Airport month record
MSYFEB
Louis Armstrong New Orleans International in February 2026
- Departures
- 4,111
- Month
- February 2026
- National, same month
- 80.2%
- Carriers
- 12
Historical statistics for February 2026, not live status or a forecast for this year’s February. For today’s conditions at MSY, see live FAA status.
MSY in February lands a B, 3 points better than the national rate of 80.2%. About one flight in six arrives 15 minutes late or worse, and those flights are late by about an hour on average. That is a workable record, not a spotless one. That rests on 4,111 flights, of which United Airlines flew 560 at 90.6% on time.
United Airlines is the most reliable of the four carriers covered here at 90.6% on time across 560 flights.
Key figures
On time
82.8%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 4,034 completed departures
Avg delay
68 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
1.82%
Nationally in February: 2.25%
Whole year
78.5%
MSY across all twelve months
These figures cover 4,111 departures from Louis Armstrong New Orleans International in February 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
February next to MSY's other months
Against MSY's own year, February ran 4 points better than the twelve-month rate of 78.5%, which makes it number three of twelve months, best first. Either side of it, January ran 84.9% on time and March 75.3%, so a trip moved by a few weeks would have landed in a worse 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 | 4,152 | 78.0% | 74 min | 1.28% | B |
| January 2026 | 3,901 | 84.9% | 72 min | 4.13% | B− |
| February 2026 (this page) | 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 February
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 19 points, against 8 points between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.
- 5am–8am833 flights92.4%
- 8am–11am762 flights86.4%
- 11am–2pm676 flights87.0%
- 2pm–5pm897 flights76.8%
- 5pm–8pm701 flights73.6%
- 8pm–5am242 flights75.4%
Scale runs 65% to 100%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.
Book the early departure. Flights leaving between 5am–8am arrive on time 92.4% of the time, against 73.6% for the evening window. That is 19 points of difference for no extra money, and it comes from the same aircraft having had no earlier flight to fall behind on. The 2pm–5pm window is the busiest, with 897 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Tuesday is the strongest day at 87.4% on time and Sunday the weakest at 75.8%. 12 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at MSY in February
The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. United Airlines arrives on time 90.6% of the time; American Airlines manages 82.3%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 626 flights means less than a ten-point one.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 1,478 | 83.2% | 47 min | 0.81% | B+ |
| American Airlines | 626 | 82.3% | 74 min | 1.60% | B |
| Delta Air Lines | 606 | 86.4% | 79 min | 2.64% | A |
| United Airlines | 560 | 90.6% | 63 min | 1.07% | A |
| Spirit Airlinesthin sample | 241 | 75.1% | 77 min | 3.32% | B− |
| Frontier Airlinesthin sample | 218 | 73.6% | 54 min | 0.92% | C+ |
| JetBlue Airwaysthin sample | 120 | 66.1% | 145 min | 9.17% | C− |
| PSA Airlinesthin sample | 67 | 72.1% | 127 min | 8.96% | C− |
| Alaska Airlinesthin sample | 53 | 82.7% | 32 min | 1.89% | B |
| Envoy Airthin sample | 49 | 83.7% | 76 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| Republic Airwaysthin sample | 38 | 82.9% | 34 min | 7.89% | B− |
| SkyWest Airlinesthin sample | 38 | 71.1% | 137 min | 0.00% | C+ |
United leads American by 8 points. Real, but small enough that a better departure time on the weaker carrier can outweigh it.
Route by route
Busiest routes out of MSY in February
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSY to ATL · Atlantathin sample | 316 | 83.7% | 54 min | 1.27% | B |
| MSY to IAH · Houstonthin sample | 228 | 89.5% | 61 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| MSY to ORD · Chicagothin sample | 220 | 81.7% | 70 min | 0.45% | B+ |
| MSY to MCO · Orlandothin sample | 216 | 81.6% | 59 min | 1.85% | B |
| MSY to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample | 211 | 83.7% | 85 min | 0.95% | B+ |
| MSY to DEN · Denverthin sample | 207 | 85.0% | 57 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| MSY to DAL · Dallasthin sample | 188 | 84.5% | 53 min | 0.53% | B+ |
| MSY to HOU · Houstonthin sample | 185 | 84.2% | 45 min | 0.54% | B+ |
| MSY to DCA · Washingtonthin sample | 165 | 71.7% | 75 min | 3.64% | C− |
| MSY to AUS · Austinthin sample | 158 | 80.4% | 80 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| MSY to CLT · Charlottethin sample | 138 | 82.1% | 71 min | 2.90% | B |
| MSY to FLL · Fort Lauderdalethin sample | 136 | 75.2% | 77 min | 2.21% | B |
| MSY to MIA · Miamithin sample | 128 | 78.7% | 51 min | 0.78% | B+ |
| MSY to LGA · New Yorkthin sample | 117 | 75.5% | 107 min | 5.98% | B− |
| MSY to LAX · Los Angelesthin sample | 109 | 81.5% | 66 min | 0.92% | B+ |
| MSY to BNA · Nashvillethin sample | 109 | 87.2% | 43 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| MSY to EWR · Newarkthin sample | 107 | 94.9% | 83 min | 8.41% | A− |
| MSY to TPA · Tampathin sample | 103 | 80.2% | 40 min | 1.94% | B |
| MSY to JFK · New Yorkthin sample | 99 | 78.7% | 168 min | 10.10% | B− |
| MSY to PHL · Philadelphiathin sample | 95 | 86.4% | 55 min | 7.37% | A− |
| MSY to PHX · Phoenixthin sample | 88 | 87.5% | 67 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| MSY to DTW · Detroitthin sample | 86 | 84.9% | 71 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| MSY to BWI · Baltimorethin sample | 79 | 83.8% | 36 min | 5.06% | B− |
| MSY to STL · St. Louisthin sample | 70 | 81.4% | 46 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| MSY to BOS · Bostonthin sample | 70 | 63.5% | 114 min | 10.00% | D− |
Delay causes
What held MSY up in February
One category carries most of the weight here. Late-arriving aircraft accounts for 50% of the 47,000 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.
- 50%Late-arriving aircraft
- 31%Carrier
- 15%National Airspace System
- 4%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
50% 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 47,000 reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 12 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 47,095 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations sit at 1.82% against a national 2.25%, which is ordinary. Diversions add another 0.05%.
5.0% of arrivals land an hour or more late, close to the national 6.5%. 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 MSY in February
For a February trip through MSY: this is one of the better months to be flying from here, 82.8% on time with 1.82% cancelled. That is a base rate for the month as a whole; a single storm can still spoil a particular 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 December78.0%
- MSY in January84.9%
- 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.