Airport month record
MSYDEC
Louis Armstrong New Orleans International in December 2025
- Departures
- 4,152
- Month
- December 2025
- National, same month
- 73.2%
- Carriers
- 12
Historical statistics for December 2025, not live status or a forecast for this year’s December. For today’s conditions at MSY, see live FAA status.
MSY in December lands a B, 5 points better than the national rate of 73.2%. Roughly one flight in five arrives 15 minutes late or worse, and those flights are late by a little over an hour on average. That is a workable record, not a spotless one. That rests on 4,152 flights, of which United Airlines flew 535 at 86.3% on time.
United Airlines is the most reliable of the four carriers covered here at 86.3% on time across 535 flights.
Key figures
On time
78.0%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 4,093 completed departures
Avg delay
74 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
1.28%
Nationally in December: 1.55%
Whole year
78.5%
MSY across all twelve months
These figures cover 4,152 departures from Louis Armstrong New Orleans International in December 2025. 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
December next to MSY's other months
Against MSY's own year, December ran level with the twelve-month rate of 78.5%, which makes it number eight of twelve months, best first. Either side of it, November ran 81.1% on time and January 84.9%, so a trip moved by a few weeks would have landed in a better stretch.
| Month | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2025 | 4,039 | 71.9% | 82 min | 1.81% | C |
| August 2025 | 3,739 | 80.2% | 80 min | 1.10% | B |
| September 2025 | 3,619 | 85.9% | 70 min | 0.36% | A+ |
| October 2025 | 4,699 | 78.9% | 56 min | 0.53% | B+ |
| November 2025 | 4,314 | 81.1% | 80 min | 1.27% | B |
| December 2025 (this page) | 4,152 | 78.0% | 74 min | 1.28% | B |
| January 2026 | 3,901 | 84.9% | 72 min | 4.13% | B− |
| February 2026 | 4,111 | 82.8% | 68 min | 1.82% | B |
| March 2026 | 4,485 | 75.3% | 75 min | 2.79% | B |
| April 2026 | 4,428 | 80.1% | 63 min | 0.65% | B+ |
| May 2026 | 4,194 | 73.5% | 69 min | 0.83% | C+ |
| June 2026 | 3,709 | 70.0% | 78 min | 1.11% | C |
Departure window
The best time of day to leave MSY in December
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 24 points, against 12 points between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.
- 5am–8am987 flights88.0%
- 8am–11am624 flights85.6%
- 11am–2pm644 flights79.7%
- 2pm–5pm967 flights73.7%
- 5pm–8pm732 flights65.9%
- 8pm–5am198 flights64.0%
Scale runs 55% to 95%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.
The 8pm–5am window is where this operation falls apart: 64.0% on time, against 88.0% 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 5am–8am window is the busiest, with 987 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Wednesday is the strongest day at 87.8% on time and Sunday the weakest at 61.1%. 27 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at MSY in December
The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. United Airlines arrives on time 86.3% of the time; American Airlines manages 74.7%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 615 flights means less than a ten-point one.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 1,586 | 78.4% | 53 min | 0.44% | B+ |
| Delta Air Lines | 651 | 81.7% | 100 min | 4.15% | B− |
| American Airlines | 615 | 74.7% | 84 min | 0.33% | C+ |
| United Airlines | 535 | 86.3% | 80 min | 0.19% | A+ |
| Spirit Airlinesthin sample | 188 | 82.6% | 65 min | 2.13% | B |
| JetBlue Airwaysthin sample | 145 | 61.0% | 85 min | 2.76% | D |
| Republic Airwaysthin sample | 117 | 73.3% | 85 min | 0.85% | C+ |
| PSA Airlinesthin sample | 116 | 64.9% | 81 min | 4.31% | D− |
| Frontier Airlinesthin sample | 59 | 68.4% | 143 min | 3.39% | C− |
| Alaska Airlinesthin sample | 54 | 66.7% | 48 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| Envoy Airthin sample | 38 | 76.3% | 64 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| SkyWest Airlinesthin sample | 31 | 77.4% | 81 min | 0.00% | B+ |
Delta Air Lines cancels 4.2% of what it schedules here, the highest in the table. A cancelled flight never appears in an on-time rate, so read that column alongside the punctuality one rather than after it.
