Route profile
HOU→LGA
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Houston to New York, 1,428 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 18% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 3,902 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
HOU → LGA arrives on time 73.4% of the time; the return trip, LGA → HOU, arrives on time 75.0% of the time.
HOU → LGA spends 20.5 minutes on the ground on a 1,428-mile trip: 13.0 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at HOU and 7.6 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.
90.8% on time for 5–9 AM departures, against 42.9% for 3–6 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 HOU to LGA differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
HOU to LGA struggles most at 5 PM: 48.1% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 21.2 points behind the 69.3% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 21.7 points.
HOU to LGA is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 9 AM: 89.4% arrive on time, 6.2 points ahead of the 83.2% those routes manage at that hour.
Thursday is the day HOU to LGA slips furthest against routes of similar length, 68.8% on time where they average 76.7%, 7.9 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 8 points.
In March, HOU to LGA runs 14.8 points below routes of similar length, 63.3% on time to 78.1%. Against all other routes the gap is 14.6 points.
January is kinder to HOU to LGA than to routes of similar length: 85.0% on time against 79.1%, 5.9 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 5.9 points.
HOU to LGA against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 5 PM departures | 48.1% | routes of similar length | 69.3% | −21.2 pts | 241 here, 101,215 there |
| Hour: 9 AM departures | 89.4% | routes of similar length | 83.2% | +6.2 pts | 188 here, 93,847 there |
| Weekday: Thursday | 68.8% | routes of similar length | 76.7% | −7.9 pts | 580 here, 235,831 there |
| Month: March | 63.3% | routes of similar length | 78.1% | −14.8 pts | 308 here, 134,697 there |
| Month: January | 85.0% | routes of similar length | 79.1% | +5.9 pts | 306 here, 117,281 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 1,428 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 HOU → LGA flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
HOU → LGA cancelled 80 of 3,902 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 49. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 52.5% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 93 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 80 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.
42 cancellations, 52.5% 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, 35.0% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
10 cancellations, 12.5% 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.
80 coded cancellations were recorded on HOU → LGA; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
57 min late
against a median of 2 min early
Percentiles over 3,902 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at LGA after arriving from HOU.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 45% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 26% | High risk |
| 60 min | 17% | High risk |
| 90 min | 9.4% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 5.6% | 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 2.05% of the time and diverts 1.05% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 3,781 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 57 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 3,902 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
HOU → LGA flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 90.8% of the time, against 42.9% for 3–6 PM departures, a gap of 47.9 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 4 AM: too few flights to score
- 5 AM: 94.4% on time from 271 flights
- 6 AM: 92.7% on time from 299 flights
- 7 AM: 89.6% on time from 263 flights
- 8 AM: 87.5% on time from 366 flights
- 9 AM: 89.4% on time from 192 flights
- 10 AM: too few flights to score
- 11 AM: 67.3% on time from 517 flights
- 12 PM: 73.2% on time from 468 flights
- 1 PM: 70.6% on time from 135 flights
- 2 PM to 4 PM: too few flights to score
- 5 PM: 48.1% on time from 251 flights
- 6 PM: 64.2% on time from 647 flights
- 7 PM: 69.2% on time from 214 flights
- 8 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why HOU → 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 HOU → 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 | 3,902 | 73.4% | 2.05% | -2 min | 9.5% |
Other ways to fly Houston to New York
Airport pairs in the same two city markets, as the DOT defines them.
| Route | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IAH→LGA Houston to New York | 12,397 | 75.4% | 2.25% | -6 min | 50 |
| HOU→LGA this route Houston to New York | 3,902 | 73.4% | 2.05% | -2 min | 52 |
Flying to LGA from the Houston area? Compare HOU, IAH 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 Sunday the least, a gap of 11.4 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 85.0%
- Feb: 81.9%
- Mar: 63.3%
- Apr: 71.0%
- May: 63.7%
- Jun: 60.9%
- Jul: 68.6%
- Aug: 79.5%
- Sep: 83.6%
- Oct: 74.4%
- Nov: 80.1%
- Dec: 73.1%
June is historically the weakest month and January the strongest, a spread of 24.1 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: too few flights to score (88)
- August 2023: too few flights to score (89)
- September 2023: too few flights to score (84)
- October 2023: too few flights to score (89)
- November 2023: too few flights to score (86)
- December 2023: too few flights to score (90)
- January 2024: too few flights to score (89)
- February 2024: too few flights to score (83)
- March 2024: too few flights to score (88)
- April 2024: too few flights to score (86)
- May 2024: too few flights to score (89)
- June 2024: too few flights to score (108)
- July 2024: too few flights to score (116)
- August 2024: too few flights to score (111)
- September 2024: too few flights to score (107)
- October 2024: too few flights to score (112)
- November 2024: too few flights to score (112)
- December 2024: too few flights to score (119)
- January 2025: too few flights to score (118)
- 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 (112)
- July 2025: too few flights to score (116)
- August 2025: too few flights to score (110)
- September 2025: too few flights to score (108)
- October 2025: too few flights to score (112)
- November 2025: too few flights to score (111)
- December 2025: 65.5% from 120 flights
- January 2026: too few flights to score (116)
- February 2026: too few flights to score (104)
- March 2026: too few flights to score (116)
- April 2026: too few flights to score (115)
- May 2026: too few flights to score (119)
- June 2026: too few flights to score (112)
- July 2026: too few flights to score (115)
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 63.8% against 79.2% in the 12 months before — declining by 15.4 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 3,902 HOU → 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