Holiday record
Christmas and New Year 2025 flight delays
Saturday 20 December 2025 to Saturday 3 January 2026 · 282,442 flights
Historical statistics for Christmas and New Year 2025, not live status and not a forecast for a future Christmas and New Year.
Christmas and New Year 2025 flights ran 6.5 points less punctual than the weeks around it: 72.4% arrived on time, against 78.9%. Beyond that, late flights averaged 73 minutes against 75 and cancellations came to 1.95% against 1.00%.
Key figures
On time
72.4%
Normal weeks: 78.9%
Avg delay
73 min
Delayed flights only. Normal weeks: 75 min
Cancelled
1.95%
Normal weeks: 1.00%
1 hour+ late
10.2%
Normal weeks: 7.7%
15 days and 282,442 flights: that is the window from Saturday 20 December 2025 to Saturday 3 January 2026. At 18,829 flights a day it ran 4% above the 18,170 of the weeks around it.
Against normal weeks
Christmas and New Year 2025 next to the weeks around it
| Period | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All flights, Christmas and New Year 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.
Day by day
Which day of Christmas and New Year ran best
Sunday 28 December at 59.7% on time was the day the holiday went wrong, 8.2 points below the 67.9% of ordinary Sundays. The best day was Thursday 25 December at 87.7%, while Monday 22 December was the busiest, with 20,087 flights scheduled. 10 of the 15 days ran below the figure for the same weekday in the baseline weeks.
Compared day for day with ordinary weeks: Sat 20 −10.7, Sun 21 +8.3, Mon 22 +1.8, Tue 23 −11.5, Wed 24 +0.1, Thu 25 +9.4, Fri 26 −5.9, Sat 27 −19.9, Sun 28 −8.2, Mon 29 −17.9, Tue 30 −19.0, Wed 31 −7.6, Thu 1 −6.8, Fri 2 +1.4, Sat 3 −12.1 points. The longest bad stretch ran 7 days, from Friday 26 December to Thursday 1 January.
| Day | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday 20 December | 19,169 | 70.8% | 81.5% | −10.7 | 1.23% | 0.57% |
| Sunday 21 December | 20,046 | 76.2% | 67.9% | +8.3 | 1.18% | 2.66% |
| Monday 22 December | 20,087 | 81.4% | 79.6% | +1.8 | 0.47% | 1.04% |
| Tuesday 23 December | 19,860 | 76.9% | 88.4% | −11.5 | 0.47% | 0.27% |
| Wednesday 24 December | 15,596 | 83.9% | 83.8% | +0.1 | 0.54% | 0.53% |
| Thursday 25 December | 15,437 | 87.7% | 78.3% | +9.4 | 0.59% | 0.46% |
| Friday 26 December | 20,028 | 68.4% | 74.3% | −5.9 | 6.00% | 1.12% |
| Saturday 27 December | 19,153 | 61.6% | 81.5% | −19.9 | 4.08% | 0.57% |
| Sunday 28 December | 19,999 | 59.7% | 67.9% | −8.2 | 3.30% | 2.66% |
| Monday 29 December | 20,079 | 61.7% | 79.6% | −17.9 | 3.05% | 1.04% |
| Tuesday 30 December | 19,961 | 69.4% | 88.4% | −19.0 | 0.94% | 0.27% |
| Wednesday 31 December | 16,534 | 76.2% | 83.8% | −7.6 | 0.77% | 0.53% |
| Thursday 1 January | 17,388 | 71.5% | 78.3% | −6.8 | 1.00% | 0.46% |
| Friday 2 January | 19,992 | 75.7% | 74.3% | +1.4 | 1.04% | 1.12% |
| Saturday 3 January | 19,113 | 69.4% | 81.5% | −12.1 | 3.74% | 0.57% |
“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
Delays built through the day and peaked late: 64.1% on time for 5pm–8pm departures against 84.7% for 5am–8am. The 8pm–5am window moved most against its normal weeks, 10.2 points worse than 74.3%.
