Holiday record
Christmas and New Year 2024 flight delays
Friday 20 December 2024 to Friday 3 January 2025 · 285,023 flights
Historical statistics for Christmas and New Year 2024, not live status and not a forecast for a future Christmas and New Year.
74.6% of Christmas and New Year 2024 flights arrived on time. In the two weeks around the holiday it was 81.0%, so the holiday took 6.4 points off the rate. Beyond that, late flights averaged 76 minutes against 71 and cancellations came to 0.99% against 2.26%.
Key figures
On time
74.6%
Normal weeks: 81.0%
Avg delay
76 min
Delayed flights only. Normal weeks: 71 min
Cancelled
0.99%
Normal weeks: 2.26%
1 hour+ late
9.6%
Normal weeks: 6.4%
Counted from Friday 20 December 2024 to Friday 3 January 2025, the holiday put 285,023 flights on the schedule over 15 days. Airlines added capacity for it: 19,002 flights a day against 18,142 in the surrounding weeks, up 5%.
Against normal weeks
Christmas and New Year 2024 next to the weeks around it
| Period | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All flights, Christmas and New Year 2024 | 285,023 | 74.6% | 81.0% | −6.4 | 0.99% | 2.26% |
“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 weakest day fell inside the holiday rather than at either end: Sunday 29 December at 58.9% on time, 20.4 points below the 79.3% of ordinary Sundays. The best day was Wednesday 25 December at 91.0%, while Friday 20 December was the busiest, with 20,561 flights scheduled. 10 of the 15 days ran below the figure for the same weekday in the baseline weeks.
Each day of the window, set against its weekday in normal weeks: Fri 20 −14.7, Sat 21 −13.3, Sun 22 −2.0, Mon 23 +3.9, Tue 24 −11.6, Wed 25 +7.5, Thu 26 −11.3, Fri 27 −9.2, Sat 28 −16.9, Sun 29 −20.4, Mon 30 +2.2, Tue 31 −0.3, Wed 1 +1.2, Thu 2 +2.1, Fri 3 −6.4 points. The longest bad stretch ran 4 days, from Thursday 26 December to Sunday 29 December.
| Day | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friday 20 December | 20,561 | 64.8% | 79.5% | −14.7 | 1.96% | 5.07% |
| Saturday 21 December | 19,492 | 65.7% | 79.0% | −13.3 | 1.19% | 1.54% |
| Sunday 22 December | 20,320 | 77.3% | 79.3% | −2.0 | 0.26% | 2.18% |
| Monday 23 December | 20,402 | 83.6% | 79.7% | +3.9 | 0.12% | 2.88% |
| Tuesday 24 December | 15,584 | 73.3% | 84.9% | −11.6 | 1.08% | 0.91% |
| Wednesday 25 December | 15,682 | 91.0% | 83.5% | +7.5 | 0.61% | 0.75% |
| Thursday 26 December | 20,274 | 69.7% | 81.0% | −11.3 | 3.26% | 2.80% |
| Friday 27 December | 20,301 | 70.3% | 79.5% | −9.2 | 0.61% | 5.07% |
| Saturday 28 December | 19,463 | 62.1% | 79.0% | −16.9 | 1.69% | 1.54% |
| Sunday 29 December | 20,203 | 58.9% | 79.3% | −20.4 | 1.56% | 2.18% |
| Monday 30 December | 20,309 | 81.9% | 79.7% | +2.2 | 0.53% | 2.88% |
| Tuesday 31 December | 16,607 | 84.6% | 84.9% | −0.3 | 0.40% | 0.91% |
| Wednesday 1 January | 16,827 | 84.7% | 83.5% | +1.2 | 0.21% | 0.75% |
| Thursday 2 January | 19,640 | 83.1% | 81.0% | +2.1 | 0.47% | 2.80% |
| Friday 3 January | 19,358 | 73.1% | 79.5% | −6.4 | 0.53% | 5.07% |
“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
Departure time mattered more than the date. Flights leaving 5am–8am ran 84.8% on time, and by 8pm–5am that had fallen to 67.5%, 17.3 points lower. The 8pm–5am window moved most against its normal weeks, 9.6 points worse than 77.1%.
| Departure | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5am–8am | 47,513 | 84.8% | 87.4% | −2.6 | 0.91% | 2.42% |
| 8am–11am | 51,749 | 78.8% | 84.4% | −5.6 | 0.90% | 2.12% |
| 11am–2pm | 50,158 | 75.1% | 81.6% | −6.5 | 0.99% | 1.88% |
| 2pm–5pm | 50,069 | 71.2% | 78.3% | −7.1 | 0.92% | 2.15% |
| 5pm–8pm | 47,720 | 68.3% | 76.1% | −7.8 | 1.05% | 2.48% |
| 8pm–5am | 37,814 | 67.5% | 77.1% | −9.6 | 1.20% | 2.76% |
“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 2024
The slowdown was broad rather than local: 85 of 93 large airports ran below their own normal weeks. Aspen (ASE) fell furthest against its own normal weeks, from 71.6% to 39.6%. At the bottom of the table were Aspen (ASE) at 39.6%, San Diego (SAN) at 57.0% and Dallas (DAL) at 63.8%; at the top, Lihue (LIH) at 87.5%, Kailua-Kona (KOA) at 87.4% and Anchorage (ANC) at 87.3%.
