ON TIMEBOARD

ATL → LGA on time

Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson (Atlanta, GA) to LaGuardia (New York, NY). Every scheduled flight, September 2025 to August 2026.

On time
69%
arrived < 15 min late
Cancelled
4.3%
8,502 flights
Typical arrival
−3 min
median vs schedule
When late
+79 min
average delay
Flights / day
23
5 airlines

69% of flights from Atlanta to New York arrived on time over the past 12 months. That is worse than the typical U.S. route. The 6 a.m. departures ran on time 88% of the time; the 8 p.m. ones 45%. Most reliable airline: Delta Air Lines (73%). 16% of flights arrived more than an hour late or not at all.

How late?

The on-time rate treats a flight 20 minutes late the same as one 5 hours late. Here's the split for ATL → LGA: when a flight was late, it was under 45 minutes late 47% of the time. About 1 in 9 flights landed an hour or more late, and 1 in 44 three hours or more; 4.3% were cancelled outright.

Share of all 8,502 scheduled flights, past 12 months, by arrival time against schedule.

By airline

AirlineFlightsOn timeCancelledTypical arrival1h+ lateAvg when lateOperated by
Delta Air Lines4,93773%3.5%−4 min8.3%+66 minDelta Air Lines
American Airlines1,91171%5.9%−6 min10.8%+87 minRepublic Airways 100%, American Airlines 0%
Frontier Airlines95043%6.8%+19 min25.8%+107 minFrontier Airlines
Southwest Airlines70069%2.9%0 min9.4%+65 minSouthwest Airlines
Spirit Airlines4—————Spirit Airlines

Airline = the name on the ticket. Regional flights (e.g. "Delta Connection") count under the ticketing airline, and the operator is listed.

Best time of day to fly

On-time rate by scheduled departure hour (local time at ATL). Delays build through the day as late planes knock on, so early flights usually do best.

30%65%100%6 a.m. departures: 88% on time (674 flights)886a7 a.m. departures: 87% on time (372 flights)877a8 a.m. departures: 83% on time (438 flights)838a9 a.m. departures: 81% on time (696 flights)819a10 a.m. departures: 83% on time (395 flights)8310a11 a.m. departures: 77% on time (640 flights)7711anoon departures: 71% on time (532 flights)7112p1 p.m. departures: 73% on time (426 flights)731p2 p.m. departures: 62% on time (739 flights)622p3 p.m. departures: 59% on time (636 flights)593p4 p.m. departures: 66% on time (330 flights)664p5 p.m. departures: 55% on time (344 flights)555p6 p.m. departures: 51% on time (438 flights)516p7 p.m. departures: 58% on time (811 flights)587p8 p.m. departures: 45% on time (580 flights)458p9 p.m. departures: 62% on time (451 flights)629p
ATL → LGA, share of flights arriving on time, by departure hour. Hours with under 100 flights are greyed out.
82%+ on time76–82%68–76%under 68%too few flights

By airline and hour

DepartsDelta Air LinesAmerican AirlinesFrontier AirlinesSouthwest Airlines
6 a.m.88%87%—89%
7 a.m.88%———
8 a.m.84%———
9 a.m.82%84%——
10 a.m.84%———
11 a.m.79%78%——
noon72%69%——
1 p.m.73%———
2 p.m.68%64%——
3 p.m.65%64%38%64%
4 p.m.71%63%——
5 p.m.60%———
6 p.m.59%—31%—
7 p.m.62%55%—55%
8 p.m.59%—29%—
9 p.m.66%———

Last flight of the day

On ATL → LGA, each airline's last flight of the day was cancelled 6.3% of the time, against 4.0% for its earlier flights (1.6× as often). It arrived 3+ hours late 4.6% of the time (earlier flights: 1.9%). It matters more than the numbers suggest. Miss an earlier flight and there's another one that evening; miss the last one and you're usually waiting until morning.

AirlineLast departureLast: cancelledLast: 3h+ lateEarlier: cancelledNext morning
American Airlines7:16 p.m.9.4%3.6%5.0%first flight 6:05 a.m.
Delta Air Lines9:00 p.m.4.1%1.1%3.4%first flight 6:00 a.m.
Frontier Airlines8:22 p.m.7.7%9.9%6.3%first flight 3:30 p.m.
Southwest Airlines—2.2%3.2%3.1%—

Last flight = the airline's last scheduled departure on this route that day, on days it flies the route at least twice; past 12 months. Times are typical scheduled times over the latest three months.

If you need to be in LGA tonight, book an earlier flight so there's a backup if it's cancelled.

By month

Each calendar month pooled over 2023–2026. Best: September (84%). Worst: July (57%).

40%70%100%Jan: 77% on time (1,954 flights)77JanFeb: 79% on time (1,822 flights)79FebMar: 72% on time (1,913 flights)72MarApr: 77% on time (1,924 flights)77AprMay: 69% on time (2,011 flights)69MayJun: 68% on time (1,972 flights)68JunJul: 57% on time (2,053 flights)57JulAug: 70% on time (2,013 flights)70AugSep: 84% on time (2,091 flights)84SepOct: 82% on time (2,210 flights)82OctNov: 81% on time (2,030 flights)81NovDec: 74% on time (1,999 flights)74Dec

By day of week

DayFlightsOn timeCancelled
Monday1,32462%6.8%
Tuesday1,30070%4.5%
Wednesday1,30277%2.1%
Thursday1,27867%3.1%
Friday1,29072%2.5%
Saturday81872%3.9%
Sunday1,19061%7.6%

Why flights were late

Share of delay minutes on flights 15+ minutes late, as reported to BTS by the airlines.

