Airport month record
MSYMAR
Louis Armstrong New Orleans International in March 2026
- Departures
- 4,485
- Month
- March 2026
- National, same month
- 75.7%
- Carriers
- 11
Historical statistics for March 2026, not live status or a forecast for this year’s March. For today’s conditions at MSY, see live FAA status.
MSY in March sits in the middle of the pack with a B. Close to three flights in four arrive on time by the DOT's definition, level with the national rate of 75.7%. The late ones land a little over an hour behind schedule. That rests on 4,485 flights, of which United Airlines flew 619 at 84.3% on time.
United Airlines is the most reliable of the four carriers covered here at 84.3% on time across 619 flights.
Key figures
On time
75.3%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 4,345 completed departures
Avg delay
75 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
2.79%
Nationally in March: 2.90%
Whole year
78.5%
MSY across all twelve months
These figures cover 4,485 departures from Louis Armstrong New Orleans International in March 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
March next to MSY's other months
Against MSY's own year, March ran 3 points worse than the twelve-month rate of 78.5%, which makes it number nine of twelve months, best first. Cancellations are where March stands out: 2.79% of scheduled departures were called off, 1.9 times the airport's rate across the year. Either side of it, February ran 82.8% on time and April 80.1%, 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 | 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 (this page) | 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 March
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 25 points, against 13 points between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.
- 5am–8am1,023 flights87.1%
- 8am–11am678 flights84.4%
- 11am–2pm704 flights76.8%
- 2pm–5pm921 flights69.1%
- 5pm–8pm834 flights62.0%
- 8pm–5am325 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: 62.0% on time, against 87.1% 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 5am–8am window is the busiest, with 1,023 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Tuesday is the strongest day at 82.4% on time and Sunday the weakest at 66.8%. 16 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at MSY in March
The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. United Airlines arrives on time 84.3% of the time; Southwest Airlines manages 71.6%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 1,644 flights means less than a ten-point one.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 1,644 | 71.6% | 55 min | 1.58% | C |
| American Airlines | 768 | 77.7% | 111 min | 1.69% | B |
| Delta Air Lines | 707 | 81.1% | 69 min | 3.39% | B− |
| United Airlines | 619 | 84.3% | 83 min | 1.62% | B |
| Spirit Airlinesthin sample | 212 | 63.2% | 82 min | 12.74% | D− |
| JetBlue Airwaysthin sample | 134 | 61.1% | 82 min | 1.49% | D |
| Frontier Airlinesthin sample | 101 | 68.0% | 90 min | 3.96% | C− |
| PSA Airlinesthin sample | 92 | 73.8% | 187 min | 10.87% | C− |
| Alaska Airlinesthin sample | 75 | 69.9% | 66 min | 2.67% | C |
| Republic Airwaysthin sample | 57 | 83.3% | 75 min | 5.26% | B− |
| SkyWest Airlinesthin sample | 34 | 73.5% | 71 min | 0.00% | C+ |
Delta Air Lines cancels 3.4% 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 March
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSY to ATL · Atlantathin sample | 346 | 79.4% | 70 min | 3.18% | B− |
| MSY to IAH · Houstonthin sample | 257 | 80.2% | 103 min | 1.95% | B |
| MSY to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample | 249 | 77.2% | 117 min | 2.81% | B |
| MSY to ORD · Chicagothin sample | 248 | 74.4% | 104 min | 7.26% | C− |
| MSY to DEN · Denverthin sample | 229 | 82.0% | 68 min | 0.44% | B+ |
| MSY to DAL · Dallasthin sample | 209 | 71.6% | 54 min | 0.48% | C+ |
| MSY to HOU · Houstonthin sample | 200 | 56.3% | 55 min | 1.50% | D |
| MSY to DCA · Washingtonthin sample | 189 | 63.7% | 119 min | 4.23% | D− |
| MSY to MCO · Orlandothin sample | 188 | 72.3% | 53 min | 5.32% | C− |
| MSY to AUS · Austinthin sample | 169 | 77.2% | 58 min | 1.18% | B |
| MSY to FLL · Fort Lauderdalethin sample | 152 | 57.7% | 79 min | 9.21% | D− |
| MSY to CLT · Charlottethin sample | 151 | 82.1% | 58 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| MSY to EWR · Newarkthin sample | 124 | 85.1% | 45 min | 1.61% | A |
| MSY to MIA · Miamithin sample | 124 | 80.8% | 72 min | 3.23% | B− |
| MSY to LGA · New Yorkthin sample | 123 | 62.3% | 63 min | 6.50% | D− |
| MSY to TPA · Tampathin sample | 122 | 69.5% | 60 min | 3.28% | C− |
| MSY to BNA · Nashvillethin sample | 120 | 74.8% | 46 min | 0.83% | C+ |
| MSY to PHX · Phoenixthin sample | 116 | 79.1% | 121 min | 0.86% | B+ |
| MSY to LAX · Los Angelesthin sample | 115 | 82.3% | 65 min | 0.87% | B+ |
| MSY to PHL · Philadelphiathin sample | 99 | 84.2% | 200 min | 4.04% | B− |
| MSY to BWI · Baltimorethin sample | 97 | 73.4% | 48 min | 2.06% | C |
| MSY to MDW · Chicagothin sample | 94 | 59.1% | 55 min | 5.32% | D− |
| MSY to JFK · New Yorkthin sample | 93 | 78.0% | 68 min | 1.08% | B |
| MSY to DTW · Detroitthin sample | 82 | 75.9% | 70 min | 2.44% | B |
| MSY to BOS · Bostonthin sample | 79 | 73.1% | 63 min | 1.27% | C |
Delay causes
What held MSY up in March
One category carries most of the weight here. Late-arriving aircraft accounts for 44% of the 81,000 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.
- 44%Late-arriving aircraft
- 28%Carrier
- 22%National Airspace System
- 4%Extreme weather
- 2%Security
44% 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 81,000 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 80,703 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations run at 2.79%, against 2.90% nationally. That is roughly one flight in 40 cancelled outright. A cancelled flight is invisible in every on-time figure on this page, so the punctuality numbers above describe only the flights that actually operated.
8.7% of arrivals land an hour or more late, close to the national 9.5%. 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 a little over an hour, which a normal layover absorbs.
What to do with this
Flying from MSY in March
For a March trip through MSY: expect 75.3% on time and 2.79% cancelled, going by March 2026. 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 December78.0%
- MSY in January84.9%
- MSY in February82.8%
- 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.