Best time to fly out of New Orleans (MSY)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Louis Armstrong New Orleans: departures in the Before 6am band left on time 93.2% of the time, against 64.5% 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.
| Departure time | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before 6am | 92 | 92 | 94 | 94 | 94 | 94 | 92 |
| 6–8am | 90 | 92 | 93 | 92 | 92 | 91 | 90 |
| 8–10am | 86 | 90 | 89 | 88 | 88 | 88 | 87 |
| 10am–12pm | 81 | 87 | 85 | 81 | 80 | 82 | 78 |
| 12–2pm | 74 | 82 | 78 | 74 | 73 | 77 | 72 |
| 2–4pm | 68 | 78 | 76 | 69 | 68 | 73 | 66 |
| 4–6pm | 67 | 76 | 75 | 68 | 66 | 71 | 62 |
| 6–8pm | 66 | 75 | 73 | 64 | 66 | 70 | 58 |
| 8–10pm | 68 | 75 | 72 | 63 | 64 | 68 | 55 |
| 10pm–12am | 68 | – | – | 68 | 67 | 70 | 57 |
The steadiest stretch at MSY was Before 6am — 93.2% of departures left on time across 8,205 flights. The weakest was 10pm–12am at 64.5%. 6–8am departures from MSY left on time 91.5% of the time across 24,126 flights; 6–8pm departures, 66.5% across 19,574. That is a gap of 25 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
The year at MSY
July was the hard month at MSY: 68.2% of departures left on time, across 12,283 flights. September was the easy one at 83.7%. Each month pools three years of that month, so a single bad week does not decide it.
| Month | Share departures that left on time | Flights |
|---|---|---|
| January | 79.8% | 12,173 |
| February | 81.3% | 12,592 |
| March | 75.9% | 13,824 |
| April | 80.2% | 13,277 |
| May | 71.9% | 13,195 |
| June | 71% | 11,976 |
| July | 68.2% | 12,283 |
| August | 79% | 11,421 |
| September | 83.7% | 10,894 |
| October | 82.9% | 13,528 |
| November | 83.3% | 12,721 |
| December | 78.8% | 12,636 |
Airlines at MSY
Every airline with at least 100 departures from MSY, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 75% | 53 min | 1% | 56,277 |
| Delta Air Lines | 82.3% | 79 min | 1.5% | 22,265 |
| American Airlines | 76.7% | 105 min | 2% | 21,225 |
| United Airlines | 85.8% | 87 min | 1.5% | 19,840 |
| Spirit Airlines | 77.4% | 73 min | 2.1% | 13,304 |
| JetBlue Airways | 69.1% | 95 min | 2% | 3,981 |
| Envoy Air | 80.2% | 64 min | 2% | 3,292 |
| Frontier Airlines | 70.5% | 87 min | 2.9% | 2,386 |
| PSA Airlines | 74.4% | 104 min | 4.9% | 2,304 |
| Alaska Airlines | 76.5% | 56 min | 1% | 2,254 |
| Republic Airways | 83.1% | 83 min | 2.5% | 1,829 |
| SkyWest Airlines | 80.3% | 84 min | 1.4% | 1,277 |
| Allegiant Air | 72.9% | 95 min | 1.4% | 281 |
Spirit Airlines (through May 2026) stopped filing before June 2026. Its row covers a shorter run of months than the rest of the table, so its figure is not set against the others anywhere on this page.
What delays out of MSY were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 31,159 flights that departed MSY and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 46.7% put down to late-arriving aircraft and 28.5% to airline operations.
- Late-arriving aircraft 46.7%
- Airline operations 28.5%
- Air traffic & airport volume 19.6%
- Severe weather 4.9%
- 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 MSY
Of 150,520 scheduled arrivals into MSY, 76.1% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 33,514 arrivals that ran late, 55.7% 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 MSY
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.
- ATL 82.3% on time · 13,173 flights
- IAH 83.2% on time · 8,827 flights
- DFW 72.3% on time · 8,814 flights
- MCO 77.7% on time · 7,223 flights
- DAL 77.5% on time · 6,930 flights
- DEN 79.8% on time · 6,909 flights
- HOU 78.9% on time · 6,835 flights
- ORD 81.1% on time · 5,928 flights
- AUS 77% on time · 5,811 flights
- DCA 74.1% on time · 5,620 flights
MSY in one number
Louis Armstrong New Orleans (MSY)
Rank 38 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: Before 6am. Hardest month: July.
Questions about MSY
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Louis Armstrong New Orleans?
- Before 6am. Departures in that band left on time 93.2% of the time across 8,205 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 10pm–12am band was the weakest at 64.5%.
- Is the early flight out of MSY really more reliable?
- 6–8am departures from MSY left on time 91.5% of the time across 24,126 flights; 6–8pm departures, 66.5% across 19,574. That is a gap of 25 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
- What is the worst month to fly out of MSY?
- July: 68.2% of the departures that flew left on time, with 12,283 scheduled. September was the other end of the year at 83.7%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- Which airline is most on time at MSY?
- United Airlines — 85.8% of its 19,840 departures from MSY left on time. JetBlue Airways sat at the other end at 69.1% over 3,981 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 MSY?
- 1.5% 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.