Airport month record
LGAMAY
LaGuardia in May 2026
- Departures
- 11,375
- Month
- May 2026
- National, same month
- 78.6%
- Carriers
- 7
Historical statistics for May 2026, not live status or a forecast for this year’s May. For today’s conditions at LGA, see live FAA status.
LGA in May sits in the middle of the pack with a B. Close to three flights in four arrive on time by the DOT's definition, 3 points worse than the national rate of 78.6%. The late ones land about an hour behind schedule. That rests on 11,375 flights, of which Republic Airways flew 4,926 at 79.4% on time.
Republic Airways is the most reliable of the six carriers covered here at 79.4% on time across 4,926 flights.
Key figures
On time
75.4%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 11,129 completed departures
Avg delay
68 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
1.83%
Nationally in May: 0.92%
Whole year
73.4%
LGA across all twelve months
These figures cover 11,375 departures from LaGuardia in May 2026. On time means an arrival less than 15 minutes after the scheduled gate time, the DOT's threshold, and the national comparison uses every US departure in the same month rather than the whole year.
Against the year
May next to LGA's other months
Against LGA's own year, May ran 2 points better than the twelve-month rate of 73.4%, which makes it number six of twelve months, best first. Cancellations were unusually low for LGA in May, at 1.83% against 4.56% across the year. Either side of it, April ran 76.5% on time and June 75.3%, so this month sits in line with its neighbours.
| Month | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2025 | 11,696 | 68.0% | 106 min | 8.76% | C− |
| August 2025 | 11,582 | 81.0% | 81 min | 1.79% | B |
| September 2025 | 11,388 | 82.4% | 77 min | 0.89% | B+ |
| October 2025 | 12,002 | 66.8% | 68 min | 2.58% | C |
| November 2025 | 11,577 | 67.9% | 78 min | 3.63% | C− |
| December 2025 | 11,361 | 62.2% | 74 min | 4.81% | D− |
| January 2026 | 11,099 | 78.9% | 66 min | 7.77% | B− |
| February 2026 | 10,307 | 78.5% | 66 min | 8.22% | B− |
| March 2026 | 11,660 | 67.9% | 77 min | 9.73% | C− |
| April 2026 | 11,443 | 76.5% | 69 min | 0.95% | B+ |
| May 2026 (this page) | 11,375 | 75.4% | 68 min | 1.83% | B |
| June 2026 | 10,877 | 75.3% | 81 min | 4.16% | B− |
Departure window
The best time of day to leave LGA in May
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 24 points, against 15 points between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.
- 5am–8am1,632 flights88.1%
- 8am–11am2,157 flights82.2%
- 11am–2pm1,883 flights79.5%
- 2pm–5pm2,373 flights71.3%
- 5pm–8pm2,063 flights64.1%
- 8pm–5am1,267 flights67.2%
Scale runs 55% to 95%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.
The 5pm–8pm window is where this operation falls apart: 64.1% on time, against 88.1% for the 5am–8am slot. By evening the aircraft flying these rotations have absorbed a full day of small delays and there is no slack left to recover in. The 2pm–5pm window is the busiest, with 2,373 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Tuesday is the strongest day at 85.1% on time and Thursday the weakest at 64.3%. 21 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at LGA in May
The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. Republic Airways arrives on time 79.4% of the time; Southwest Airlines manages 64.5%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 993 flights means less than a ten-point one.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republic Airways | 4,926 | 79.4% | 61 min | 1.68% | B |
| Delta Air Lines | 2,492 | 75.5% | 68 min | 1.73% | B |
| American Airlines | 1,531 | 72.9% | 84 min | 1.96% | C |
| Southwest Airlines | 993 | 64.5% | 57 min | 2.82% | D |
| United Airlines | 840 | 73.5% | 81 min | 1.43% | C |
| JetBlue Airways | 374 | 74.3% | 64 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| Frontier Airlinesthin sample | 205 | 60.6% | 85 min | 5.85% | D− |
The spread between Republic and Southwest is 15 points, wide enough that it should decide the booking. On a hundred trips that is 15 more arrivals inside the on-time window.