Three hubs set the tone for the whole network: Atlanta (ATL, 13,116 departures, 72.9% on time), Denver (DEN, 13,057 departures, 76.4% on time) and Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW, 12,649 departures, 69.9% on time). Between them they handled 14% of departures.
Best against their own normal weeks: Anchorage (ANC, +7.3 points), Bentonville (XNA, +1.6 points) and Norfolk (ORF, +1.6 points).
How long a delay lasted depended heavily on the airport. Delayed departures from Tulsa (TUL) averaged 134 minutes, against 84 in its normal weeks, the longest of any large airport; at Kahului (OGG) the average was 46 minutes.
The extra holiday flying was concentrated in a handful of places. Daily departures rose most at Punta Gorda (PGD, +82%), St. Petersburg (PIE, +66%) and Sanford (SFB, +65%), and fell most at New York (LGA, −22%). All three ran below their normal on-time rate, which fits airports stretched by the extra schedule.
| Airport | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta (ATL) | 13,116 | 72.9% | 78.9% | −6.0 | 0.43% | 3.93% |
| Denver (DEN) | 13,057 | 76.4% | 81.5% | −5.1 | 0.57% | 1.08% |
| Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) | 12,649 | 69.9% | 75.2% | −5.3 | 3.40% | 6.24% |
| Chicago (ORD) | 11,096 | 74.4% | 76.1% | −1.7 | 0.56% | 1.78% |
| Charlotte (CLT) | 8,610 | 72.3% | 78.3% | −6.0 | 0.44% | 3.34% |
| Phoenix (PHX) | 8,589 | 78.7% | 86.5% | −7.8 | 0.37% | 0.88% |
| Los Angeles (LAX) | 8,102 | 78.0% | 85.3% | −7.3 | 0.43% | 0.72% |
| Las Vegas (LAS) | 7,411 | 78.4% | 84.6% | −6.2 | 0.59% | 1.05% |
| Orlando (MCO) | 6,998 | 71.6% | 82.5% | −10.9 | 0.54% | 1.22% |
| Seattle (SEA) | 6,108 | 80.7% | 84.5% | −3.8 | 0.41% | 0.79% |
| San Francisco (SFO) | 6,015 | 75.2% | 82.6% | −7.4 | 0.80% | 0.81% |
| Boston (BOS) | 5,353 | 69.6% | 80.9% | −11.3 | 2.58% | 1.47% |
| Newark (EWR) | 5,040 | 71.3% | 78.2% | −6.9 | 0.63% | 0.90% |
| Miami (MIA) | 5,009 | 69.7% | 80.2% | −10.5 | 0.68% | 1.28% |
| Detroit (DTW) | 4,941 | 72.4% | 76.8% | −4.4 | 0.38% | 1.25% |
| New York (LGA) | 4,867 | 76.4% | 77.9% | −1.5 | 0.53% | 1.55% |
| Minneapolis (MSP) | 4,837 | 78.9% | 79.2% | −0.3 | 0.64% | 1.04% |
| Washington (DCA) | 4,706 | 77.7% | 76.2% | +1.5 | 0.36% | 5.81% |
| Salt Lake City (SLC) | 4,699 | 80.4% | 83.3% | −2.9 | 0.28% | 0.73% |
| New York (JFK) | 4,576 | 69.0% | 80.4% | −11.4 | 0.57% | 1.02% |
| Houston (IAH) | 4,540 | 69.6% | 81.3% | −11.7 | 2.38% | 1.25% |
| Fort Lauderdale (FLL) | 4,352 | 67.5% | 79.6% | −12.1 | 0.71% | 1.65% |
| San Diego (SAN) | 4,007 | 57.0% | 80.5% | −23.5 | 4.44% | 1.78% |
| Baltimore (BWI) | 3,923 | 71.1% | 83.0% | −11.9 | 0.38% | 4.06% |
| Nashville (BNA) | 3,898 | 77.1% | 83.2% | −6.1 | 0.51% | 3.59% |
| Philadelphia (PHL) | 3,639 | 71.4% | 78.0% | −6.6 | 0.74% | 1.82% |
| Tampa (TPA) | 3,559 | 71.3% | 85.0% | −13.7 | 0.62% | 1.60% |
| Austin (AUS) | 3,356 | 75.1% | 84.8% | −9.7 | 0.74% | 1.50% |
| Dallas (DAL) | 3,110 | 63.8% | 83.6% | −19.8 | 1.41% | 4.55% |
| Chicago (MDW) | 2,937 | 73.7% | 80.6% | −6.9 | 0.27% | 1.85% |
“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 2024
Holiday windows are too short for most routes to build a sample: the busiest, HNL to OGG (465 flights, 84.7% on time against 94.0% normally), did not reach 500. The ten busiest are listed below as small samples, and 1 of them ran better than their normal weeks.
