77% of flights leaving New Orleans (MSY) arrived on time over the past 12 months, right at the national average of 76%. That ranks 41 of 76 large U.S. airports. About 134 flights leave MSY on a typical day; 1.5% were cancelled. 76% pushed back from the gate on time, so most of the lateness is already there when the flight leaves the gate.
At a glance
- Best hour to fly: 5 a.m. (91% on time). Worst: 6 p.m. (62%).
- Best month: November (84%). Worst: July (67%).
- Most reliable airline here: United Airlines (83%), vs JetBlue at 65%.
- Biggest delay cause: late-arriving aircraft (46% of delay minutes).
- Year on year: getting worse (78% → 77%).
How late?
The on-time rate treats a flight 20 minutes late the same as one 5 hours late. Here's the split for flights leaving MSY: when a flight was late, it was under 45 minutes late 54% of the time. About 1 in 13 flights landed an hour or more late, and 1 in 67 three hours or more; 1.5% were cancelled outright.
- On time or early77%
- 15–30 min late7.8%
- 30–60 min late6.3%
- 1–2 hours late4.4%
- 2–3 hours late1.6%
- 3+ hours late1.5%
- Diverted0.3%
- Cancelled1.5%
Share of all 49,035 scheduled flights, past 12 months, by arrival time against schedule.
Best time of day to fly out of MSY
Time of day matters more at MSY than almost anything else you control. Flights scheduled to leave at 5 a.m. arrived on time 91% of the time; at 6 p.m. it was 62%, a 29-point gap. Taken together, early departures (5–9 a.m.) ran 89% on time against 64% for the evening bank (5–10 p.m.). Early planes usually start the day at the airport, so they haven't had a chance to pick up delays elsewhere. By evening a late inbound aircraft, a crew running out of duty hours or an afternoon thunderstorm can push one late flight into the next. Cancellations cluster too: 9 p.m. departures were cancelled 2.3% of the time, against 1.5% overall.
Hour × month
Combine the two and the spread is wider still. The most reliable combination at MSY was a 5 a.m. departure in November (95% on time); the least, 6 p.m. in July (44%). If you can only move one thing, move the hour. Departure hour usually shifts the odds more than the month does.
Each cell: on-time rate for that departure hour in that calendar month, 2023–2026. Find your travel month, then look along the row for the greenest hour.
Best and worst months
July is the hardest month at MSY, with 67% of flights on time across 2023–2026; November is the best at 84%. Summer (June–August) runs 12 points worse than autumn: heavy schedules, peak loads and afternoon thunderstorms. Winter costs 4 points against autumn. Cancellations peak in January (5.7% of flights).
Airlines at MSY
Southwest Airlines runs 37% of departures from MSY. Among airlines with at least 1,000 departures here, United Airlines was the most reliable (83% on time) and JetBlue the least (65%), a 18-point difference. On a route where both fly, that difference is worth more than a small fare gap.
| Airline | Departures | On time | Left on time | Cancelled | Typical arrival |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 18,327 | 75% | 71% | 0.6% | −2 min |
| American Airlines | 9,704 | 75% | 74% | 2.4% | −7 min |
| Delta Air Lines | 7,962 | 81% | 81% | 2.1% | −9 min |
| United Airlines | 7,402 | 83% | 86% | 0.9% | −10 min |
| Spirit Airlines | 2,250 | 74% | 74% | 3.1% | −6 min |
| JetBlue | 1,443 | 65% | 67% | 3.0% | 0 min |
| Frontier Airlines | 1,117 | 66% | 66% | 2.4% | −2 min |
| Alaska Airlines | 729 | 74% | 74% | 1.0% | −1 min |
| Allegiant Air | 101 | 76% | 75% | 2.0% | −9 min |
Why flights are late at MSY
Airlines report a cause for every flight that arrives 15 or more minutes late. At MSY, 46% of delay minutes came from late-arriving aircraft: the plane showed up late from its previous flight, so the delay started somewhere else. Next is the airlines themselves at 28%. That's why the first flight of the morning is the safest bet: it has no earlier flight to inherit a delay from. Of the 729 cancellations, 58% were blamed on weather.
The average taxi from gate to takeoff is 14 minutes, shorter than at most large U.S. airports.
Month by month
Over the latest 12 months 77% of MSY departures were on time, against 78% in the 12 months before, a decline of 1 points. The best recent month was September 2025 (85%); the worst, July 2026 (67%).
