How often are these flights late or cancelled?
United Airlines
In the twelve months from July 2025 to June 2026, 27.5% of 7,966 movements arriving into the UK were disrupted — more than fifteen minutes late or cancelled at short notice.
Put the other way round, 72.5% of 7,966 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
27.5% of 7,966 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 27.5% of 7,966 movements | 1.8% of 7,966 movements | 43.8–85.0 minutes; delayed denominator 2,046–3,795 | 2.2% of 7,966 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?
2.2% of 7,966 movements passed the three-hour mark.
The ladder shows how many movements crossed each threshold. Cancellations are separate: 1.8% of 7,966 movements.
| Delay | Share and sample | One event per movements |
|---|---|---|
| More than 15 minutes | 25.7% of 7,966 movements | 3.9 |
| More than 30 minutes | 16.4% of 7,966 movements | 6.1 |
| More than 60 minutes | 9.8% of 7,966 movements | 10.3 |
| More than 120 minutes | 4.2% of 7,966 movements | 23.6 |
| More than 180 minutes | 2.2% of 7,966 movements | 45.3 |
| More than 360 minutes | 0.6% of 7,966 movements | 169.5 |
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?
4.2% of 7,966 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: Feb 2022, 5.9% of 153 movements. Worst month: Jun 2023, 51.7% of 747 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 | 18.1% of 531 movements |
| Feb 2018 | 19.1% of 502 movements |
| Mar 2018 | 36.7% of 561 movements |
| Apr 2018 | 17.1% of 562 movements |
| May 2018 | 20.2% of 653 movements |
| Jun 2018 | 28.0% of 661 movements |
| Jul 2018 | 26.7% of 685 movements |
| Aug 2018 | 27.0% of 684 movements |
| Sep 2018 | 11.5% of 660 movements |
| Oct 2018 | 14.3% of 622 movements |
| Nov 2018 | 24.1% of 510 movements |
| Dec 2018 | 24.5% of 531 movements |
| Jan 2019 | 15.7% of 534 movements |
| Feb 2019 | 13.4% of 478 movements |
| Mar 2019 | 19.8% of 561 movements |
| Apr 2019 | 22.3% of 537 movements |
| May 2019 | 31.4% of 662 movements |
| Jun 2019 | 38.7% of 661 movements |
| Jul 2019 | 34.8% of 687 movements |
| Aug 2019 | 31.7% of 684 movements |
| Sep 2019 | 21.9% of 661 movements |
| Oct 2019 | 20.0% of 596 movements |
| Nov 2019 | 14.7% of 531 movements |
| Dec 2019 | 22.9% of 542 movements |
| Jan 2020 | 14.8% of 554 movements |
| Feb 2020 | 15.1% of 544 movements |
| Mar 2020 | 11.0% of 392 movements |
| Apr 2020 | 3.3% of 30 movements — small sample, not ranked |
| May 2020 | 8.6% of 58 movements |
| Jun 2020 | 6.7% of 60 movements |
| Jul 2020 | 11.5% of 87 movements |
| Aug 2020 | 15.0% of 113 movements |
| Sep 2020 | 9.4% of 117 movements |
| Oct 2020 | 8.9% of 124 movements |
| Nov 2020 | 14.7% of 116 movements |
| Dec 2020 | 19.3% of 114 movements |
| Jan 2021 | 20.0% of 70 movements |
| Feb 2021 | 26.0% of 73 movements |
| Mar 2021 | 19.0% of 84 movements |
| Apr 2021 | 15.6% of 90 movements |
| May 2021 | 17.2% of 93 movements |
| Jun 2021 | 25.7% of 105 movements |
| Jul 2021 | 40.7% of 145 movements |
| Aug 2021 | 47.0% of 185 movements |
| Sep 2021 | 26.1% of 180 movements |
| Oct 2021 | 32.1% of 212 movements |
| Nov 2021 | 19.5% of 200 movements |
| Dec 2021 | 31.9% of 254 movements |
| Jan 2022 | 29.6% of 226 movements |
| Feb 2022 | 5.9% of 153 movements |
| Mar 2022 | 22.9% of 301 movements |
| Apr 2022 | 31.0% of 451 movements |
| May 2022 | 38.7% of 615 movements |
| Jun 2022 | 38.6% of 725 movements |
| Jul 2022 | 29.6% of 749 movements |
| Aug 2022 | 23.1% of 654 movements |
| Sep 2022 | 27.9% of 612 movements |
| Oct 2022 | 21.0% of 590 movements |
| Nov 2022 | 21.5% of 558 movements |
| Dec 2022 | 48.4% of 574 movements |
| Jan 2023 | 26.3% of 562 movements |
| Feb 2023 | 24.0% of 526 movements |
| Mar 2023 | 30.1% of 665 movements |
| Apr 2023 | 34.4% of 715 movements |
| May 2023 | 41.1% of 790 movements |
| Jun 2023 | 51.7% of 747 movements |
| Jul 2023 | 43.8% of 776 movements |
| Aug 2023 | 33.3% of 771 movements |
| Sep 2023 | 31.4% of 770 movements |
| Oct 2023 | 22.4% of 782 movements |
| Nov 2023 | 21.4% of 529 movements |
| Dec 2023 | 25.3% of 529 movements |
| Jan 2024 | 22.8% of 513 movements |
| Feb 2024 | 17.0% of 476 movements |
| Mar 2024 | 28.6% of 548 movements |
| Apr 2024 | 30.3% of 661 movements |
| May 2024 | 35.0% of 720 movements |
| Jun 2024 | 33.3% of 717 movements |
| Jul 2024 | 34.8% of 733 movements |
| Aug 2024 | 36.0% of 741 movements |
| Sep 2024 | 31.3% of 712 movements |
| Oct 2024 | 23.4% of 662 movements |
| Nov 2024 | 30.0% of 540 movements |
| Dec 2024 | 30.6% of 555 movements |
| Jan 2025 | 28.7% of 558 movements |
| Feb 2025 | 20.2% of 500 movements |
| Mar 2025 | 24.8% of 564 movements |
| Apr 2025 | 21.5% of 661 movements |
| May 2025 | 32.1% of 725 movements |
