United Airlines delay compensation, and how often you'll actually need it
£520 per passenger, if your United Airlines flight arrived 3 or more hours late
Every United Airlines route we hold a distance for falls in the same band, so that is the figure. About 281 United Airlines flights a year cross that line.
In the last 12 months, United Airlines operated 15,596 flights at UK airports, and 1.8% were 3 or more hours late, the threshold where £520 per passenger becomes payable.
The on-time rate held at 75.8%, and the average delay rose from 17.6 to 18.3 minutes.
| United Airlines, last 12 months | Figure | vs year before |
|---|---|---|
| Flights at UK airports | 15,596 | was 15,066 |
| Ran on time (within 15 min) | 75.8% | no change |
| Average delay | 18.3 min | ▲ was 17.6 min |
| 3h+ late (compensation threshold) | 1.8% | - |
| Cancelled | 2.0% | - |
| Flights 3h+ late (a year) | 281 flights/year | - |
The CAA's figures combine arrivals and departures, so this covers both directions of travel.
United Airlines' delays, month by month
Worst month: July 2025, averaging 31.1 minutes.
How to claim from United Airlines
If United Airlines refuses and you think the refusal is wrong, the next step is the Civil Aviation Authority's Passenger Advice and Complaints Team, which can review the refusal and press the airline, though its finding is not binding. You do not need a solicitor and you do not pay to use it.
You can claim directly yourself and keep the whole payout, or a claim firm will do the chasing for a share of it. Both end up at the same place.
Claim route checked against United Airlines' own site and the CAA's dispute-scheme lists on 12 August 2026. Airlines move these pages, so tell us if a link has gone stale.
What the rules turn on
Where the flight departed decides everything, not the airline's nationality. Anything leaving a UK airport is covered by UK261 whoever operates it, and anything leaving the EU by EU261. A delay of 3 or more hours on arrival pays £220 to £520 per passenger when the cause was within the airline's control, which covers technical faults, crew shortages and the knock-on from a late inbound aircraft. It pays nothing when the cause was genuinely extraordinary, though airlines stretch that word further than the case law supports, so a refusal on those grounds is worth testing rather than accepting.
United Airlines at each UK airport
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Source: UK Civil Aviation Authority punctuality statistics, July 2025 to June 2026. Analysis by CheckFlightCompensation; the CAA is credited as the data source as its publication conditions require. Figures cover the 25 largest UK airports.