0% of 749 movements |
| Nov 2024 | 24.5% of 559 movements |
| Dec 2024 | 32.1% of 613 movements |
| Jan 2025 | 29.8% of 581 movements |
| Feb 2025 | 24.2% of 487 movements |
| Mar 2025 | 34.2% of 609 movements |
| Apr 2025 | 20.0% of 726 movements |
| May 2025 | 28.5% of 701 movements |
| Jun 2025 | 28.5% of 745 movements |
| Jul 2025 | 31.2% of 780 movements |
| Aug 2025 | 34.8% of 785 movements |
| Sep 2025 | 24.9% of 759 movements |
| Oct 2025 | 29.2% of 718 movements |
| Nov 2025 | 28.9% of 530 movements |
| Dec 2025 | 35.4% of 576 movements |
| Jan 2026 | 33.3% of 552 movements |
| Feb 2026 | 24.2% of 472 movements |
| Mar 2026 | 18.8% of 608 movements |
| Apr 2026 | 23.4% of 732 movements |
| May 2026 | 25.5% of 746 movements |
| Jun 2026 | 29.9% of 700 movements |
Definitions, denominators and limits
Arrivals into UK reporting airports only unless labelled departures. Denominator: operated movements plus short-notice cancellations (M+C). A movement is not a scheduled flight. Unmatched records are data quality, not outcomes. Cells below twenty movements are suppressed; twenty to forty-nine are descriptive and not ranked.
What did the big disruptions do here?
Each event is compared with the twelve preceding calendar months and the first later return to baseline.
A worse month is not proof the named event caused it. The open data carry no delay-cause field. Recovery is observed for at most eight subsequent months.
| Event | Direction | Disruption that month | Baseline before | Return to baseline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pandemic regime · Jun 2020 | Arrivals | 11.6% of 86 movements | 19.6% across 6,418 flights | returned the next month |
| Pandemic regime · Jun 2020 | Departures | 1.2% of 86 movements | 14.3% across 6,426 flights | returned the next month |
| Summer 2022 breakdown · Jul 2022 | Arrivals | 21.4% of 715 movements | 21.9% across 4,757 flights | returned the next month |
| Summer 2022 breakdown · Jul 2022 | Departures | 33.1% of 717 movements | 14.8% across 4,753 flights | returned after 3 months |
| NATS system failure · Aug 2023 | Arrivals | 20.1% of 810 movements | 24.1% across 7,822 flights | returned the next month |
| NATS system failure · Aug 2023 | Departures | 14.4% of 811 movements | 16.3% across 7,826 flights | returned the next month |
| Heathrow fire closure · Mar 2025 | Arrivals | 34.2% of 609 movements | 28.7% across 8,256 flights | returned the next month |
| Heathrow fire closure · Mar 2025 | Departures | 25.8% of 617 movements | 21.4% across 8,315 flights | returned the next month |
Definitions, denominators and limits
Arrivals into UK reporting airports only unless labelled departures. Denominator: operated movements plus short-notice cancellations (M+C). A movement is not a scheduled flight. Unmatched records are data quality, not outcomes. Cells below twenty movements are suppressed; twenty to forty-nine are descriptive and not ranked.
Which time of year has been hardest?
Highest median: Jun, 31.0% across 7 months. Lowest median: Nov, 17.5% across 6 months.
Even the same calendar month differs across years. This is a record, not a forecast; pandemic years are excluded from the summaries.
Each cell is one calendar month of one year; the number is the share of that month’s arrivals that were disrupted. Darker means worse. A blank cell means no published data, not zero.
