Route profile
DAL→LGA
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Dallas to New York, 1,381 miles.
Right now
Aviation weather is not currently a factor.
Aviation weather is not currently a factor.
Route reliability
July 2023 – July 2026
Better than 12% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 4,401 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
DAL → LGA arrives on time 70.6% of the time; the return trip, LGA → DAL, arrives on time 76.3% of the time, a 5.7-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
DAL → LGA spends 21.0 minutes on the ground on a 1,381-mile trip: 13.5 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at DAL and 7.5 minutes from touchdown to gate at LGA.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
On-time performance swings unusually widely by time of day here, wider than 100% of 4,023 comparable routes.
89.7% on time for 5–9 AM departures, against 44.0% for 6–9 PM.
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · Ranked against every other route with the same kind of figure and at least 4,023 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where DAL to LGA differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
DAL to LGA struggles most at 6 PM: 40.0% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 29.7 points behind the 69.7% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 28.6 points.
Thursday is the day DAL to LGA slips furthest against routes of similar length, 65.4% on time where they average 76.7%, 11.3 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 11.4 points.
In June, DAL to LGA runs 16.1 points below routes of similar length, 55.8% on time to 71.9%. Against all other routes the gap is 16.9 points.
Southwest Airlines’ flights on DAL to LGA arrive on time 70.6% of the time, 5.3 points below the 75.9% it manages on its routes of similar length. Against all other routes the gap is 6.8 points.
DAL to LGA against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 6 PM departures | 40.0% | routes of similar length | 69.7% | −29.7 pts | 220 here, 118,506 there |
| Weekday: Thursday | 65.4% | routes of similar length | 76.7% | −11.3 pts | 647 here, 254,357 there |
| Month: June | 55.8% | routes of similar length | 71.9% | −16.1 pts | 342 here, 143,658 there |
| Airline: Southwest Airlines | 70.6% | routes of similar length | 75.9% | −5.3 pts | 4,254 here, 402,655 there |
Each comparison pools the flights of other routes, with this route’s own left out. Similar length means within 15% of this route’s 1,381 miles, with at least 5 such routes. A bucket is set against the most comparable group that has enough flights: similar length, then the same origin (at least 3 routes), then all other routes. Hours, weekdays and months appear only where both sides have 120 completed flights, and airlines where both have 600. The gap must be at least 2 points and 2 standard errors, and only the largest gap each way is kept per measure. These are differences in the flights counted, not causes.
Why DAL → LGA flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
DAL → LGA cancelled 94 of 4,401 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 47. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 61.7% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 76 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 94 cancelled departures carrying a reason code.
What each reason means
Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.
58 cancellations, 61.7% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
28 cancellations, 29.8% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
8 cancellations, 8.5% of the total.
A terminal evacuation, a security breach, screening equipment failure, or screening queues over 29 minutes.
0 cancellations, 0.0% of the total.
Reason codes are the operating airline’s own filing with US DOT, not an independent finding of fault. With only one or two carriers on the route, the split mostly reflects how they file. Ordinary bad weather is filed under air traffic, so weather’s full share is larger than its bar.
94 coded cancellations were recorded on DAL → LGA; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
60 min late
against a median of 0 min early
DAL → LGA has an average that understates its risk: a typical arrival is 0 min early, but the worst tenth are 60 minutes worse than that. If the trip has something unmissable at the end of it, the median is the wrong number to plan against.
Percentiles over 4,401 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at LGA after arriving from DAL.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 50% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 28% | High risk |
| 60 min | 19% | High risk |
| 90 min | 9.7% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 5.9% | Some risk |
This is one leg of a connection. Gate changes and the next flight's own schedule matter too. And a connection can fail before delay is even the question — this route cancels 2.14% of the time and diverts 1.20% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 4,254 arrivals on this route that landed later than the connection time less 30 minutes to reach the next gate.
