Holiday record
Christmas and New Year 2023 flight delays
Wednesday 20 December 2023 to Wednesday 3 January 2024 · 276,534 flights
Historical statistics for Christmas and New Year 2023, not live status and not a forecast for a future Christmas and New Year.
Delays over Christmas and New Year 2023 lasted longer rather than coming more often: 63 minutes on average for a late flight, against 71 normally. Beyond that, the on-time rate was 81.8% against 80.8% and cancellations came to 0.48% against 1.84%.
Key figures
On time
81.8%
Normal weeks: 80.8%
Avg delay
63 min
Delayed flights only. Normal weeks: 71 min
Cancelled
0.48%
Normal weeks: 1.84%
1 hour+ late
5.1%
Normal weeks: 6.5%
The window ran from Wednesday 20 December 2023 to Wednesday 3 January 2024, 15 days carrying 276,534 scheduled flights. That is about 18,436 a day against 18,069 a day across the 24 baseline days, almost exactly the same daily schedule.
Against normal weeks
Christmas and New Year 2023 next to the weeks around it
| Period | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All flights, Christmas and New Year 2023 | 276,534 | 81.8% | 80.8% | +1.0 | 0.48% | 1.84% |
“Normal weeks” are the two weeks either side of the holiday, leaving out other holiday periods. Change is in percentage points.
Day by day
Which day of Christmas and New Year ran best
The low point came mid-holiday, on Tuesday 26 December at 72.4% on time, 0.4 points below the 72.0% of ordinary Tuesdays. The best day was Monday 1 January at 88.7%, while Friday 22 December was the busiest, with 19,840 flights scheduled. 7 of the 15 days ran below the figure for the same weekday in the baseline weeks.
Against the same weekday in normal weeks, day by day: Wed 20 +0.5, Thu 21 −0.9, Fri 22 −7.1, Sat 23 −0.2, Sun 24 +7.5, Mon 25 +8.1, Tue 26 +0.4, Wed 27 −11.0, Thu 28 −7.8, Fri 29 −5.5, Sat 30 +4.0, Sun 31 +10.9, Mon 1 +9.5, Tue 2 +9.5, Wed 3 −1.8 points. The longest bad stretch ran 3 days, from Thursday 21 December to Saturday 23 December.
| Day | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday 20 December | 19,071 | 84.3% | 83.8% | +0.5 | 0.24% | 2.28% |
| Thursday 21 December | 19,752 | 85.1% | 86.0% | −0.9 | 0.27% | 0.77% |
| Friday 22 December | 19,840 | 80.8% | 87.9% | −7.1 | 0.31% | 0.13% |
| Saturday 23 December | 18,744 | 80.1% | 80.3% | −0.2 | 1.10% | 0.87% |
| Sunday 24 December | 15,961 | 82.8% | 75.3% | +7.5 | 2.22% | 1.31% |
| Monday 25 December | 16,326 | 87.3% | 79.2% | +8.1 | 0.94% | 1.96% |
| Tuesday 26 December | 19,207 | 72.4% | 72.0% | +0.4 | 0.82% | 4.98% |
| Wednesday 27 December | 19,147 | 72.8% | 83.8% | −11.0 | 0.64% | 2.28% |
| Thursday 28 December | 19,185 | 78.2% | 86.0% | −7.8 | 0.18% | 0.77% |
| Friday 29 December | 19,283 | 82.4% | 87.9% | −5.5 | 0.19% | 0.13% |
| Saturday 30 December | 18,504 | 84.3% | 80.3% | +4.0 | 0.12% | 0.87% |
| Sunday 31 December | 16,752 | 86.2% | 75.3% | +10.9 | 0.14% | 1.31% |
| Monday 1 January | 17,265 | 88.7% | 79.2% | +9.5 | 0.10% | 1.96% |
| Tuesday 2 January | 18,977 | 81.5% | 72.0% | +9.5 | 0.13% | 4.98% |
| Wednesday 3 January | 18,520 | 82.0% | 83.8% | −1.8 | 0.10% | 2.28% |
“Normal weeks” are the two weeks either side of the holiday, leaving out other holiday periods. Change is in percentage points.