Month-by-month table: median, observed range and sample
| Month | Median | Observed range | Sample |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 22.8% | 20.1–33.3% | 7 months, 3,631 flights |
| Feb | 17.7% | 15.5–24.2% | 7 months, 3,242 flights |
| Mar | 22.0% | 17.0–36.6% | 7 months, 4,058 flights |
| Apr | 21.7% | 17.8–24.8% | 7 months, 4,890 flights |
| May | 25.5% | 17.8–33.2% | 7 months, 5,066 flights |
| Jun | 31.0% | 28.5–34.2% | 7 months, 5,076 flights |
| Jul | 28.7% | 21.4–32.6% | 6 months, 4,545 flights |
| Aug | 26.5% | 17.9–34.8% | 6 months, 4,545 flights |
| Sep | 24.4% | 19.8–36.0% | 6 months, 4,349 flights |
| Oct | 18.4% | 16.4–29.2% | 6 months, 4,293 flights |
| Nov | 17.5% | 13.6–28.9% | 6 months, 3,297 flights |
| Dec | 27.4% | 17.7–36.6% | 6 months, 3,574 flights |
Definitions, denominators and limits
Arrivals into UK reporting airports only unless labelled departures. Denominator: operated movements plus short-notice cancellations (M+C). A movement is not a scheduled flight. Unmatched records are data quality, not outcomes. Cells below twenty movements are suppressed; twenty to forty-nine are descriptive and not ranked.
Which routes have the best and worst record?
Lowest disruption: LHR ↔ BOSTON, 13.9% of 359 movements. Highest disruption: LHR ↔ DALLAS-FORT-WORTH, 36.9% of 1,557 movements.
The airline table uses this carrier on each route; airport and country tables combine carriers. Each figure is arrivals into its UK airport. Only sufficiently large exact samples enter the ordered comparison.
All route comparisons and sample flags
| Route | Disruption | Cancellations | Sample flag |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heathrow ↔ Boston | 13.9% of 359 movements | 2.5% of 359 movements | descriptive comparison |
| LHR ↔ RALEIGH | 17.6% of 364 movements | 1.9% of 364 movements | descriptive comparison |
| EDI ↔ PHILADELPHIA-INTERNATIONAL | 17.6% of 193 movements | 1.0% of 193 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Heathrow ↔ Philadelphia International | 20.6% of 587 movements | 3.4% of 587 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Heathrow ↔ New York (Jf Kennedy) | 22.8% of 1,204 movements | 2.9% of 1,204 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Heathrow ↔ Los Angeles International | 25.6% of 718 movements | 2.4% of 718 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Edinburgh ↔ New York (Jf Kennedy) | 27.2% of 114 movements | no events in 114 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Heathrow ↔ Phoenix | 29.2% of 212 movements | 2.8% of 212 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Heathrow ↔ Miami International | 30.6% of 611 movements | 0.8% of 611 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Heathrow ↔ Charlotte | 32.5% of 1,085 movements | 3.0% of 1,085 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Heathrow ↔ Chicago (O'Hare) | 33.5% of 935 movements | 1.2% of 935 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Heathrow ↔ Dallas/Fort Worth | 36.9% of 1,557 movements | 2.8% of 1,557 movements | descriptive comparison |
Definitions, denominators and limits
Arrivals into UK reporting airports only unless labelled departures. Denominator: operated movements plus short-notice cancellations (M+C). A movement is not a scheduled flight. Unmatched records are data quality, not outcomes. Cells below twenty movements are suppressed; twenty to forty-nine are descriptive and not ranked.
Which UK airports appear in this record?
2 published groups have enough arrivals to describe.
These operations are not matched for season, aircraft or time of day. The table makes no causal comparison.
| UK airport | Disruption | Sample flag |
|---|---|---|
| Edinburgh | 21.4% of 308 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Heathrow | 28.6% of 7,650 movements | descriptive comparison |
Definitions, denominators and limits
Arrivals into UK reporting airports only unless labelled departures. Denominator: operated movements plus short-notice cancellations (M+C). A movement is not a scheduled flight. Unmatched records are data quality, not outcomes. Cells below twenty movements are suppressed; twenty to forty-nine are descriptive and not ranked.
Arrivals vs departures
28.3% of 7,958 movements arrivals were disrupted, against 23.7% of 8,071 movements departures.
The directions have separate denominators. A departure delay does not establish late arrival at the final destination; legal conditions differ by direction and carrier.
