Route profile
MSY→DAL
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from New Orleans to Dallas, 436 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 47% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 7,099 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
MSY → DAL arrives on time 77.4% of the time; the return trip, DAL → MSY, arrives on time 77.1% of the time.
MSY → DAL spends 16.3 minutes on the ground on a 436-mile trip: 10.9 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at MSY and 5.3 minutes from touchdown to gate at DAL.
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 97% of 4,023 comparable routes.
92.6% on time for 5–9 AM departures, against 57.6% for 9 PM–5 AM.
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 MSY to DAL differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
MSY to DAL struggles most at 9 PM: 55.8% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 14 points behind the 69.8% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 13.7 points.
MSY to DAL is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 8 AM: 92.8% arrive on time, 5.8 points ahead of the 87.0% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 6.9 points.
Sunday is the day MSY to DAL slips furthest against routes of similar length, 70.1% on time where they average 75.1%, 5 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 4.7 points.
In May, MSY to DAL runs 7.7 points below routes of similar length, 68.5% on time to 76.2%. Against all other routes the gap is 6.8 points.
August is kinder to MSY to DAL than to routes of similar length: 82.3% on time against 78.2%, 4.1 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 5.8 points.
MSY to DAL against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 9 PM departures | 55.8% | routes of similar length | 69.8% | −14.0 pts | 360 here, 62,315 there |
| Hour: 8 AM departures | 92.8% | routes of similar length | 87.0% | +5.8 pts | 417 here, 107,719 there |
| Weekday: Sunday | 70.1% | routes of similar length | 75.1% | −5.0 pts | 1,133 here, 235,196 there |
| Month: May | 68.5% | routes of similar length | 76.2% | −7.7 pts | 581 here, 135,646 there |
| Month: August | 82.3% | routes of similar length | 78.2% | +4.1 pts | 547 here, 135,148 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 436 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 MSY → DAL flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
MSY → DAL cancelled 98 of 7,099 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 72. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 83.7% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 87 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 98 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.
82 cancellations, 83.7% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
12 cancellations, 12.2% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
4 cancellations, 4.1% 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.
98 coded cancellations were recorded on MSY → DAL; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
44 min late
against a median of 4 min early
Percentiles over 7,099 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at DAL after arriving from MSY.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 40% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 22% | High risk |
| 60 min | 14% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 6.8% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 4.3% | 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 1.38% of the time and diverts 0.34% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 6,977 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 44 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 7,099 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
MSY → DAL flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 92.6% of the time, against 57.6% for 9 PM–5 AM departures, a gap of 35.0 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 4 AM: too few flights to score
- 5 AM: 92.1% on time from 603 flights
- 6 AM: 94.0% on time from 515 flights
- 7 AM: 91.5% on time from 441 flights
- 8 AM: 92.8% on time from 418 flights
- 9 AM: 88.2% on time from 400 flights
- 10 AM: 83.7% on time from 369 flights
- 11 AM: 84.3% on time from 502 flights
- 12 PM: 78.4% on time from 290 flights
- 1 PM: 78.2% on time from 412 flights
- 2 PM: 73.1% on time from 407 flights
- 3 PM: 63.7% on time from 292 flights
- 4 PM: 63.0% on time from 414 flights
- 5 PM: 73.8% on time from 327 flights
- 6 PM: 62.4% on time from 481 flights
- 7 PM: 62.5% on time from 451 flights
- 8 PM: 61.2% on time from 394 flights
- 9 PM: 55.8% on time from 363 flights
- 10 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why MSY → DAL runs late
July 2023 – July 2026
the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late
airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control
crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s 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 MSY → DAL. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on MSY → DAL, at 56.5%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 92.6% of the time and 9 PM–5 AM departures 57.6%.
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 | 7,099 | 77.4% | 1.38% | -4 min | 6.9% |
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 14.9 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 78.4%
- Feb: 84.2%
- Mar: 74.4%
- Apr: 75.2%
- May: 68.5%
- Jun: 67.9%
- Jul: 70.2%
- Aug: 82.3%
- Sep: 82.6%
- Oct: 83.1%
- Nov: 81.1%
- Dec: 81.6%
June is historically the weakest month and February the strongest, a spread of 16.3 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 68.8% from 191 flights
- August 2023: 84.7% from 197 flights
- September 2023: 79.1% from 197 flights
- October 2023: 85.9% from 214 flights
- November 2023: 85.6% from 202 flights
- December 2023: 86.3% from 212 flights
- January 2024: 70.3% from 197 flights
- February 2024: 80.3% from 183 flights
- March 2024: 75.6% from 210 flights
- April 2024: 72.0% from 195 flights
- May 2024: 58.7% from 195 flights
- June 2024: 74.7% from 183 flights
- July 2024: 68.0% from 182 flights
- August 2024: 82.1% from 174 flights
- September 2024: 80.0% from 168 flights
- October 2024: 84.4% from 200 flights
- November 2024: 80.1% from 189 flights
- December 2024: 76.6% from 187 flights
- January 2025: 80.1% from 193 flights
- February 2025: 87.5% from 200 flights
- March 2025: 75.8% from 210 flights
- April 2025: 77.9% from 197 flights
- May 2025: 77.6% from 201 flights
- June 2025: 70.6% from 167 flights
- July 2025: 71.5% from 168 flights
- August 2025: 79.8% from 180 flights
- September 2025: 88.8% from 179 flights
- October 2025: 79.2% from 224 flights
- November 2025: 77.6% from 201 flights
- December 2025: 81.1% from 191 flights
- January 2026: 85.4% from 189 flights
- February 2026: 84.5% from 188 flights
- March 2026: 71.6% from 209 flights
- April 2026: 75.6% from 194 flights
- May 2026: 68.9% from 201 flights
- June 2026: 57.2% from 162 flights
- July 2026: 73.1% from 169 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 77.0% against 78.8% in the 12 months before — declining by 1.8 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 7,099 MSY → DAL 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