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Airport · MSY · New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans, LA

According to PlainFlights' airport traffic ranking (BTS On-Time Performance total flights), New Orleans, LA (MSY) ranks #39 of 382 tracked US airports by total flights (most flights = #1). New Orleans, LA posts bottom-quartile on-time performance among the 382 tracked U.S. airports, as a high-volume U.S. airport.

Data updated 2026-06-13

79.9%
On-time
Top 84%
on-time, US airports
71 min
Delay when late
1.51%
Cancelled
#39 of 382
Corpus placement
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MSY on-time rate vs. the national average

Ahead of the U.S. average across all 382 tracked airports.

0%100%U.S. average79%79.9%

Delay Cause Breakdown

Top delay cause: Late Aircraft. Total delay minutes: 3,544,259.

Late Aircraft 47.3% (1,676,223 min)
Carrier 28.7% (1,016,766 min)
NAS (National Aviation System) 19.2% (682,261 min)
Weather 4.6% (162,463 min)
Security 0.2% (6,546 min)

MSY - seasonal on-time pattern

Best: September (92.8%) · worst: July (86.2%)

84%86%88%90%92%94% JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec 89.4%

MSY - on-time rate by year

2020–2025, year-over-year trend.

88%90%92%94%96%98% 202020212022202320242025 95.4% 89% ▼ -6.7%

MSY - taxi-out and taxi-in (monthly)

Average taxi-out 13.1 min · taxi-in 5.4 min over the last 24 reported months (U.S. airport mean taxi-out ≈ 16.4 min).

12 min13 min14 min15 min Jan 24Dec 25 13.5 min 13.1 min ▼ -3.0%

MSY's average taxi-out (13.1 min) stays shorter than the recent U.S. airport mean (~16.4 min). Even the heaviest month (February 2025, 14.0 min) is milder than many hubs' typical book.

Cancellation & Diversion Analysis

Flight disruption statistics for New Orleans, LA.

Cancellation Rate

1.51%

8,156 of 539,385 flights

Diversion Rate

0.11%

616 of 539,385 flights

Delay Rate

20.1%

108,300 of 539,385 flights

Top Routes from MSY

Busiest routes to and from New Orleans, LA.

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Route Flights On-Time Distance
MSY (New Orleans) → ATL (Atlanta) 24,869 85.3% 425 mi
ATL (Atlanta) → MSY (New Orleans) 24,805 81.6% 425 mi
MSY (New Orleans) → IAH (Houston) 18,136 84.4% 305 mi
IAH (Houston) → MSY (New Orleans) 18,111 81.6% 305 mi
DFW (Dallas/Fort Worth) → MSY (New Orleans) 16,235 72.5% 447 mi
MSY (New Orleans) → DFW (Dallas/Fort Worth) 16,228 77.2% 447 mi
DAL (Dallas) → MSY (New Orleans) 12,686 78.2% 436 mi
MSY (New Orleans) → DAL (Dallas) 12,660 78.6% 436 mi
DEN (Denver) → MSY (New Orleans) 12,637 76.7% 1,062 mi
MSY (New Orleans) → DEN (Denver) 12,598 81.8% 1,062 mi
MSY (New Orleans) → MCO (Orlando) 12,421 79% 551 mi
MCO (Orlando) → MSY (New Orleans) 12,383 75.6% 551 mi
HOU (Houston) → MSY (New Orleans) 12,102 83.2% 302 mi
MSY (New Orleans) → HOU (Houston) 12,055 81.5% 302 mi
MSY (New Orleans) → CLT (Charlotte) 10,903 84.1% 651 mi
CLT (Charlotte) → MSY (New Orleans) 10,898 80.1% 651 mi
ORD (Chicago) → MSY (New Orleans) 10,053 80.3% 837 mi
MSY (New Orleans) → ORD (Chicago) 10,042 84.9% 837 mi
AUS (Austin) → MSY (New Orleans) 9,549 78.3% 444 mi
MSY (New Orleans) → AUS (Austin) 9,520 79.7% 444 mi

Nationwide peers by on-time rate & flight volume

Two PlainFlights-derived comparison paths for New Orleans, LA, both outside Louisiana so the neighborhoods are not same-state geography. Axes stay disjoint: volume peers exclude the on-time peer set. Same-state compare stays below.

Similar on-time rate

Nearest out-of-state BTS on-time rate (this airport: 79.9%).

Boston, MA

Boston, MA

79.9% on-time 1,455,478 flights

Christiansted, VI

Christiansted, VI

79.9% on-time 14,135 flights

Asheville, NC

Asheville, NC

80% on-time 114,713 flights

Tampa, FL

Tampa, FL

79.8% on-time 860,941 flights

Similar flight volume

Nearest out-of-state total flights (this airport: 539,385).

San Jose, CA

San Jose, CA

546,547 flights 84.2% on-time

Kansas City, MO

Kansas City, MO

524,365 flights 82% on-time

Indianapolis, IN

Indianapolis, IN

495,575 flights 82.7% on-time

Sacramento, CA

Sacramento, CA

592,833 flights 82.7% on-time

Other Airports in Louisiana

Compare performance with other Louisiana airports.

SHV 83.1%

Shreveport, LA

Shreveport · 55,112 flights
BTR 84.2%

Baton Rouge, LA

Baton Rouge · 53,837 flights
LFT 83.2%

Lafayette, LA

Lafayette · 37,254 flights
AEX 86.2%

Alexandria, LA

Alexandria · 23,340 flights
MLU 87.2%

Monroe, LA

Monroe · 22,635 flights
LCH 86.1%

Lake Charles, LA

Lake Charles · 13,543 flights

MSY delay-share reading

The standout signal at New Orleans, LA is the delay mix: Late Aircraft owns 47.3% of 3,544,259 delay minutes across 539,385 BTS flights. The on-time headline is 79.9% (0.9 pts above the 79% national average), with 108,300 delayed and 8,156 cancelled (1.51%).

Delay minutes concentrate in Late Aircraft (47.3% late-aircraft, 28.7% carrier, 19.2% NAS, 4.6% weather, 0.2% security). As a busy airport, that mix matters more for connection planning than for a thin schedule.

On the multi-year calendar, MSY is strongest in September (92.8% on-time) and weakest in July (86.2%), a 6.6-point swing. Volume peaks in March (~8,660 flights/month). The busiest connecting route is to ATL (Atlanta) at 85.3% on-time. Field definitions: on-time performance explained.

Statewide aggregates for Louisiana: Louisiana flight data.

Data Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), On-Time Performance Data (2020–2025). Statistics reflect cumulative performance across all available reporting periods. On-time rates exclude cancelled and diverted flights.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Using MSY's data

MSY's on-time book sits in the slower half of the BTS set; check the delay mix and the worst month before treating the headline as typical.

  • Check the busiest route from MSY before you book a connection. See top routes
  • Travel in September rather than July if your dates are flexible. Seasonal patterns
  • Gate-to-wheels taxi-out averages 13.1 min here; check the monthly series before a tight connection. Taxi times

On-time rate reflects the BTS historical average across all reporting carriers at this airport, not any single flight or airline.

Data sourced from U.S. Department of Transportation Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) On-Time Performance data. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainFlights

Source: U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) Airline on-time performance and operational reliability · 2025

Every figure on PlainFlights is rendered directly from BTS On-Time Performance data, no number is typed in by an editor. Airport figures are computed directly from BTS On-Time Performance data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.