How often is United Airlines delayed at Heathrow?
260 flights a year cross the 3-hour compensation line
Each one worth £520 per passenger.
In the last 12 months, United Airlines operated 13,702 flights at Heathrow, and 1.9% were 3 or more hours late, the threshold where £520 per passenger becomes payable.
Punctuality is down on last year: 76.9% of flights ran on time against 77.2% in the twelve months before, and the average delay rose from 16.7 to 17.5 minutes.
| United Airlines at Heathrow, last 12 months | Figure | vs year before |
|---|---|---|
| Flights at Heathrow | 13,702 | was 13,443 |
| Ran on time (within 15 min) | 76.9% | ▼ was 77.2% |
| Average delay | 17.5 min | ▲ was 16.7 min |
| 3h+ late (compensation threshold) | 1.9% | - |
| Cancelled | 2.0% | - |
| Flights 3h+ late (a year) | 260 flights/year | - |
The CAA's figures combine arrivals and departures, so this covers traffic both ways, not departures alone.
United Airlines at Heathrow, month by month
Worst month: July 2025, averaging 27.5 minutes.
United Airlines' busiest routes at Heathrow
| Destination | 3h+ % | 3h+ delay pays |
|---|---|---|
| New York (Newark) | 2.9% | £520 |
| Chicago (O'Hare) | 2.0% | £520 |
| San Francisco | 0.7% | £520 |
| Houston | 0.9% | £520 |
| Washington (Dulles) | 2.1% | £520 |
| Denver International | 0.5% | £520 |
| Los Angeles International | 0.8% | £520 |
Your rights on this route
Heathrow is a UK airport, so every flight departing from it is covered by UK261, whichever airline you fly with. Delays of 3 or more hours pay £220 to £520 per passenger depending on how far you were flying, and the table above gives the exact figure for each of these routes. See the full breakdown on the 3-hour rule. If the flight is cancelled instead of delayed, broadly the same amounts apply under different conditions. See cancelled flight compensation.
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Other airlines at Heathrow
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.