Worst cancellation days
The worst single day in the past year was Sunday, Jan 25, 2026, when 40% of 142 scheduled departures were cancelled. Days like that are usually a major storm, a system outage or a holiday peak hitting bad weather. No average predicts them, so on a stormy forecast, check your airline's travel waivers.
| Date | Departures | Cancelled | On time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 25, 2026 | 142 | 40% | 34% |
| Jan 26, 2026 | 132 | 23% | 49% |
| Mar 16, 2026 | 149 | 20% | 32% |
| Jan 24, 2026 | 107 | 17% | 70% |
| Mar 15, 2026 | 163 | 16% | 55% |
| Jan 27, 2026 | 116 | 15% | 61% |
| Feb 23, 2026 | 154 | 14% | 73% |
| Feb 22, 2026 | 172 | 11% | 63% |
| Mar 17, 2026 | 134 | 10% | 55% |
| Jul 21, 2026 | 119 | 9% | 65% |
Last flights of the day
The last flight of the day is a different bet. Across routes from MSY, each airline's final departure was cancelled 1.8% of the time, against 1.3% for its earlier flights (1.3× as often). Late in the day crews run short on duty hours, aircraft arrive late from elsewhere, and with no later flight to fold passengers into, cancelling is easier for the airline. 1.8% of last flights landed 3+ hours late. The riskiest last flight out was JetBlue to Fort Lauderdale (3.7% cancelled).
| Last flight to | Airline | Leaves | Cancelled | 3h+ late | On time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FLL Fort Lauderdale | JetBlue | 3:52 p.m. | 3.7% | 4.1% | 46% |
| ORD Chicago | American Airlines | 5:27 p.m. | 3.9% | 3.9% | 63% |
| PHL Philadelphia | American Airlines | 4:33 p.m. | 3.3% | 4.1% | 70% |
| JFK New York | Delta Air Lines | 7:48 p.m. | 5.6% | 1.1% | 72% |
| DCA Washington | American Airlines | 5:24 p.m. | 5.0% | 1.7% | 57% |
| DFW Dallas | American Airlines | 7:56 p.m. | 3.6% | 2.5% | 58% |
| CLT Charlotte | American Airlines | 6:17 p.m. | 2.2% | 3.6% | 70% |
| LGA New York | Delta Air Lines | 6:59 p.m. | 4.7% | 0.9% | 63% |
| ORD Chicago | United Airlines | 5:35 p.m. | 3.0% | 2.5% | 74% |
| FLL Fort Lauderdale | Spirit Airlines | — | 3.8% | 1.4% | 63% |
| EWR Newark | United Airlines | 7:39 p.m. | 3.7% | 1.4% | 78% |
| DCA Washington | Southwest Airlines | 5:25 p.m. | 0.9% | 4.1% | 47% |
Each airline's last scheduled departure of the day on a route, on days it flies the route at least twice; past 12 months. Riskiest first.
Tips for flying out of MSY
- Book the earliest departure you can live with. At MSY the 5 a.m. flights do best.
- Traveling in July? Leave extra slack for anything that can't move: cruises, weddings, the last connection of the day.
- Choosing between airlines? United Airlines has the better record here.
- Need to arrive tonight? Don't book the last flight out of MSY; the one before it leaves you a backup.
- Delayed already? Most delays at MSY come from late-arriving aircraft. If your inbound plane is late, your flight will be too, whatever the board says.
Routes from MSY
Where you're going matters too. From MSY, the most reliable busy route was to Newark (EWR, 84% on time) and the least reliable to New York (LGA, 67%). Flights into congested airports inherit their delays: an air traffic program at the destination holds planes on the ground here.
Least reliable first. Routes with at least 365 flights a year.
