Airport month record
EWRMAY
Newark Liberty International in May 2026
- Departures
- 10,300
- Month
- May 2026
- National, same month
- 78.6%
- Carriers
- 9
Historical statistics for May 2026, not live status or a forecast for this year’s May. For today’s conditions at EWR, see live FAA status.
EWR in May earns an A+. More than four flights in five arrive inside the 15-minute window the DOT uses to define an on-time arrival, which puts it 8 points better than the national rate of 78.6%. When something does go wrong the average delay runs a little over an hour. That rests on 10,300 flights, of which Republic Airways flew 2,453 at 91.8% on time.
Republic Airways is the most reliable of the five carriers covered here at 91.8% on time across 2,453 flights.
Key figures
On time
86.4%
Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 10,178 completed departures
Avg delay
72 min
Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights
Cancelled
0.93%
Nationally in May: 0.92%
Whole year
77.7%
EWR across all twelve months
These figures cover 10,300 departures from Newark Liberty International in May 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
May next to EWR's other months
Against EWR's own year, May ran 9 points better than the twelve-month rate of 77.7%, which makes it the best of the twelve months in the data. Cancellations were unusually low for EWR in May, at 0.93% against 3.03% across the year. Either side of it, April ran 85.0% on time and June 78.6%, 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 | 10,478 | 68.2% | 106 min | 6.82% | C− |
| August 2025 | 10,410 | 77.9% | 85 min | 1.20% | B |
| September 2025 | 9,945 | 82.7% | 81 min | 1.11% | B |
| October 2025 | 10,578 | 71.0% | 62 min | 1.01% | C |
| November 2025 | 10,403 | 73.9% | 79 min | 4.39% | C− |
| December 2025 | 10,652 | 70.5% | 75 min | 2.63% | C |
| January 2026 | 9,977 | 78.8% | 68 min | 6.37% | B− |
| February 2026 | 9,244 | 81.8% | 67 min | 7.88% | B− |
| March 2026 | 10,755 | 77.7% | 76 min | 2.32% | B |
| April 2026 | 10,358 | 85.0% | 62 min | 0.69% | A+ |
| May 2026 (this page) | 10,300 | 86.4% | 72 min | 0.93% | A+ |
| June 2026 | 9,967 | 78.6% | 87 min | 1.53% | B |
Departure window
The best time of day to leave EWR in May
Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 11 points, against 8 points between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.
- 5am–8am1,633 flights91.7%
- 8am–11am2,005 flights91.3%
- 11am–2pm1,609 flights87.5%
- 2pm–5pm1,897 flights82.7%
- 5pm–8pm1,891 flights80.6%
- 8pm–5am1,265 flights84.6%
Scale runs 70% to 95%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.
Book the early departure. Flights leaving between 5am–8am arrive on time 91.7% of the time, against 80.6% for the evening window. That is 11 points of difference for no extra money, and it comes from the same aircraft having had no earlier flight to fall behind on. The 8am–11am window is the busiest, with 2,005 flights scheduled in it.
Across the week, Saturday is the strongest day at 88.9% on time and Wednesday the weakest at 79.7%. 9 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.
