Best time to fly out of LaGuardia (LGA)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at LaGuardia: departures in the Before 6am band left on time 93.5% of the time, against 60.7% in the 10pm–12am band. These are historical odds, not forecasts. The records say what happened on this schedule over three years; they know nothing about tomorrow’s thunderstorm.
Data through June 2026 · Bureau of Transportation Statistics
On-time rate by hour and day
On this page, “on time” means a departure that pushed back less than 15 minutes behind its scheduled time — the Bureau of Transportation Statistics definition, and the one airlines are held to.
| Departure time | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before 6am | 95 | 93 | 94 | 94 | 95 | 92 | 91 |
| 6–8am | 92 | 93 | 94 | 93 | 92 | 92 | 92 |
| 8–10am | 88 | 89 | 90 | 89 | 86 | 88 | 89 |
| 10am–12pm | 84 | 85 | 88 | 85 | 83 | 85 | 84 |
| 12–2pm | 80 | 83 | 85 | 82 | 78 | 81 | 81 |
| 2–4pm | 73 | 78 | 80 | 74 | 73 | 78 | 74 |
| 4–6pm | 71 | 74 | 76 | 70 | 69 | 76 | 69 |
| 6–8pm | 70 | 75 | 73 | 68 | 69 | 74 | 66 |
| 8–10pm | 71 | 75 | 73 | 66 | 69 | 69 | 64 |
| 10pm–12am | 57 | 68 | 62 | 59 | 62 | 63 | 54 |
The steadiest stretch at LGA was Before 6am — 93.5% of departures left on time across 1,498 flights. The weakest was 10pm–12am at 60.7%. 6–8am departures from LGA left on time 92.6% of the time across 62,157 flights; 6–8pm departures, 70.4% across 52,786. That is a gap of 22.2 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
The year at LGA
July was the hard month at LGA: 72% of departures left on time, across 39,416 flights. October was the easy one at 85%. Each month pools three years of that month, so a single bad week does not decide it.
| Month | Share departures that left on time | Flights |
|---|---|---|
| January | 80.9% | 34,704 |
| February | 82.6% | 33,005 |
| March | 77.7% | 36,247 |
| April | 82.4% | 36,297 |
| May | 78.1% | 36,811 |
| June | 75.5% | 35,696 |
| July | 72% | 39,416 |
| August | 79.4% | 39,792 |
| September | 84.2% | 38,309 |
| October | 85% | 40,017 |
| November | 84.1% | 38,206 |
| December | 76.9% | 36,798 |
Airlines at LGA
Every airline with at least 100 departures from LGA, busiest first. These are that airline’s departures from this airport only — its record across the country sits on its own page.
| Airline | Left on time | Typical delay | Cancelled | Departures |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republic Airways | 83.6% | 69 min | 3.9% | 142,903 |
| Delta Air Lines | 78.9% | 82 min | 2.3% | 83,974 |
| American Airlines | 78.2% | 94 min | 2.8% | 50,947 |
| Endeavor Air | 83.4% | 70 min | 3.6% | 49,270 |
| Southwest Airlines | 71.5% | 61 min | 2.5% | 35,397 |
| United Airlines | 83.7% | 95 min | 2.2% | 25,506 |
| JetBlue Airways | 73.5% | 83 min | 2.6% | 23,933 |
| Spirit Airlines | 78.9% | 83 min | 3.4% | 19,151 |
| SkyWest Airlines | 79.5% | 115 min | 3.2% | 7,292 |
| Frontier Airlines | 62.5% | 99 min | 4.6% | 6,925 |
What delays out of LGA were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 92,472 flights that departed LGA and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 40.7% put down to late-arriving aircraft and 28.4% to airline operations.
- Late-arriving aircraft 40.7%
- Airline operations 28.4%
- Air traffic & airport volume 26.3%
- Severe weather 4.4%
- Security 0.2%
Late-arriving aircraft is the knock-on category: the plane came in late, so it went out late again. It is why a 7am problem in Newark is still a problem in Denver at dinnertime, and why it is usually the biggest slice on the bar.
If you are connecting through LGA
Of 445,308 scheduled arrivals into LGA, 75.2% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 94,817 arrivals that ran late, 48.2% were no more than 45 minutes behind — which is the difference between a tight connection and a new boarding pass.
Work out a specific layover — pick the airport and the minutes you have, and the tool reads the same arrival records back as a share.
Busiest routes out of LGA
Ranked by flights, with the share that arrived on time at the far end. Where a route carries enough flights for a page of its own the chip goes there; otherwise it goes to the destination airport.
- ORD 75.2% on time · 32,930 flights
- ATL 78.6% on time · 23,926 flights
- BOS 79% on time · 22,279 flights
- DFW 74.8% on time · 19,597 flights
- MIA 74.3% on time · 17,489 flights
- MCO 73.2% on time · 15,629 flights
- CLT 80.5% on time · 15,533 flights
- DEN 76.7% on time · 14,214 flights
- DCA 77.1% on time · 13,820 flights
- FLL 72.7% on time · 13,726 flights
LGA in one number
LaGuardia (LGA)
Rank 11 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: Before 6am. Hardest month: July.
Questions about LGA
- What is the best time of day to fly out of LaGuardia?
- Before 6am. Departures in that band left on time 93.5% of the time across 1,498 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 10pm–12am band was the weakest at 60.7%.
- Is the early flight out of LGA really more reliable?
- 6–8am departures from LGA left on time 92.6% of the time across 62,157 flights; 6–8pm departures, 70.4% across 52,786. That is a gap of 22.2 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
- What is the worst month to fly out of LGA?
- July: 72% of the departures that flew left on time, with 39,416 scheduled. October was the other end of the year at 85%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- Which airline is most on time at LGA?
- United Airlines — 83.7% of its 25,506 departures from LGA left on time. Frontier Airlines sat at the other end at 62.5% over 6,925 flights. Only airlines with at least 100 departures here are ranked.
- How often are flights cancelled at LGA?
- 3.1% of scheduled departures were cancelled over July 2023 through June 2026. Cancellations are counted against everything scheduled, not against everything that flew — a rate that looks small still adds up to real people in a rebooking line.