| To | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Typical arrival |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BOS Boston | 861 | 61% | 2.1% | +3 min |
| LGA New York | 1,391 | 67% | 3.8% | −2 min |
| DCA Washington | 1,949 | 68% | 3.0% | −2 min |
| FLL Fort Lauderdale | 1,406 | 71% | 2.4% | −1 min |
| SEA Seattle | 619 | 72% | 0.8% | 0 min |
| DFW Dallas | 2,816 | 72% | 2.8% | −5 min |
| MDW Chicago | 1,014 | 72% | 1.1% | 0 min |
| JFK New York | 1,142 | 73% | 5.6% | −8 min |
| SFO San Francisco | 515 | 75% | 0.4% | −8 min |
| ORD Chicago | 2,424 | 75% | 2.6% | −5 min |
| HOU Houston | 2,276 | 75% | 0.7% | −4 min |
| BNA Nashville | 1,499 | 76% | 0.5% | 0 min |
| TPA Tampa | 1,051 | 76% | 1.1% | −6 min |
| DAL Dallas | 2,279 | 76% | 1.1% | −5 min |
| MCO Orlando | 2,225 | 76% | 1.3% | −5 min |
| AUS Austin | 1,976 | 76% | 0.4% | −5 min |
| PHL Philadelphia | 1,133 | 77% | 3.4% | −11 min |
| BWI Baltimore | 1,135 | 78% | 1.0% | −3 min |
| LAX Los Angeles | 1,428 | 78% | 0.5% | −7 min |
| PHX Phoenix | 933 | 78% | 0.4% | −4 min |
| LAS Las Vegas | 859 | 78% | 0.1% | −3 min |
| DEN Denver | 2,279 | 79% | 0.4% | −6 min |
| MIA Miami | 1,478 | 79% | 1.3% | −8 min |
| MSP Minneapolis | 440 | 80% | 2.3% | −8 min |
| CLT Charlotte | 1,686 | 81% | 1.3% | −9 min |
| ATL Atlanta | 4,004 | 81% | 1.5% | −8 min |
| DTW Detroit | 785 | 81% | 1.8% | −5 min |
| STL St. Louis | 733 | 82% | 0.3% | −7 min |
| IAH Houston | 3,042 | 83% | 0.4% | −11 min |
| EWR Newark | 1,218 | 84% | 2.4% | −13 min |
| SLC Salt Lake City | 455 | 90% | 0.2% | −11 min |
| IAD Washington | 669 | 91% | 0.4% | −12 min |
Flights into MSY
Arriving rather than leaving? These are the routes into New Orleans, least reliable first. The weakest is from Fort Lauderdale (61% on time).
| From | Flights | On time | Cancelled |
|---|---|---|---|
| FLL Fort Lauderdale | 1,403 | 61% | 2.1% |
| LGA New York | 1,391 | 67% | 4.2% |
| DFW Dallas | 2,815 | 67% | 2.6% |
| DCA Washington | 1,948 | 70% | 3.3% |
| PHX Phoenix | 931 | 70% | 0.5% |
| LAS Las Vegas | 849 | 72% | 0.5% |
| ORD Chicago | 2,426 | 73% | 2.4% |
| MIA Miami | 1,480 | 73% | 1.1% |
| MDW Chicago | 1,012 | 73% | 1.4% |
| MCO Orlando | 2,254 | 73% | 1.1% |
| PHL Philadelphia | 1,135 | 74% | 3.0% |
| DAL Dallas | 2,281 | 75% | 1.1% |
| BOS Boston | 863 | 75% | 1.8% |
| JFK New York | 1,142 | 75% | 5.3% |
| BWI Baltimore | 1,134 | 75% | 1.1% |
| AUS Austin | 1,934 | 76% | 0.4% |
| DEN Denver | 2,279 | 77% | 0.6% |
| BNA Nashville | 1,506 | 77% | 0.7% |
| CLT Charlotte | 1,686 | 77% | 1.3% |
| LAX Los Angeles | 1,431 | 77% | 0.6% |
| EWR Newark | 1,218 | 78% | 2.2% |
| TPA Tampa | 1,051 | 78% | 0.9% |
| ATL Atlanta | 4,002 | 80% | 1.5% |
| SEA Seattle | 619 | 81% | 0.3% |
| SFO San Francisco | 515 | 82% | 0.2% |
Showing the 25 least reliable of 32 routes into MSY.
Questions about MSY delays
What is the best time to fly out of MSY?
Flights scheduled at 5 a.m.: over the past year 91% of MSY departures at that hour arrived on time, against 62% at 6 p.m., the worst hour.
What month has the most flight delays at MSY?
July (67% on time). November is the best month (84%).
Which airline is most on time at MSY?
United Airlines: 83% of its MSY departures arrived on time over the past year. JetBlue had the weakest record at 65%.
Why are flights delayed at MSY?
The biggest cause was late-arriving aircraft (46% of delay minutes): the plane showed up late from its previous flight, so the delay started somewhere else. Then the airlines themselves (28%).
How often are flights cancelled at MSY?
1.5% of scheduled departures over the past 12 months, peaking in January at 5.7%.
Hours are scheduled local departure times. "On time" means arriving less than 15 minutes late at the destination; cancelled and diverted flights count as not on time. Method.