Here “normal weeks” means the same day of the week in the baseline weeks, so a Sunday is set against the baseline Sundays.
Departure window
The best time of day to fly it
The later the flight, the worse the odds: 5am–8am departures 89.6% on time, 8pm–5am departures 75.6%. The 5am–8am window moved most against its normal weeks, 2.3 points better than 87.3%.
| Departure | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5am–8am | 45,402 | 89.6% | 87.3% | +2.3 | 0.54% | 2.11% |
| 8am–11am | 50,607 | 84.9% | 84.2% | +0.7 | 0.32% | 1.74% |
| 11am–2pm | 48,094 | 82.6% | 81.2% | +1.4 | 0.31% | 1.59% |
| 2pm–5pm | 48,111 | 79.8% | 78.2% | +1.6 | 0.39% | 1.78% |
| 5pm–8pm | 46,865 | 77.0% | 75.5% | +1.5 | 0.63% | 1.99% |
| 8pm–5am | 37,455 | 75.6% | 77.8% | −2.2 | 0.79% | 1.86% |
“Normal weeks” are the two weeks either side of the holiday, leaving out other holiday periods. Change is in percentage points.
Airport by airport
Airports over Christmas and New Year 2023
Ranked by on-time rate, Syracuse (SYR) at 91.6%, Detroit (DTW) at 89.1% and New York (LGA) at 89.1% led the large airports and Aspen (ASE) at 64.2%, Fort Lauderdale (FLL) at 65.6% and San Juan (SJU) at 68.7% trailed. St. Louis (STL) fell furthest against its own normal weeks, from 82.0% to 75.1%. Against their own normal weeks, 29 of 88 slipped.
13% of the holiday's departures left from just three airports, Atlanta (ATL, 13,083 departures, 85.2% on time), Denver (DEN, 12,476 departures, 78.5% on time) and Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW, 11,711 departures, 81.8% on time).
Not every airport struggled: Syracuse (SYR, +12.0 points), New York (LGA, +8.0 points) and Knoxville (TYS, +7.3 points) improved on their usual on-time rate.
Delay length varied widely by airport. Delayed departures from Hartford (BDL) averaged 104 minutes, against 89 in its normal weeks, the longest of any large airport; at Kahului (OGG) the average was 42 minutes.
Some airports took far more of the holiday rush than others. Daily departures rose most at Aspen (ASE, +59%), Sarasota (SRQ, +27%) and Fort Myers (RSW, +17%), and fell most at New York (LGA, −23%). 2 of the three fastest-growing airports ran below their normal on-time rate.
| Airport | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta (ATL) | 13,083 | 85.2% | 83.0% | +2.2 | 0.11% | 0.48% |
| Denver (DEN) | 12,476 | 78.5% | 78.7% | −0.2 | 0.48% | 1.63% |
| Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) | 11,711 | 81.8% | 77.8% | +4.0 | 0.13% | 1.02% |
| Chicago (ORD) | 10,064 | 81.2% | 79.5% | +1.7 | 0.22% | 2.21% |
| Charlotte (CLT) | 8,061 | 81.3% | 76.6% | +4.7 | 0.20% | 0.98% |
| Phoenix (PHX) | 8,032 | 80.7% | 84.8% | −4.1 | 0.37% | 0.76% |
| Los Angeles (LAX) | 7,836 | 77.7% | 83.4% | −5.7 | 0.22% | 1.44% |
| Las Vegas (LAS) | 7,492 | 82.3% | 81.7% | +0.6 | 0.36% | 0.90% |
| Orlando (MCO) | 7,449 | 75.6% | 75.5% | +0.1 | 0.35% | 1.46% |
| Seattle (SEA) | 6,135 | 80.6% | 79.6% | +1.0 | 0.86% | 3.83% |
| San Francisco (SFO) | 5,298 | 74.4% | 81.1% | −6.7 | 0.34% | 2.66% |