Carrier by carrier
Which airlines ran best at EWR in May
The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. Republic Airways arrives on time 91.8% of the time; American Airlines manages 84.3%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 597 flights means less than a ten-point one.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Airlines | 5,767 | 84.3% | 69 min | 0.55% | B+ |
| Republic Airways | 2,453 | 91.8% | 66 min | 1.63% | A |
| American Airlines | 597 | 84.3% | 84 min | 1.17% | B |
| Delta Air Lines | 571 | 84.9% | 111 min | 1.93% | B |
| JetBlue Airways | 413 | 86.7% | 56 min | 0.24% | A+ |
| Alaska Airlinesthin sample | 279 | 85.6% | 77 min | 0.36% | A+ |
| Frontier Airlinesthin sample | 124 | 90.9% | 161 min | 0.81% | A+ |
| Envoy Airthin sample | 40 | 94.9% | 77 min | 2.50% | A |
| Allegiant Airthin sample | 35 | 94.3% | 84 min | 0.00% | A+ |
Republic 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 EWR in May
| Route | Flights | On time | Avg delay | Cancelled | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EWR to ORD · Chicago | 552 | 79.9% | 78 min | 0.91% | B+ |
| EWR to ATL · Atlanta | 519 | 81.6% | 89 min | 0.96% | B+ |
| EWR to MCO · Orlando | 484 | 88.4% | 70 min | 0.41% | A+ |
| EWR to SFO · San Francisco | 404 | 70.9% | 85 min | 1.24% | C |
| EWR to BOS · Bostonthin sample | 348 | 82.9% | 58 min | 0.57% | B+ |
| EWR to LAX · Los Angelesthin sample | 339 | 83.5% | 81 min | 0.00% | B+ |
| EWR to MIA · Miamithin sample | 315 | 87.2% | 70 min | 0.32% | A+ |
| EWR to FLL · Fort Lauderdalethin sample | 310 | 86.0% | 61 min | 0.65% | A+ |
| EWR to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample | 305 | 79.0% | 78 min | 1.64% | B |
| EWR to DEN · Denverthin sample | 291 | 88.5% | 73 min | 0.34% | A+ |
| EWR to IAH · Houstonthin sample | 289 | 81.3% | 45 min | 1.38% | B |
| EWR to PBI · West Palm Beachthin sample | 288 | 87.7% | 48 min | 0.35% | A+ |
| EWR to CLT · Charlottethin sample | 273 | 88.2% | 76 min | 0.73% | A+ |
| EWR to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample | 270 | 89.2% | 74 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| EWR to DTW · Detroitthin sample | 261 | 90.5% | 111 min | 3.07% | A− |
| EWR to TPA · Tampathin sample | 225 | 89.7% | 68 min | 0.44% | A+ |
| EWR to SEA · Seattlethin sample | 213 | 87.8% | 63 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| EWR to PHX · Phoenixthin sample | 210 | 86.1% | 88 min | 0.48% | A+ |
| EWR to MSP · Minneapolisthin sample | 201 | 88.9% | 112 min | 1.00% | A |
| EWR to CLE · Clevelandthin sample | 182 | 91.1% | 88 min | 1.65% | A |
| EWR to IND · Indianapolisthin sample | 181 | 91.7% | 132 min | 0.55% | A+ |
| EWR to BNA · Nashvillethin sample | 179 | 79.7% | 58 min | 1.12% | B |
| EWR to CMH · Columbusthin sample | 179 | 93.2% | 66 min | 1.68% | A |
| EWR to RSW · Fort Myersthin sample | 175 | 86.9% | 65 min | 0.00% | A+ |
| EWR to RDU · Raleighthin sample | 174 | 87.2% | 48 min | 1.15% | A |
Delay causes
What held EWR up in May
Carriers report a reason for every delay minute they cause, in five DOT categories. The split below is by minutes, not by number of flights, so a handful of very long weather delays weighs as much as many short ones. It covers 100,000 reported delay minutes.
- 34%Carrier
- 30%National Airspace System
- 27%Late-arriving aircraft
- 9%Extreme weather
- 0%Security
No single cause dominates. carrier at 34%, national airspace system at 30% and late-arriving aircraft at 27% split the 100,000 reported delay minutes between them. An even spread like this usually means the operation is running close to its designed capacity with no one obvious weak point, and it is the hardest pattern for a traveller to route around. The split is drawn from 99,958 reported delay minutes.
Cancellations sit at 0.93% against a national 0.92%, which is ordinary. Diversions add another 0.25%.
Badly late arrivals are rare here: only 4.8% land an hour or more behind schedule, against 7.1% nationally. Connections built on this flight are about as safe as US domestic connections get, though a cancelled flight still ignores every layover you give it.
What to do with this
Flying from EWR in May
For a May trip through EWR: this is one of the better months to be flying from here, 86.4% on time with 0.93% 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
- Newark Liberty International (EWR), the whole year
- EWR in July68.2%
- EWR in August77.9%
- EWR in September82.7%
- EWR in October71.0%
- EWR in November73.9%
- EWR in December70.5%
- EWR in January78.8%
- EWR in February81.8%
- EWR in March77.7%
- EWR in April85.0%
- EWR in June78.6%
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.