| Route | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HNL to OGGsmall sample | 465 | 84.7% | 94.0% | −9.3 | 0.00% | 0.70% |
| OGG to HNLsmall sample | 463 | 86.6% | 91.3% | −4.7 | 0.00% | 0.70% |
| LAX to SFOsmall sample | 429 | 66.9% | 77.3% | −10.4 | 0.00% | 0.12% |
| SFO to LAXsmall sample | 426 | 70.8% | 80.7% | −9.9 | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| DEN to PHXsmall sample | 406 | 79.8% | 86.4% | −6.6 | 0.00% | 0.29% |
| PHX to DENsmall sample | 406 | 85.0% | 84.4% | +0.6 | 0.00% | 0.43% |
| JFK to LAXsmall sample | 401 | 85.8% | 88.2% | −2.4 | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| LAX to JFKsmall sample | 400 | 82.5% | 86.8% | −4.3 | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| LAS to LAXsmall sample | 385 | 76.4% | 84.9% | −8.5 | 0.00% | 0.29% |
| LAX to LASsmall sample | 385 | 81.8% | 84.1% | −2.3 | 0.26% | 0.15% |
“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 2024
Carrier choice was worth 22.1 points of punctuality over the holiday, from Republic Airways at 82.5% down to JetBlue Airways at 60.4%. JetBlue Airways lost the most ground against its own normal weeks, 16.3 points. Republic Airways gained the most on its normal weeks, 1.6 points.
For connections, the hour-late figure matters more than the on-time rate. 9.6% of arrivals over Christmas and New Year 2024 were an hour or more late, against 6.4% normally, up 3.2 points. Aspen (ASE) had the highest share among large airports at 36.6%.
Cancellations were local rather than general. Overall 0.99% of flights were called off against 2.26% normally, but Aspen (ASE) reached 10.36% and San Diego (SAN) 4.44%.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 58,742 | 73.1% | 84.8% | −11.7 | 0.75% | 2.30% |
| American Airlines | 37,385 | 72.9% | 79.6% | −6.7 | 1.59% | 3.54% |
| Delta Air Lines | 37,246 | 76.3% | 81.9% | −5.6 | 0.16% | 2.03% |
| SkyWest Airlines | 31,728 | 76.2% | 78.8% | −2.6 | 1.62% | 1.91% |
| United Airlines | 31,284 | 77.8% | 81.8% | −4.0 | 0.89% | 0.83% |
| Republic Airways | 12,076 | 82.5% | 80.9% | +1.6 | 0.54% | 2.75% |
| Envoy Air | 11,000 | 77.0% | 81.1% | −4.1 | 1.84% | 4.05% |
| JetBlue Airways | 10,593 | 60.4% | 76.7% | −16.3 | 1.66% | 0.85% |
| Alaska Airlines | 10,142 | 76.7% | 81.2% | −4.5 | 0.68% | 1.18% |
| PSA Airlines | 9,937 | 73.4% | 72.2% | +1.2 | 0.69% | 5.38% |
| Frontier Airlines | 9,508 | 69.3% | 77.1% | −7.8 | 1.10% | 2.27% |
| Spirit Airlines | 9,220 | 72.6% | 82.0% | −9.4 | 0.69% | 1.96% |
| Allegiant Air | 6,987 | 68.4% | 77.3% | −8.9 | 1.55% | 1.81% |
| Endeavor Air | 5,947 | 80.0% | 81.8% | −1.8 | 0.72% | 0.24% |
| Hawaiian Airlines | 3,228 | 82.3% | 86.7% | −4.4 | 0.62% | 0.36% |
“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
2024 sits in the middle of the 4 years in the data: 63.5% in 2022, 81.8% in 2023, 74.6% in 2024 and 72.4% in 2025. Every one of them cleared the measurable-effect test.
| Year | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 263,726 | 63.5% | 77.0% | −13.5 | 11.25% | 1.23% |
| 2023 | 276,534 | 81.8% | 80.8% | +1.0 | 0.48% | 1.84% |
| 2024 (this page) | 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
What 2024 suggests for a future Christmas and New Year: Wednesday 25 December was the best day to fly; book before the evening, since 8pm–5am departures ran 17.3 points worse than 5am–8am ones; and allow extra connection time at Aspen (ASE) and San Diego (SAN). A single year can be decided by one storm, so weigh it against the other years before planning around it.
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 2023
- Christmas and New Year 2025
- Press kit: chart, data file and summary for Christmas and New Year 2024
- 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.