Route profile
LGA→MSY
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from New York to New Orleans, 1,183 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 11% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 4,465 flights. How this is calculated
LGA → MSY arrives on time 73.4% of the time; the return trip, MSY → LGA, arrives on time 75.7% of the time, a 2.3-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
LGA → MSY spends 31.5 minutes on the ground on a 1,183-mile trip: 25.2 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at LGA and 6.3 minutes from touchdown to gate at MSY.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
This route's worst arrivals run unusually far past its typical one, a bigger gap than 94% of 4,598 comparable routes.
A typical arrival is 7 min early, but the worst tenth run 75 minutes worse than that.
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 4,598 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where LGA to MSY differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
LGA to MSY struggles most at 8 PM: 53.5% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 11.8 points behind the 65.3% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 13.9 points.
LGA to MSY is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 7 PM: 76.5% arrive on time, 10.9 points ahead of the 65.6% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 8.7 points.
Monday is the day LGA to MSY slips furthest against routes of similar length, 68.8% on time where they average 76.1%, 7.3 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 8.5 points.
In July, LGA to MSY runs 8.1 points below routes of similar length, 60.4% on time to 68.5%. Against all other routes the gap is 9.3 points.
Southwest Airlines’ flights on LGA to MSY arrive on time 67.8% of the time, 7.9 points below the 75.7% it manages on its routes of similar length. Against all other routes the gap is 9.6 points.
LGA to MSY against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 8 PM departures | 53.5% | routes of similar length | 65.3% | −11.8 pts | 282 here, 98,536 there |
| Hour: 7 PM departures | 76.5% | routes of similar length | 65.6% | +10.9 pts | 179 here, 130,660 there |
| Weekday: Monday | 68.8% | routes of similar length | 76.1% | −7.3 pts | 637 here, 315,780 there |
| Month: July | 60.4% | routes of similar length | 68.5% | −8.1 pts | 419 here, 229,598 there |
| Airline: Southwest Airlines | 67.8% | routes of similar length | 75.7% | −7.9 pts | 1,025 here, 462,399 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 1,183 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 LGA → MSY flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
LGA → MSY cancelled 107 of 4,465 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 42. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 50.5% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 83 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 107 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.
54 cancellations, 50.5% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
35 cancellations, 32.7% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
18 cancellations, 16.8% 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. Ordinary bad weather is filed under air traffic, so weather’s full share is larger than its bar.
107 coded cancellations were recorded on LGA → MSY; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
68 min late
against a median of 7 min early
LGA → MSY has an average that understates its risk: a typical arrival is 7 min early, but the worst tenth are 75 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 4,465 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at MSY after arriving from LGA.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 39% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 26% | High risk |
| 60 min | 18% | High risk |
| 90 min | 11% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 7.2% | 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 2.40% of the time and diverts 0.27% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 4,346 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 68 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 4,465 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
LGA → MSY flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 88.8% of the time, against 64.2% for 3–6 PM departures, a gap of 24.6 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 6 AM: too few flights to score
- 7 AM: 88.1% on time from 510 flights
- 8 AM to 9 AM: too few flights to score
- 10 AM: 82.1% on time from 269 flights
- 11 AM: 77.3% on time from 503 flights
- 12 PM: too few flights to score
- 1 PM: 74.5% on time from 152 flights
- 2 PM: 74.0% on time from 726 flights
- 3 PM: 67.1% on time from 444 flights
- 4 PM: 63.2% on time from 708 flights
- 5 PM: 61.3% on time from 168 flights
- 6 PM: 73.7% on time from 202 flights
- 7 PM: 76.5% on time from 179 flights
- 8 PM: 53.5% on time from 297 flights
- 9 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Departure windows with fewer than 120 flights are not scored.
Why LGA → MSY runs late
July 2023 – July 2026
the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late
crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control
airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control
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 LGA → MSY. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on LGA → MSY, at 41.4%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 88.8% of the time and 3–6 PM departures 64.2%.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delta Air Lines | 2,234 | 77.1% | 2.55% | -9 min | 9.8% |
| Southwest Airlines | 1,053 | 67.8% | 2.47% | -1 min | 12.8% |
| American Airlines | 600 | 71.2% | 2.50% | -4 min | 12.7% |
| JetBlue | 492 | 69.3% | 1.63% | -11 min | 14.5% |
Delta Air Lines flew 51.0% of the 4,379 flights listed.
Delta Air Lines arrived on time 9.3 percentage points more often than Southwest Airlines on this route.
Flights on this route
Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.
| Flight | Scheduled | Operations | On time |
|---|---|---|---|
| DL2411 Delta Air Lines | 7:25 AM | 754 | 87.5% |
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Saturday is historically the most reliable day and Monday the least, a gap of 12.0 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 72.8%
- Feb: 78.0%
- Mar: 77.0%
- Apr: 77.1%
- May: 69.3%
- Jun: 67.7%
- Jul: 60.4%
- Aug: 73.4%
- Sep: 75.7%
- Oct: 76.1%
- Nov: 83.3%
- Dec: 70.7%
July is historically the weakest month and November the strongest, a spread of 22.9 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 47.7% from 124 flights
- August 2023: 66.9% from 124 flights
- September 2023: 65.6% from 130 flights
- October 2023: 76.2% from 147 flights
- November 2023: 91.4% from 141 flights
- December 2023: 81.4% from 141 flights
- January 2024: 70.1% from 144 flights
- February 2024: 80.1% from 141 flights
- March 2024: 77.4% from 146 flights
- April 2024: too few flights to score (119)
- May 2024: 75.6% from 124 flights
- June 2024: too few flights to score (98)
- July 2024: too few flights to score (89)
- August 2024: too few flights to score (88)
- September 2024: too few flights to score (86)
- October 2024: too few flights to score (90)
- November 2024: too few flights to score (109)
- December 2024: too few flights to score (117)
- January 2025: too few flights to score (116)
- February 2025: 70.6% from 136 flights
- March 2025: 80.8% from 156 flights
- April 2025: 79.8% from 120 flights
- May 2025: 68.3% from 123 flights
- June 2025: too few flights to score (117)
- July 2025: too few flights to score (119)
- August 2025: too few flights to score (119)
- September 2025: too few flights to score (116)
- October 2025: 71.6% from 120 flights
- November 2025: too few flights to score (114)
- December 2025: too few flights to score (119)
- January 2026: too few flights to score (115)
- February 2026: too few flights to score (117)
- March 2026: 71.3% from 123 flights
- April 2026: 70.1% from 120 flights
- May 2026: 63.9% from 124 flights
- June 2026: too few flights to score (115)
- July 2026: too few flights to score (118)
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 71.9% against 73.5% in the 12 months before — declining by 1.6 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 4,465 LGA → MSY 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