New Orleans to Houston

What the Data Says About MSY to IAH

The New Orleans to Houston corridor (MSY → IAH) covers roughly 305 miles and is served by 29 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 18,136 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 84.4% on-time rate with an average delay of 79.6 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 5,986 flights were recorded on this pairing — 133 cancelled (2.2%) and 7 diverted (0.1%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 29 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 18,136 total flights analyzed, the 84.4% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 79.6-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, Feb 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 95% on-time, while Jul 2024 came in at 66% on-time — a 29-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the MSY to IAH route, the combination of a 84.4% on-time rate, 79.6-minute average delay, 2.2% recent cancellation rate, and 29 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.