Definitions, denominators and limits
Arrivals into UK reporting airports only unless labelled departures. Denominator: operated movements plus short-notice cancellations (M+C). A movement is not a scheduled flight. Unmatched records are data quality, not outcomes. Cells below twenty movements are suppressed; twenty to forty-nine are descriptive and not ranked.
Movements past the three-hour mark
2.6% of 7,958 movements were more than three hours late over July 2025 to June 2026.
Cancellation is counted separately and is not a three-hour delay. Monthly counts cannot establish a passenger claim.
Definitions, denominators and limits
Arrivals into UK reporting airports only unless labelled departures. Denominator: operated movements plus short-notice cancellations (M+C). A movement is not a scheduled flight. Unmatched records are data quality, not outcomes. Cells below twenty movements are suppressed; twenty to forty-nine are descriptive and not ranked.
Facts about this record
American Airlines appears from Jan 2018 to Jun 2026 with 55,898 arrivals.
The bounds describe the published record, not every commercial service. Final point is not necessarily a nonstop destination.
Archive route pairs: 54.
Definitions, denominators and limits
Arrivals into UK reporting airports only unless labelled departures. Denominator: operated movements plus short-notice cancellations (M+C). A movement is not a scheduled flight. Unmatched records are data quality, not outcomes. Cells below twenty movements are suppressed; twenty to forty-nine are descriptive and not ranked.
What this data cannot tell you
Delay cause, individual passenger experience, commercial decisions and future performance are not established here.
Also absent are aircraft type, within-month time-of-day splits and cancellations made ahead of the short-notice reporting window.
0 operations (0.00%) excluded because their published percentages could not be reconciled to whole numbers. Excluded operations enter neither the numerator nor the denominator. Outcome figures and comparisons are unavailable when the excluded share exceeds fifteen percent.
Definitions, denominators and limits
Arrivals into UK reporting airports only unless labelled departures. Denominator: operated movements plus short-notice cancellations (M+C). A movement is not a scheduled flight. Unmatched records are data quality, not outcomes. Cells below twenty movements are suppressed; twenty to forty-nine are descriptive and not ranked.
Quick answers
These answers use the same populations and window as the tables above.
Every percentage retains its denominator.
How disrupted are these arrivals?
28.3% of 7,958 movements over July 2025 to June 2026.
How often are they cancelled?
2.4% of 7,958 movements at short notice.
How late is late?
62.6–109.6 minutes; delayed denominator 2,065–3,493
Are services improving?
The monthly line records past changes; it is not a forecast or a causal comparison.
Which routes are compared?
The route table uses separately identified UK airport and final-point pairs, with small samples flagged.
Does this cover my flight?
Only published aggregate movements; the circumstances of any individual flight are unknown.
Definitions, denominators and limits
Arrivals into UK reporting airports only unless labelled departures. Denominator: operated movements plus short-notice cancellations (M+C). A movement is not a scheduled flight. Unmatched records are data quality, not outcomes. Cells below twenty movements are suppressed; twenty to forty-nine are descriptive and not ranked.
How this was calculated
Source: CAA punctuality statistics · snapshot 17/08/2026 10:24 · method route-record-v2.1 · Versioned claims, formulas and entity mapping.
Integer bucket counts are recovered from rounding intervals over D=M+C+U with their sum constrained to M. Ambiguous counts remain ranges; failed reconciliation is quarantined.
Definitions, denominators and limits
Arrivals into UK reporting airports only unless labelled departures. Denominator: operated movements plus short-notice cancellations (M+C). A movement is not a scheduled flight. Unmatched records are data quality, not outcomes. Cells below twenty movements are suppressed; twenty to forty-nine are descriptive and not ranked.
Your trip has already gone wrong
The monthly line and events table show whether your month was typical or unusual in the published record.
Nothing here decides an individual case or what a passenger may be owed.
CAA: the official route to complainDefinitions, denominators and limits
Arrivals into UK reporting airports only unless labelled departures. Denominator: operated movements plus short-notice cancellations (M+C). A movement is not a scheduled flight. Unmatched records are data quality, not outcomes. Cells below twenty movements are suppressed; twenty to forty-nine are descriptive and not ranked.