Air traffic & airport (NAS) 43%Late inbound plane 29%Airline (crew, maintenance, ops) 23%Severe weather 5%

Cancellations: weather 208 · airline 96 · air traffic/airport 65

Month by month

40%70%100%Sep 2023Jan 2024Jan 2025Jan 2026Sep 2023: 78% on time, 2.8% cancelledOct 2023: 89% on time, 0.3% cancelledNov 2023: 92% on time, 0.0% cancelledDec 2023: 86% on time, 0.1% cancelledJan 2024: 81% on time, 1.2% cancelledFeb 2024: 87% on time, 1.3% cancelledMar 2024: 82% on time, 0.3% cancelledApr 2024: 81% on time, 0.7% cancelledMay 2024: 72% on time, 0.3% cancelledJun 2024: 75% on time, 1.3% cancelledJul 2024: 61% on time, 3.8% cancelledAug 2024: 71% on time, 4.2% cancelledSep 2024: 87% on time, 0.4% cancelledOct 2024: 88% on time, 0.1% cancelledNov 2024: 88% on time, 0.0% cancelledDec 2024: 77% on time, 0.0% cancelledJan 2025: 69% on time, 3.8% cancelledFeb 2025: 77% on time, 1.1% cancelledMar 2025: 76% on time, 1.0% cancelledApr 2025: 75% on time, 1.0% cancelledMay 2025: 63% on time, 0.3% cancelledJun 2025: 58% on time, 2.8% cancelledJul 2025: 58% on time, 5.3% cancelledAug 2025: 77% on time, 1.3% cancelledSep 2025: 87% on time, 0.1% cancelledOct 2025: 69% on time, 1.6% cancelledNov 2025: 66% on time, 2.8% cancelledDec 2025: 61% on time, 5.7% cancelledJan 2026: 79% on time, 5.5% cancelledFeb 2026: 72% on time, 7.6% cancelledMar 2026: 60% on time, 7.0% cancelledApr 2026: 75% on time, 0.6% cancelledMay 2026: 71% on time, 1.5% cancelledJun 2026: 68% on time, 4.5% cancelledJul 2026: 51% on time, 10.6% cancelledAug 2026: 64% on time, 5.2% cancelled
Share of flights on time, by month (hover a point for cancellations)
ATL → LGA, monthly on-time and cancellation rate.

Flight numbers on this route

Regular flights with at least 120 scheduled trips in the past year. Sorted by departure time.

FlightDepartsFlightsOn timeCancelledTypical arrivalOperated by
DL 4046:00 a.m.25088%3.6%−9 minDelta Air Lines
DL 3237:30 a.m.33788%3.0%−7 minDelta Air Lines
DL 5138:30 a.m.35183%4.3%−8 minDelta Air Lines
AA 45959:04 a.m.13086%2.3%−12 minRepublic Airways
DL 5579:30 a.m.33682%1.8%−8 minDelta Air Lines
DL 37110:30 a.m.34682%2.9%−6 minDelta Air Lines
DL 46711:30 a.m.33281%3.0%−7 minDelta Air Lines
DL 52512:30 p.m.33571%3.0%−2 minDelta Air Lines
DL 4601:30 p.m.34073%3.2%−6 minDelta Air Lines
DL 5242:30 p.m.32467%4.0%−1 minDelta Air Lines
DL 4333:30 p.m.26765%2.6%−1 minDelta Air Lines
F9 34543:30 p.m.30547%7.2%+12 minFrontier Airlines
DL 9975:00 p.m.34962%5.4%+1 minDelta Air Lines
DL 4346:00 p.m.34060%2.9%+3 minDelta Air Lines
F9 34586:35 p.m.16130%8.7%+36 minFrontier Airlines
DL 4687:30 p.m.33662%3.6%+3 minDelta Air Lines
DL 4908:30 p.m.29759%4.0%+3 minDelta Air Lines
F9 32888:57 p.m.36334%7.7%+30 minFrontier Airlines
DL 5209:30 p.m.36466%4.1%−1 minDelta Air Lines

Worst days in the past year

DateFlightsOn timeCancelled
Feb 23, 2026260%26
Dec 14, 2025250%10
Jan 25, 2026240%24
Jul 9, 20262413%5
Jul 6, 20262413%2

Nearby airport alternatives

Other ways to make the same trip, using airports within 60 miles of Atlanta or New York. ATL → HPN has been 5 points more reliable.

RouteFlightsOn timeCancelled
ATL → LGA (this route)8,50269%4.3%
ATL → HPN Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson to Westchester1,66974%2.9%
ATL → JFK Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson to New York JFK4,21872%2.8%
ATL → EWR Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson to Newark6,24669%3.8%

Questions

How often are flights from ATL to LGA on time?

69% of 8,502 scheduled flights from Atlanta, GA to New York, NY arrived within 15 minutes of schedule between September 2025 and August 2026. 4.3% were cancelled.

What is the best time of day to fly ATL to LGA?

Flights scheduled to leave at 6 a.m. were the most reliable (88% on time). The 8 p.m. departures were the least (45%).

Which airline is most on time from ATL to LGA?

Delta Air Lines: 73% of its 4,937 flights on the route arrived on time. American Airlines: 71%. Frontier Airlines: 43%. Southwest Airlines: 69%.

What month has the most delays from ATL to LGA?

July (57% on time). The best month is September (84%), over 2023–2026.

Is the last flight of the day from ATL to LGA more likely to be cancelled?

Yes. Each airline's last ATL–LGA flight of the day was cancelled 6.3% of the time over the past year, against 4.0% for its earlier flights. If the last flight is cancelled, the next one is usually the following morning.

Related

Domestic flights by the airlines that report to the U.S. DOT, plus their regional partners. "On time" means arriving less than 15 minutes after schedule; cancelled and diverted flights count as not on time. Past performance is a guide, not a forecast. Method.