| Miami (MIA) | 4,986 | 72.0% | 70.5% | +1.5 | 0.12% | 1.68% |
| New York (LGA) | 4,954 | 89.1% | 81.1% | +8.0 | 0.20% | 3.98% |
| Boston (BOS) | 4,858 | 84.2% | 77.1% | +7.1 | 0.10% | 3.48% |
| Newark (EWR) | 4,801 | 86.2% | 82.1% | +4.1 | 0.12% | 3.40% |
| New York (JFK) | 4,740 | 84.3% | 77.9% | +6.4 | 0.11% | 2.62% |
| Salt Lake City (SLC) | 4,680 | 86.8% | 79.8% | +7.0 | 0.21% | 0.45% |
| Minneapolis (MSP) | 4,672 | 88.4% | 86.8% | +1.6 | 0.90% | 0.67% |
| Washington (DCA) | 4,588 | 88.0% | 81.6% | +6.4 | 0.39% | 3.48% |
| Detroit (DTW) | 4,550 | 89.1% | 83.6% | +5.5 | 0.22% | 0.74% |
| Fort Lauderdale (FLL) | 4,425 | 65.6% | 69.5% | −3.9 | 0.59% | 1.67% |
| Houston (IAH) | 4,261 | 82.6% | 79.2% | +3.4 | 0.12% | 3.02% |
| Baltimore (BWI) | 4,151 | 71.6% | 77.3% | −5.7 | 0.51% | 2.84% |
| Nashville (BNA) | 4,012 | 80.5% | 80.4% | +0.1 | 0.40% | 3.25% |
| San Diego (SAN) | 3,875 | 82.2% | 86.0% | −3.8 | 0.36% | 2.15% |
| Austin (AUS) | 3,704 | 77.9% | 81.1% | −3.2 | 0.38% | 1.20% |
| Tampa (TPA) | 3,669 | 81.4% | 80.5% | +0.9 | 0.49% | 1.53% |
| Chicago (MDW) | 3,414 | 76.7% | 81.3% | −4.6 | 5.33% | 2.67% |
| Philadelphia (PHL) | 3,382 | 83.1% | 78.6% | +4.5 | 0.41% | 2.11% |
| Dallas (DAL) | 3,221 | 79.5% | 83.0% | −3.5 | 0.50% | 1.26% |
“Normal weeks” are the two weeks either side of the holiday, leaving out other holiday periods. Change is in percentage points.
Route by route
The busiest routes over Christmas and New Year 2023
One route reached 500 flights in the window: HNL to OGG (501 flights, 88.6% on time against 86.7% normally). The table lists the ten busiest; routes under 500 flights carry a small-sample mark.
| Route | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HNL to OGG | 501 | 88.6% | 86.7% | +1.9 | 0.60% | 1.40% |
| OGG to HNLsmall sample | 490 | 85.4% | 81.1% | +4.3 | 0.61% | 1.66% |
| LAX to SFOsmall sample | 409 | 70.9% | 80.2% | −9.3 | 0.24% | 2.66% |
| SFO to LAXsmall sample | 406 | 70.8% | 83.0% | −12.2 | 0.49% | 2.51% |
| MCO to ATLsmall sample | 395 | 78.2% | 77.5% | +0.7 | 0.25% | 0.31% |
| ATL to MCOsmall sample | 394 | 75.3% | 75.2% | +0.1 | 0.25% | 0.31% |
| DEN to PHXsmall sample | 393 | 80.4% | 79.2% | +1.2 | 0.25% | 1.29% |
| PHX to DENsmall sample | 393 | 83.4% | 86.8% | −3.4 | 0.25% | 0.65% |
| LAS to LAXsmall sample | 387 | 73.1% | 80.9% | −7.8 | 0.00% | 1.55% |
| LAX to LASsmall sample | 386 | 76.8% | 80.8% | −4.0 | 0.26% | 1.24% |
“Normal weeks” are the two weeks either side of the holiday, leaving out other holiday periods. Change is in percentage points.
Carrier by carrier
Airlines over Christmas and New Year 2023
26.8 points separated the best carrier from the worst: Republic Airways at 94.2%, JetBlue Airways at 67.4%. Southwest Airlines lost the most ground against its own normal weeks, 3.9 points. PSA Airlines gained the most on its normal weeks, 8.4 points.
An hour late is where most connections are lost. 5.1% of arrivals over Christmas and New Year 2023 were an hour or more late, against 6.5% normally, down 1.4 points. Aspen (ASE) had the highest share among large airports at 13.4%.