Route by route
Busiest routes out of MSY in December
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSY to ATL · Atlantathin sample | 354 | 79.9% | 72 min | 2.82% | B |
| MSY to IAH · Houstonthin sample | 224 | 86.2% | 81 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| MSY to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample | 201 | 75.0% | 60 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| MSY to HOU · Houstonthin sample | 192 | 81.6% | 42 min | 1.04% | B |
| MSY to DAL · Dallasthin sample | 191 | 81.1% | 57 min | 0.52% | B+ |
| MSY to DEN · Denverthin sample | 191 | 80.3% | 85 min | 0.52% | B+ |
| MSY to ORD · Chicagothin sample | 185 | 76.2% | 120 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| MSY to MCO · Orlandothin sample | 185 | 78.6% | 64 min | 1.62% | B |
| MSY to DCA · Washingtonthin sample | 176 | 74.1% | 75 min | 1.14% | C |
| MSY to AUS · Austinthin sample | 163 | 73.6% | 51 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| MSY to CLT · Charlottethin sample | 147 | 78.1% | 55 min | 0.68% | B+ |
| MSY to LAX · Los Angelesthin sample | 145 | 78.5% | 92 min | 0.69% | B+ |
| MSY to FLL · Fort Lauderdalethin sample | 142 | 74.8% | 58 min | 2.11% | C |
| MSY to BNA · Nashvillethin sample | 126 | 76.2% | 56 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| MSY to MIA · Miamithin sample | 121 | 72.7% | 89 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| MSY to EWR · Newarkthin sample | 120 | 87.3% | 78 min | 0.83% | A+ |
| MSY to LGA · New Yorkthin sample | 119 | 59.3% | 115 min | 5.04% | D− |
| MSY to TPA · Tampathin sample | 114 | 78.1% | 60 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| MSY to BWI · Baltimorethin sample | 114 | 86.7% | 64 min | 0.88% | A+ |
| MSY to JFK · New Yorkthin sample | 105 | 74.7% | 87 min | 8.57% | C− |
| MSY to PHX · Phoenixthin sample | 89 | 70.8% | 62 min | 0.00% | C+ |
| MSY to PHL · Philadelphiathin sample | 84 | 68.8% | 100 min | 4.76% | C− |
| MSY to MDW · Chicagothin sample | 79 | 75.9% | 57 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| MSY to BOS · Bostonthin sample | 74 | 65.3% | 107 min | 2.70% | C |
| MSY to DTW · Detroitthin sample | 62 | 81.0% | 150 min | 6.45% | B− |
Delay causes
What held MSY up in December
One category carries most of the weight here. Late-arriving aircraft accounts for 51% of the 67,000 delay minutes carriers reported, and the remaining four split what is left. The split is by minutes rather than by flights, so a few very long delays count for as much as many short ones.
- 51%Late-arriving aircraft
- 31%Carrier
- 15%National Airspace System
- 3%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
51% 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 67,000 reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 20 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 66,694 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations sit at 1.28% against a national 1.55%, which is ordinary. Diversions add another 0.14%.
7.2% of arrivals land an hour or more late, close to the national 10.0%. 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 a little over an hour, which a normal layover absorbs.
What to do with this
Flying from MSY in December
For a December trip through MSY: expect 78.0% on time and 1.28% cancelled, going by December 2025. The 5am–8am window was the strongest part of the day.
Related
Where to go next
- Louis Armstrong New Orleans International (MSY), the whole year
- MSY in July71.9%
- MSY in August80.2%
- MSY in September85.9%
- MSY in October78.9%
- MSY in November81.1%
- MSY in January84.9%
- MSY in February82.8%
- MSY in March75.3%
- MSY in April80.1%
- MSY in May73.5%
- MSY in June70.0%
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.