Houston to New York

What the Data Says About IAH to LGA

The Houston to New York corridor (IAH → LGA) covers roughly 1,416 miles and is served by 40 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 21,489 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 79.3% on-time rate with an average delay of 81.4 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 8,414 flights were recorded on this pairing — 153 cancelled (1.8%) and 80 diverted (1.0%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 40 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 21,489 total flights analyzed, the 79.3% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 81.4-minute average delay applies only to flights that actually ran late, so it is not the average wait across all departures — the majority of flights on this route depart on time under the BTS definition of a delay (15+ minutes past schedule).

Looking at recent months, Sep 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 89% on-time, while Jun 2025 came in at 61% on-time — a 28-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the IAH to LGA route, the combination of a 79.3% on-time rate, 81.4-minute average delay, 1.8% recent cancellation rate, and 40 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.