| Jun 2025 | 29.2% of 722 movements |
| Jul 2025 | 38.1% of 746 movements |
| Aug 2025 | 32.4% of 747 movements |
| Sep 2025 | 26.6% of 717 movements |
| Oct 2025 | 33.5% of 695 movements |
| Nov 2025 | 32.3% of 594 movements |
| Dec 2025 | 31.3% of 611 movements |
| Jan 2026 | 27.6% of 598 movements |
| Feb 2026 | 20.2% of 520 movements |
| Mar 2026 | 18.3% of 613 movements |
| Apr 2026 | 18.6% of 663 movements |
| May 2026 | 21.0% of 738 movements |
| Jun 2026 | 27.3% of 724 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 | 6.7% of 60 movements | 19.8% across 5,940 flights | returned the next month |
| Pandemic regime · Jun 2020 | Departures | 5.0% of 60 movements | 11.3% across 5,944 flights | returned the next month |
| Summer 2022 breakdown · Jul 2022 | Arrivals | 29.6% of 749 movements | 30.3% across 3,647 flights | returned the next month |
| Summer 2022 breakdown · Jul 2022 | Departures | 38.5% of 756 movements | 12.0% across 3,642 flights | returned after 3 months |
| NATS system failure · Aug 2023 | Arrivals | 33.3% of 771 movements | 32.8% across 7,769 flights | returned the next month |
| NATS system failure · Aug 2023 | Departures | 26.6% of 772 movements | 22.4% across 7,778 flights | returned the next month |
| Heathrow fire closure · Mar 2025 | Arrivals | 24.8% of 564 movements | 30.2% across 7,647 flights | returned the next month |
| Heathrow fire closure · Mar 2025 | Departures | 18.7% of 563 movements | 19.7% across 7,641 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: Jul, 34.8% across 6 months. Lowest median: Feb, 19.1% across 7 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 | 26.3% | 15.7–29.6% | 7 months, 3,522 flights |
| Feb | 19.1% | 5.9–24.0% | 7 months, 3,155 flights |
| Mar | 24.8% | 18.3–36.7% | 7 months, 3,813 flights |
| Apr | 22.3% | 17.1–34.4% | 7 months, 4,250 flights |
| May | 32.1% | 20.2–41.1% | 7 months, 4,903 flights |
| Jun | 33.3% | 27.3–51.7% | 7 months, 4,957 flights |
| Jul | 34.8% | 26.7–43.8% | 6 months, 4,376 flights |
| Aug | 32.1% | 23.1–36.0% | 6 months, 4,281 flights |
| Sep | 27.3% | 11.5–31.4% | 6 months, 4,132 flights |
| Oct | 21.7% | 14.3–33.5% | 6 months, 3,947 flights |
| Nov | 22.8% | 14.7–32.3% | 6 months, 3,262 flights |
| Dec | 28.0% | 22.9–48.4% | 6 months, 3,342 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: GLA ↔ NEW-YORK-NEWARK, 9.4% of 53 movements. Highest disruption: EDI ↔ CHICAGO-O-HARE, 38.2% of 178 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| GLA ↔ NEW-YORK-NEWARK | 9.4% of 53 movements | no events in 53 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Heathrow ↔ Los Angeles International | 12.6% of 365 movements | 0.3% of 365 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Heathrow ↔ Denver International | 18.8% of 575 movements | 0.5% of 575 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Heathrow ↔ San Francisco | 20.0% of 942 movements | 0.6% of 942 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Heathrow ↔ New York (Newark) | 26.1% of 2,557 movements | 3.2% of 2,557 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Heathrow ↔ Chicago (O'Hare) | 32.7% of 1,096 movements | 1.7% of 1,096 movements | descriptive comparison |
| EDI ↔ NEW-YORK-NEWARK | 32.8% of 451 movements | 1.3% of 451 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Heathrow ↔ Washington (Dulles) | 32.8% of 731 movements | 2.3% of 731 movements | descriptive comparison |
| EDI ↔ WASHINGTON-DULLES | 33.2% of 280 movements | 2.1% of 280 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Heathrow ↔ Houston | 36.4% of 729 movements | 0.4% of 729 movements | descriptive comparison |
| EDI ↔ CHICAGO-O-HARE | 38.2% of 178 movements | 1.1% of 178 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?
3 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 | 34.0% of 911 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Glasgow | 9.3% of 54 movements | descriptive comparison |
| Heathrow | 26.8% of 7,001 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
27.5% of 7,966 movements arrivals were disrupted, against 21.1% of 7,943 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
2.2% of 7,966 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
United Airlines appears from Jan 2018 to Jun 2026 with 51,940 arrivals.
The bounds describe the published record, not every commercial service. Final point is not necessarily a nonstop destination.
Archive route pairs: 57.
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?
27.5% of 7,966 movements over July 2025 to June 2026.
How often are they cancelled?
1.8% of 7,966 movements at short notice.
How late is late?
43.8–85.0 minutes; delayed denominator 2,046–3,795
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.