| Departure | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5am–8am | 47,695 | 84.7% | 87.0% | −2.3 | 1.96% | 0.98% |
| 8am–11am | 51,811 | 78.7% | 82.6% | −3.9 | 1.53% | 0.79% |
| 11am–2pm | 48,957 | 72.6% | 79.2% | −6.6 | 1.54% | 0.94% |
| 2pm–5pm | 48,314 | 68.0% | 75.7% | −7.7 | 1.88% | 0.97% |
| 5pm–8pm | 47,410 | 64.1% | 73.3% | −9.2 | 2.28% | 1.07% |
| 8pm–5am | 38,255 | 64.1% | 74.3% | −10.2 | 2.69% | 1.39% |
“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 2025
92 airports scheduled at least 500 departures. Aspen (ASE) at 54.4%, Fort Lauderdale (FLL) at 55.6% and Detroit (DTW) at 60.7% ran the lowest on-time rates, Tulsa (TUL) at 85.5%, Birmingham (BHM) at 85.0% and Oklahoma City (OKC) at 84.3% the highest. Oakland (OAK) fell furthest against its own normal weeks, from 86.3% to 66.8%. In all, 80 of 92 ran below their own figures for the surrounding weeks.
By volume the holiday ran through Denver (DEN, 13,379 departures, 76.6% on time), Chicago (ORD, 13,088 departures, 64.5% on time) and Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW, 12,480 departures, 72.9% on time), which handled 14% of all departures between them.
The large airports that did better than usual were Anchorage (ANC, +5.3 points), Lihue (LIH, +4.9 points) and Norfolk (ORF, +3.3 points).
Not all delays were equal. Delayed departures from Aspen (ASE) averaged 129 minutes, against 118 in its normal weeks, the longest of any large airport; at Houston (HOU) the average was 42 minutes.
The holiday reshaped where people flew. Daily departures rose most at Punta Gorda (PGD, +70%), Sanford (SFB, +61%) and Aspen (ASE, +50%), and fell most at New York (LGA, −22%). Each of them paid for the extra flights with a lower on-time rate.
| Airport | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denver (DEN) | 13,379 | 76.6% | 79.7% | −3.1 | 0.51% | 0.57% |
| Chicago (ORD) | 13,088 | 64.5% | 71.5% | −7.0 | 1.96% | 1.44% |
| Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) | 12,480 | 72.9% | 75.7% | −2.8 | 0.80% | 0.40% |
| Atlanta (ATL) | 11,499 | 73.7% | 76.7% | −3.0 | 2.84% | 1.64% |
| Phoenix (PHX) | 8,876 | 75.3% | 81.8% | −6.5 | 0.87% | 0.32% |
| Los Angeles (LAX) | 8,002 | 71.0% | 80.6% | −9.6 | 1.35% | 0.59% |
| Orlando (MCO) | 7,425 | 65.1% | 76.3% | −11.2 | 2.56% | 0.66% |
| Charlotte (CLT) | 7,142 | 72.9% | 79.9% | −7.0 | 0.94% | 0.70% |
| Las Vegas (LAS) | 6,852 | 72.7% | 83.6% | −10.9 | 1.11% | 0.43% |
| Seattle (SEA) | 6,337 | 70.1% | 77.1% | −7.0 | 1.42% | 1.00% |
| San Francisco (SFO) | 5,911 | 63.3% | 82.3% | −19.0 | 2.23% | 0.71% |
| Miami (MIA) | 5,179 | 72.7% | 78.2% | −5.5 | 1.93% | 0.57% |
| Boston (BOS) | 5,043 | 65.5% | 76.6% | −11.1 | 2.44% | 0.96% |
| Newark (EWR) | 5,017 | 68.7% | 78.9% | −10.2 | 3.63% | 1.38% |
| Fort Lauderdale (FLL) | 4,852 | 55.6% | 72.2% | −16.6 | 4.00% | 1.03% |
| Salt Lake City (SLC) | 4,826 | 80.7% | 87.4% | −6.7 | 1.20% | 0.60% |
| Washington (DCA) | 4,762 | 75.2% | 75.1% | +0.1 | 1.30% | 1.22% |
| Houston (IAH) | 4,623 | 79.8% | 84.1% | −4.3 | 1.04% | 0.41% |
| Detroit (DTW) | 4,611 | 60.7% | 70.8% | −10.1 | 3.21% | 1.28% |
| New York (LGA) | 4,509 | 70.5% | 74.6% | −4.1 | 4.72% | 3.33% |
| Nashville (BNA) | 4,161 | 77.6% | 83.5% | −5.9 | 1.15% | 0.57% |
| New York (JFK) | 4,150 | 61.9% | 72.4% | −10.5 | 5.88% | 2.04% |
| San Diego (SAN) | 4,032 | 68.7% | 80.1% | −11.4 | 1.98% | 1.69% |
| Minneapolis (MSP) | 4,025 | 65.3% | 72.6% | −7.3 | 3.28% | 1.14% |
| Baltimore (BWI) | 3,904 | 70.5% | 80.3% | −9.8 | 2.56% | 0.32% |
| Philadelphia (PHL) | 3,693 | 65.5% | 74.5% | −9.0 | 3.36% | 1.03% |
| Austin (AUS) | 3,599 | 76.5% | 83.6% | −7.1 | 1.03% | 0.37% |
| Tampa (TPA) | 3,588 | 73.2% | 80.2% | −7.0 | 2.06% | 0.70% |
| Dallas (DAL) | 3,044 | 77.8% | 84.9% | −7.1 | 0.39% | 0.17% |
| Chicago (MDW) | 2,852 | 67.9% | 80.8% | −12.9 | 0.63% | 0.20% |
“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 2025
No route reached 500 flights over the 15 days, so none is ranked. The busiest were OGG to HNL (413 flights, 77.7% on time against 72.1% normally), HNL to OGG (412 flights, 76.4% on time against 76.3% normally) and LAX to JFK (404 flights, 77.8% on time against 73.6% normally); 3 of the ten busiest beat their normal weeks, and all ten appear below with a small-sample mark.