The worst tenth of arrivals on this route land at least 60 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 4,401 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
DAL → LGA flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 89.7% of the time, against 44.0% for 6–9 PM departures, a gap of 45.7 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 5 AM: too few flights to score
- 6 AM: 90.8% on time from 948 flights
- 7 AM: too few flights to score
- 8 AM: 85.2% on time from 251 flights
- 9 AM: 79.4% on time from 438 flights
- 10 AM: 82.6% on time from 305 flights
- 11 AM: too few flights to score
- 12 PM: 56.3% on time from 339 flights
- 1 PM: 66.7% on time from 630 flights
- 2 PM to 3 PM: too few flights to score
- 4 PM: 38.5% on time from 128 flights
- 5 PM: 56.3% on time from 814 flights
- 6 PM: 40.0% on time from 230 flights
- 7 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why DAL → LGA runs late
July 2023 – July 2026
airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control
crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control
the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late
weather severe enough to stop this flight specifically
screening or terminal security incidents
Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for DAL → LGA. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean
Airlines on this route
Carriers with at least 200 flights, by the airline that operated each one.
| Carrier | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Severe |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 4,401 | 70.6% | 2.14% | 0 min | 10.0% |
Other ways to fly Dallas–Fort Worth to New York
Airport pairs in the same two city markets, as the DOT defines them.
| Route | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DFW→LGA Dallas–Fort Worth to New York | 20,151 | 73.0% | 3.15% | -4 min | 43 |
| DAL→LGA this route Dallas to New York | 4,401 | 70.6% | 2.14% | 0 min | 48 |
DAL → LGA is the most reliable pairing for this journey at 70.6% on time, against 73.0% for DFW → LGA.
Flying to LGA from the Dallas–Fort Worth area? Compare DAL, DFW for LGA, with the same test for what counts as a real difference.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Saturday is historically the most reliable day and Thursday the least, a gap of 12.1 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 82.9%
- Feb: 77.8%
- Mar: 62.1%
- Apr: 67.8%
- May: 60.4%
- Jun: 55.8%
- Jul: 64.0%
- Aug: 79.2%
- Sep: 79.2%
- Oct: 78.3%
- Nov: 75.4%
- Dec: 68.1%
June is historically the weakest month and January the strongest, a spread of 27.1 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: too few flights to score (117)
- August 2023: 83.2% from 120 flights
- September 2023: too few flights to score (111)
- October 2023: too few flights to score (116)
- November 2023: too few flights to score (115)
- December 2023: 79.2% from 121 flights
- January 2024: too few flights to score (117)
- February 2024: too few flights to score (108)
- March 2024: too few flights to score (114)
- April 2024: too few flights to score (105)
- May 2024: too few flights to score (107)
- June 2024: too few flights to score (102)
- July 2024: too few flights to score (105)
- August 2024: too few flights to score (115)
- September 2024: too few flights to score (111)
- October 2024: 84.2% from 120 flights
- November 2024: 80.0% from 120 flights
- December 2024: 66.4% from 132 flights
- January 2025: 87.9% from 121 flights
- February 2025: too few flights to score (104)
- March 2025: too few flights to score (114)
- April 2025: too few flights to score (115)
- May 2025: too few flights to score (119)
- June 2025: too few flights to score (116)
- July 2025: 71.4% from 120 flights
- August 2025: too few flights to score (119)
- September 2025: too few flights to score (116)
- October 2025: 68.1% from 120 flights
- November 2025: 64.4% from 120 flights
- December 2025: 59.5% from 133 flights
- January 2026: too few flights to score (119)
- February 2026: too few flights to score (104)
- March 2026: 40.0% from 139 flights
- April 2026: 57.1% from 141 flights
- May 2026: 51.4% from 145 flights
- June 2026: 45.4% from 138 flights
- July 2026: 43.8% from 142 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 60.6% against 74.1% in the 12 months before — declining by 13.5 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 4,401 DAL → LGA flight records from the US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, covering July 2023 – July 2026. Late means 15 or more minutes past scheduled arrival; cancelled and diverted flights are left out of on-time rates.
Full methodology · Data sources · Report a problem
Related research: How Long a Layover Needs to Be · Two Airlines on One Route · Best Time of Day to Fly From Major US Airports
Analysis last recomputed