New York to Columbia

What the Data Says About LGA to CAE

The New York to Columbia corridor (LGA → CAE) covers roughly 617 miles and is served by 6 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 2,056 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 80.7% on-time rate with an average delay of 66.8 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 1,488 flights were recorded on this pairing — 39 cancelled (2.6%) and 1 diverted (0.1%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 6 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 2,056 total flights analyzed, the 80.7% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 66.8-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, Oct 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 94% on-time, while May 2025 came in at 65% on-time — a 29-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the LGA to CAE route, the combination of a 80.7% on-time rate, 66.8-minute average delay, 2.6% recent cancellation rate, and 6 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.