Itineraries flown on 20+ days in the Jun 6 – Jul 31, 2026 schedule · each leg’s record Aug 2025 – Jul 2026

No clear winner: airlines and hours on this route all land within a few points of 82% on time.

Nonstops


Delta	ATL	MSY	1h 35m	84%	1.5%	3,278	Flying now
Southwest	ATL	MSY	1h 35m	79%	0.3%	354	Flying now
Frontier	ATL	MSY	1h 44m	62%	2.4%	253	Flying now
Spirit	ATL	MSY	1h 37m	79%	2.2%	137	Not flying now
American	ATL	MSY	–	100%few flights	0.0%	3	Not flying now

Best connections, one ticket

Most reliable Quickest (80%+ on time)

Ranked by chance you reach New Orleans on time. Total trip = scheduled departure to arrival, layover included (New Orleans is 1 h behind Atlanta). Layovers up to 4 hours. Pick a connection for the details.


United Details →	ATL 05:30 → IAD 07:20UA 641	1h 20m Dulles	IAD 08:40 → MSY 10:24UA 2253	5h 54m	98%	88%
Southwest Details →	ATL 06:50 → STL 07:30WN 3937	55m St Louis	STL 08:25 → MSY 10:10WN 4780	4h 20m	94%	88%
United Details →	ATL 07:05 → IAH 08:15UA 532	3h 40m Houston	IAH 11:55 → MSY 13:14UA 2385	7h 09m	99%	85%
Southwest Details →	ATL 06:30 → HOU 07:35WN 4729	3h 10m Houston	HOU 10:45 → MSY 12:00WN 2051	6h 30m	100%	84%
Delta Details →	ATL 11:00 → DTW 12:55DL 1240	1h 28m Detroit	DTW 14:23 → MSY 15:57DL 1652	5h 57m	94%	80%
Delta Details →	ATL 09:55 → MSP 11:30DL 2090	1h 15m Minneapolis	MSP 12:45 → MSY 15:25DL 2695	6h 30m	96%	80%
United Details →	ATL 07:30 → DEN 08:51UA 340	59m Denver	DEN 09:50 → MSY 13:39UA 2273	7h 09m	90%	80%
American Details →	ATL 06:01 → DFW 07:33AA 2770	1h 30m Dallas-Fort Worth	DFW 09:03 → MSY 10:35AA 2166	5h 34m	96%	79%
Tight connection: often missed
American Details →	ATL 19:00 → MIA 21:00AA 1367	2h 05m Miami	MIA 23:05 → MSY 00:09 +1AA 2552	6h 09m	69%	43%
American Details →	ATL 12:00 → ORD 13:20AA 1363	54m Chicago	ORD 14:14 → MSY 16:37AA 2198	5h 41m	72%	39%
American Details →	ATL 20:01 → DFW 21:32AA 1379	58m Dallas-Fort Worth	DFW 22:30 → MSY 23:58AA 1472	4h 57m	35%	13%

Same layover, different day-part

How often the first flight arrives too late to connect (45 min minimum), for one-ticket layovers of 45–80 minutes.

Morning

IAD · 1h 20m · leaves 05:30 2%

MSP · 1h 15m · leaves 09:55 4%

STL · 55m · leaves 06:50 6%

Afternoon and evening

DCA · 55m · leaves 16:20 57%

MDW · 1h 10m · leaves 19:35 60%

DFW · 58m · leaves 20:01 65%

Delays build through the day, so an afternoon first leg eats the layover. A short connection is fine early in the morning and a gamble later on.

Mixing airlines

One ticketMiss it and the airline rebooks you; bags go through. 45 min is enough.

Separate ticketsMiss it and you buy a new ticket. Re-check bags, clear security again: we require 90 min.


Delta DL 1178 ATL 07:25 → ORD United UA 1850 ORD 10:25 → MSY Connection details →	1h 50m	6h 30m	90%	83%
Delta DL 1585 ATL 07:30 → IAH United UA 2385 IAH 11:55 → MSY Connection details →	3h 18m	6h 44m	98%	81%
Delta DL 1213 ATL 08:25 → MCO Frontier F9 1431 MCO 13:53 → MSY Connection details →	3h 57m	7h 24m	99%	79%

Rank all connections, any airlines →

Regional partners count as the airline that sells them: SkyWest flying Delta Connection is one Delta ticket.

How these are worked out. Makes the connection: share of the last year’s flights where the first flight arrived with at least 45 minutes to spare (90 on separate tickets). Arrives on time: first flight not cancelled × connection made × second flight not cancelled and arriving within 15 minutes. Not yet counted: the second flight also leaving late (which helps), gate-to-gate distance at the hub, and rebooking after a missed connection.

About this data: US DOT on-time records, Aug 2025 – Jul 2026, all US airlines; regional flights count under the airline that sells them. Schedules (which flights and connections exist, and their times) are as of Jun 6 – Jul 31, 2026; seasonal flights outside that window aren’t ranked. Rebuilt monthly. JSON