Cancellations were local rather than general. Overall 0.48% of flights were called off against 1.84% normally, but Chicago (MDW) reached 5.33% and Providence (PVD) 2.66%.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 63,984 | 77.5% | 81.4% | −3.9 | 1.00% | 1.25% |
| American Airlines | 37,396 | 79.2% | 76.7% | +2.5 | 0.04% | 0.99% |
| Delta Air Lines | 36,725 | 89.6% | 85.9% | +3.7 | 0.04% | 0.26% |
| United Airlines | 28,824 | 85.8% | 83.1% | +2.7 | 0.14% | 3.71% |
| SkyWest Airlines | 26,537 | 82.5% | 82.5% | 0.0 | 0.99% | 1.60% |
| JetBlue Airways | 10,862 | 67.4% | 69.8% | −2.4 | 0.26% | 1.84% |
| Spirit Airlines | 10,602 | 72.2% | 73.6% | −1.4 | 0.26% | 0.99% |
| Envoy Air | 10,299 | 84.7% | 80.3% | +4.4 | 0.25% | 1.77% |
| Alaska Airlines | 9,727 | 81.0% | 77.3% | +3.7 | 1.00% | 7.84% |
| Republic Airways | 9,141 | 94.2% | 86.9% | +7.3 | 0.02% | 3.71% |
| PSA Airlines | 7,869 | 88.4% | 80.0% | +8.4 | 0.46% | 3.25% |
| Endeavor Air | 7,793 | 90.8% | 83.3% | +7.5 | 0.37% | 3.40% |
| Frontier Airlines | 7,790 | 76.4% | 74.6% | +1.8 | 0.65% | 1.07% |
| Allegiant Air | 5,772 | 78.1% | 80.1% | −2.0 | 0.92% | 0.40% |
| Hawaiian Airlines | 3,213 | 83.5% | 77.9% | +5.6 | 0.40% | 1.95% |
“Normal weeks” are the two weeks either side of the holiday, leaving out other holiday periods. Change is in percentage points.
Year on year
Christmas and New Year across the years
Of the 4 Christmas and New Years in the data, 2023 had the highest on-time rate: 63.5% in 2022, 81.8% in 2023, 74.6% in 2024 and 72.4% in 2025. A measurable effect turned up in 4 of the 4.
| Year | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 263,726 | 63.5% | 77.0% | −13.5 | 11.25% | 1.23% |
| 2023 (this page) | 276,534 | 81.8% | 80.8% | +1.0 | 0.48% | 1.84% |
| 2024 | 285,023 | 74.6% | 81.0% | −6.4 | 0.99% | 2.26% |
| 2025 | 282,442 | 72.4% | 78.9% | −6.5 | 1.95% | 1.00% |
“Normal weeks” are the two weeks either side of the holiday, leaving out other holiday periods. Change is in percentage points.
What to do with this
Planning around Christmas and New Year
Practical points from 2023: Monday 1 January was the best day to fly; book before the evening, since 8pm–5am departures ran 14.0 points worse than 5am–8am ones; and allow extra connection time at St. Louis (STL) and San Francisco (SFO). The pattern across years, on the Christmas and New Year overview, is the safer guide.
On time means arriving less than 15 minutes after the scheduled gate time. Average delay counts delayed flights only; cancellations are a share of every scheduled flight. A holiday is compared with the two weeks either side of it, leaving out days that belong to other holidays. The measurable-effect test asks for 3 points of on-time rate, 5 minutes of average delay or 2 points of cancellations; airports, routes and carriers need 500 flights in the window to be ranked. The US DOT publishes on-time data about two months after the month it covers.
Related
Where to go next
- Christmas and New Year: every year and the next one
- Christmas and New Year 2022
- Christmas and New Year 2024
- Christmas and New Year 2025
- Press kit: chart, data file and summary for Christmas and New Year 2023
- Every US travel holiday
- The holidays that fly better than a normal week
- The busiest US travel days, and what they cost in punctuality
- Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (ATL) all year
- Denver International (DEN) all year
- Dallas/Fort Worth International (DFW) all year
Holiday comparisons use US DOT on-time data from December 2022 to June 2026. Methodology.
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.