Route profile
IAD→LGA
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Washington to New York, 229 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 13% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 2,792 flights. How this is calculated
IAD → LGA arrives on time 75.9% of the time; the return trip, LGA → IAD, arrives on time 80.1% of the time, a 4.3-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
IAD → LGA spends 36.7 minutes on the ground on a 229-mile trip: 28.5 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at IAD and 8.1 minutes from touchdown to gate at LGA.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
Which day you fly matters unusually much here, a wider weekday spread than 95% of 4,467 comparable routes.
86.0% on time on a typical Saturday, against 70.6% on a Friday.
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 4,467 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where IAD to LGA differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
IAD to LGA is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 10 PM: 79.4% arrive on time, 8.3 points ahead of the 71.1% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 7.8 points.
IAD to LGA struggles most at 12 PM: 72.7% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 6.9 points behind the 79.6% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 6.7 points.
Wednesday is the day IAD to LGA slips furthest against routes of similar length, 74.1% on time where they average 81.2%, 7.1 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 6.7 points.
In November, IAD to LGA runs 14.3 points below routes of similar length, 68.0% on time to 82.3%. Against all other routes the gap is 15.4 points.
January is kinder to IAD to LGA than to routes of similar length: 84.8% on time against 79.5%, 5.3 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 5.7 points.
IAD to LGA against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 10 PM departures | 79.4% | routes of similar length | 71.1% | +8.3 pts | 685 here, 21,606 there |
| Hour: 12 PM departures | 72.7% | routes of similar length | 79.6% | −6.9 pts | 851 here, 38,157 there |
| Weekday: Wednesday | 74.1% | routes of similar length | 81.2% | −7.1 pts | 371 here, 94,647 there |
| Month: November | 68.0% | routes of similar length | 82.3% | −14.3 pts | 194 here, 53,850 there |
| Month: January | 84.8% | routes of similar length | 79.5% | +5.3 pts | 289 here, 49,620 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 229 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 IAD → LGA flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
IAD → LGA cancelled 126 of 2,792 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 22. The reason filed most often was the air traffic system, 51.6% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 43 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 126 cancelled departures carrying a reason code.
What each reason means
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
65 cancellations, 51.6% of the total.
Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.
57 cancellations, 45.2% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
4 cancellations, 3.2% 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.
126 coded cancellations were recorded on IAD → LGA; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
49 min late
against a median of 8 min early
Percentiles over 2,792 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at LGA after arriving from IAD.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 38% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 24% | High risk |
| 60 min | 16% | High risk |
| 90 min | 7.9% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 4.4% | Low 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 4.51% of the time and diverts 0.11% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 2,663 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 49 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 2,792 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
IAD → LGA flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 84.3% of the time, against 68.7% for 3–6 PM departures, a gap of 15.6 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 7 AM: too few flights to score
- 8 AM: 84.3% on time from 477 flights
- 9 AM to 11 AM: too few flights to score
- 12 PM: 72.7% on time from 879 flights
- 1 PM to 4 PM: too few flights to score
- 5 PM: 68.5% on time from 639 flights
- 6 PM to 9 PM: too few flights to score
- 10 PM: 79.4% on time from 723 flights
- 11 PM: too few flights to score
Departure windows with fewer than 120 flights are not scored.
Why IAD → LGA runs late
July 2023 – July 2026
airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control
the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late
crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control
weather severe enough to stop this flight specifically
Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for IAD → LGA. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republic Airways | 2,783 | 76.0% | 4.53% | -8 min | 8.0% |
Other ways to fly Washington to New York
Airport pairs in the same two city markets, as the DOT defines them.
| Route | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DCA→LGA Washington to New York | 14,236 | 74.0% | 4.52% | -6 min | 40 |
| IAD→LGA this route Washington to New York | 2,792 | 75.9% | 4.51% | -8 min | 49 |
IAD → LGA is the most reliable pairing for this journey at 75.9% on time, against 74.0% for DCA → LGA.
Flying to LGA from the Washington area? Compare IAD, DCA, BWI 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 Friday the least, a gap of 15.4 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 84.8%
- Feb: 80.0%
- Mar: 74.2%
- Apr: 83.7%
- May: 76.9%
- Jun: 64.4%
- Jul: 65.6%
- Aug: 74.2%
- Sep: 83.3%
- Oct: 80.5%
- Nov: 68.0%
- Dec: 73.9%
June is historically the weakest month and January the strongest, a spread of 20.4 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: too few flights to score (5)
- August 2023: too few flights to score (31)
- September 2023: too few flights to score (4)
- October 2023: no flights recorded
- November 2023: no flights recorded
- December 2023: too few flights to score (29)
- January 2024: 85.1% from 184 flights
- February 2024: too few flights to score (101)
- March 2024: too few flights to score (119)
- April 2024: 83.1% from 120 flights
- May 2024: 80.0% from 121 flights
- June 2024: too few flights to score (116)
- July 2024: 66.4% from 124 flights
- August 2024: 66.4% from 124 flights
- September 2024: too few flights to score (105)
- October 2024: 82.9% from 123 flights
- November 2024: too few flights to score (119)
- December 2024: 73.0% from 123 flights
- January 2025: too few flights to score (43)
- February 2025: too few flights to score (29)
- March 2025: too few flights to score (21)
- April 2025: too few flights to score (8)
- May 2025: too few flights to score (42)
- June 2025: too few flights to score (59)
- July 2025: too few flights to score (43)
- August 2025: too few flights to score (107)
- September 2025: too few flights to score (111)
- October 2025: too few flights to score (99)
- November 2025: too few flights to score (88)
- December 2025: too few flights to score (107)
- January 2026: too few flights to score (80)
- February 2026: too few flights to score (73)
- March 2026: too few flights to score (95)
- April 2026: too few flights to score (21)
- May 2026: too few flights to score (96)
- June 2026: too few flights to score (60)
- July 2026: too few flights to score (62)
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 73.7% against 73.0% in the 12 months before — broadly unchanged.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 2,792 IAD → 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