Route by route
Busiest routes out of LGA in May
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LGA to ORD · Chicago | 997 | 74.0% | 86 min | 1.71% | C |
| LGA to ATL · Atlanta | 677 | 72.5% | 69 min | 1.48% | C |
| LGA to BOS · Boston | 667 | 77.4% | 70 min | 1.65% | B |
| LGA to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worth | 549 | 68.5% | 83 min | 3.64% | C− |
| LGA to MIA · Miami | 457 | 75.1% | 79 min | 1.75% | B |
| LGA to DCA · Washington | 424 | 68.1% | 63 min | 1.89% | C |
| LGA to DEN · Denver | 397 | 73.8% | 65 min | 1.76% | C |
| LGA to MCO · Orlando | 371 | 74.2% | 60 min | 1.89% | C |
| LGA to FLL · Fort Lauderdalethin sample | 359 | 70.9% | 67 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| LGA to IAH · Houstonthin sample | 347 | 69.6% | 66 min | 1.44% | C |
| LGA to CLT · Charlottethin sample | 327 | 78.4% | 85 min | 2.14% | B |
| LGA to PBI · West Palm Beachthin sample | 285 | 76.1% | 76 min | 1.75% | B |
| LGA to BNA · Nashvillethin sample | 283 | 69.0% | 55 min | 1.77% | C |
| LGA to DTW · Detroitthin sample | 270 | 85.6% | 77 min | 1.85% | A |
| LGA to PIT · Pittsburghthin sample | 259 | 84.7% | 55 min | 1.54% | B |
| LGA to CMH · Columbusthin sample | 251 | 82.9% | 69 min | 1.99% | B |
| LGA to STL · St. Louisthin sample | 233 | 75.9% | 61 min | 1.72% | B |
| LGA to IND · Indianapolisthin sample | 220 | 84.6% | 68 min | 2.73% | B |
| LGA to RIC · Richmondthin sample | 210 | 84.9% | 71 min | 2.38% | B |
| LGA to RDU · Raleighthin sample | 207 | 82.4% | 53 min | 1.45% | B |
| LGA to TPA · Tampathin sample | 204 | 72.1% | 79 min | 2.94% | C |
| LGA to MDW · Chicagothin sample | 202 | 66.8% | 55 min | 4.46% | C− |
| LGA to CLE · Clevelandthin sample | 184 | 80.7% | 49 min | 3.80% | B− |
| LGA to MSP · Minneapolisthin sample | 177 | 80.8% | 57 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| LGA to MCI · Kansas Citythin sample | 168 | 73.5% | 74 min | 2.38% | C |
Delay causes
What held LGA up in May
Carriers report a reason for every delay minute they cause, in five DOT categories. The split below is by minutes, not by number of flights, so a handful of very long weather delays weighs as much as many short ones. It covers 186,000 reported delay minutes.
- 41%Late-arriving aircraft
- 28%National Airspace System
- 27%Carrier
- 4%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
41% of delay minutes trace back to a late-arriving aircraft, meaning the plane was already behind before it got here. That is a cascade, and cascades start small and grow through the day. Across 186,000 reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 11 to one. It is the strongest argument for booking the first departure of the morning, when the aircraft has been sitting at the gate overnight with nothing to inherit. The split is drawn from 185,661 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations sit at 1.83% against a national 0.92%, which is ordinary. Diversions add another 0.33%.
8.9% of arrivals land an hour or more late, close to the national 7.1%. That is the figure that decides a connection, and it says a 60 to 75 minute layover is reasonable here while anything under 45 minutes is a bet. Most delays on this route last about an hour, which a normal layover absorbs.
What to do with this
Flying from LGA in May
For a May trip through LGA: expect 75.4% on time and 1.83% cancelled, going by May 2026. The 5am–8am window was the strongest part of the day.
Related
Where to go next
- LaGuardia (LGA), the whole year
- LGA in July68.0%
- LGA in August81.0%
- LGA in September82.4%
- LGA in October66.8%
- LGA in November67.9%
- LGA in December62.2%
- LGA in January78.9%
- LGA in February78.5%
- LGA in March67.9%
- LGA in April76.5%
- LGA in June75.3%
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, on-time performance data, July 2025 to June 2026. Last updated 15 September 2026; recomputed monthly. How this data is collected.