Best time to fly out of LaGuardia (LGA)

The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at LaGuardia: departures in the Before 6am band left on time 93.5% of the time, against 60.7% in the 10pm–12am band. These are historical odds, not forecasts. The records say what happened on this schedule over three years; they know nothing about tomorrow’s thunderstorm.

Data through June 2026 · Bureau of Transportation Statistics

On-time rate by hour and day

On this page, “on time” means a departure that pushed back less than 15 minutes behind its scheduled time — the Bureau of Transportation Statistics definition, and the one airlines are held to.

Share of departures that left on time, by hour band and day of week.
Departure time MonTueWedThuFriSatSun
Before 6am 95 93 94 94 95 92 91
6–8am 92 93 94 93 92 92 92
8–10am 88 89 90 89 86 88 89
10am–12pm 84 85 88 85 83 85 84
12–2pm 80 83 85 82 78 81 81
2–4pm 73 78 80 74 73 78 74
4–6pm 71 74 76 70 69 76 69
6–8pm 70 75 73 68 69 74 66
8–10pm 71 75 73 66 69 69 64
10pm–12am 57 68 62 59 62 63 54
fewer left on time more left on time

The steadiest stretch at LGA was Before 6am — 93.5% of departures left on time across 1,498 flights. The weakest was 10pm–12am at 60.7%. 6–8am departures from LGA left on time 92.6% of the time across 62,157 flights; 6–8pm departures, 70.4% across 52,786. That is a gap of 22.2 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.

The year at LGA

July was the hard month at LGA: 72% of departures left on time, across 39,416 flights. October was the easy one at 85%. Each month pools three years of that month, so a single bad week does not decide it.

Share of departures that left on time, by calendar month. Best month in green, worst in amber. The hairline sits at the overall rate, 80%.
Departure on-time share at LGA by calendar month
Month Share departures that left on time Flights
January 80.9% 34,704
February 82.6% 33,005
March 77.7% 36,247
April 82.4% 36,297
May 78.1% 36,811
June 75.5% 35,696
July 72% 39,416
August 79.4% 39,792
September 84.2% 38,309
October 85% 40,017
November 84.1% 38,206
December 76.9% 36,798

Airlines at LGA

Every airline with at least 100 departures from LGA, busiest first. These are that airline’s departures from this airport only — its record across the country sits on its own page.

Airline Left on time Typical delay Cancelled Departures
Republic Airways 83.6% 69 min 3.9% 142,903
Delta Air Lines 78.9% 82 min 2.3% 83,974
American Airlines 78.2% 94 min 2.8% 50,947
Endeavor Air 83.4% 70 min 3.6% 49,270
Southwest Airlines 71.5% 61 min 2.5% 35,397
United Airlines 83.7% 95 min 2.2% 25,506
JetBlue Airways 73.5% 83 min 2.6% 23,933
Spirit Airlines 78.9% 83 min 3.4% 19,151
SkyWest Airlines 79.5% 115 min 3.2% 7,292
Frontier Airlines 62.5% 99 min 4.6% 6,925

Spirit Airlines (through May 2026) and Endeavor Air (through December 2024) stopped filing before June 2026. Their rows cover a shorter run of months than the rest of the table, so their figures are not set against the others anywhere on this page.

What delays out of LGA were put down to

Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 92,472 flights that departed LGA and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 40.7% put down to late-arriving aircraft and 28.4% to airline operations.

Late-arriving aircraft 40.7% Airline operations 28.4% Air traffic & airport volume 26.3% Severe weather 4.4% Security 0.2%
  • Late-arriving aircraft 40.7%
  • Airline operations 28.4%
  • Air traffic & airport volume 26.3%
  • Severe weather 4.4%
  • Security 0.2%

Late-arriving aircraft is the knock-on category: the plane came in late, so it went out late again. It is why a 7am problem in Newark is still a problem in Denver at dinnertime, and why it is usually the biggest slice on the bar.

If you are connecting through LGA

Of 445,308 scheduled arrivals into LGA, 75.2% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 94,817 arrivals that ran late, 48.2% were no more than 45 minutes behind — which is the difference between a tight connection and a new boarding pass.

Work out a specific layover — pick the airport and the minutes you have, and the tool reads the same arrival records back as a share.

Busiest routes out of LGA

Ranked by flights, with the share that arrived on time at the far end. Where a route carries enough flights for a page of its own the chip goes there; otherwise it goes to the destination airport.

LGA in one number

LaGuardia (LGA)

Rank 11 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: Before 6am. Hardest month: July.

July 2023–June 2026 · 431,323 departures flown

80% of departures left on time

Questions about LGA

What is the best time of day to fly out of LaGuardia?
Before 6am. Departures in that band left on time 93.5% of the time across 1,498 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 10pm–12am band was the weakest at 60.7%.
Is the early flight out of LGA really more reliable?
6–8am departures from LGA left on time 92.6% of the time across 62,157 flights; 6–8pm departures, 70.4% across 52,786. That is a gap of 22.2 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
What is the worst month to fly out of LGA?
July: 72% of the departures that flew left on time, with 39,416 scheduled. October was the other end of the year at 85%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
Which airline is most on time at LGA?
United Airlines — 83.7% of its 25,506 departures from LGA left on time. Frontier Airlines sat at the other end at 62.5% over 6,925 flights. Only airlines with at least 100 departures here are ranked. Airlines that stopped filing before June 2026 are left out of the ranking — their figures cover a shorter run of months than the rest of the table.
How often are flights cancelled at LGA?
3.1% of scheduled departures were cancelled over July 2023 through June 2026. Cancellations are counted against everything scheduled, not against everything that flew — a rate that looks small still adds up to real people in a rebooking line.