| Route | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OGG to HNLsmall sample | 413 | 77.7% | 72.1% | +5.6 | 0.24% | 0.54% |
| HNL to OGGsmall sample | 412 | 76.4% | 76.3% | +0.1 | 0.24% | 0.27% |
| LAX to JFKsmall sample | 404 | 77.8% | 73.6% | +4.2 | 3.96% | 0.68% |
| JFK to LAXsmall sample | 404 | 55.3% | 77.3% | −22.0 | 4.21% | 0.82% |
| DEN to PHXsmall sample | 385 | 74.9% | 80.8% | −5.9 | 0.52% | 0.64% |
| LAX to SFOsmall sample | 382 | 42.9% | 77.7% | −34.8 | 1.83% | 0.44% |
| SFO to LAXsmall sample | 381 | 52.9% | 82.0% | −29.1 | 1.84% | 0.73% |
| PHX to DENsmall sample | 381 | 80.7% | 82.4% | −1.7 | 0.52% | 0.80% |
| ATL to FLLsmall sample | 359 | 55.5% | 71.1% | −15.6 | 3.62% | 2.19% |
| FLL to ATLsmall sample | 358 | 55.2% | 72.2% | −17.0 | 3.91% | 2.55% |
“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 2025
JetBlue Airways had the weakest holiday at 56.6% on time, 23.1 points behind Envoy Air at 79.7%. Spirit Airlines lost the most ground against its own normal weeks, 16.2 points. PSA Airlines gained the most on its normal weeks, 1.8 points.
The number that decides a missed connection is the share of flights an hour or more late. 10.2% of arrivals over Christmas and New Year 2025 were an hour or more late, against 7.7% normally, up 2.5 points. Aspen (ASE) had the highest share among large airports at 30.2%.
Cancellations were local rather than general. Overall 1.95% of flights were called off against 1.00% normally, but San Juan (SJU) reached 9.50% and Buffalo (BUF) 8.67%.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 59,399 | 73.0% | 83.3% | −10.3 | 0.82% | 0.30% |
| American Airlines | 37,859 | 72.9% | 78.3% | −5.4 | 0.83% | 0.28% |
| Delta Air Lines | 37,490 | 74.1% | 79.1% | −5.0 | 3.22% | 1.78% |
| SkyWest Airlines | 33,149 | 73.0% | 77.9% | −4.9 | 2.23% | 1.37% |
| United Airlines | 31,939 | 77.3% | 81.7% | −4.4 | 0.66% | 0.27% |
| Republic Airways | 13,564 | 74.5% | 78.9% | −4.4 | 2.49% | 2.06% |
| Envoy Air | 12,212 | 79.7% | 81.9% | −2.2 | 1.51% | 0.83% |
| Alaska Airlines | 11,203 | 69.9% | 73.3% | −3.4 | 1.59% | 1.59% |
| JetBlue Airways | 10,330 | 56.6% | 70.4% | −13.8 | 5.33% | 1.28% |
| PSA Airlines | 9,880 | 73.2% | 71.4% | +1.8 | 2.14% | 2.42% |
| Frontier Airlines | 9,849 | 62.5% | 73.6% | −11.1 | 4.76% | 1.54% |
| Allegiant Air | 6,939 | 65.5% | 75.2% | −9.7 | 1.10% | 0.34% |
| Spirit Airlines | 6,029 | 57.3% | 73.5% | −16.2 | 8.61% | 2.03% |
| Hawaiian Airlines | 2,600 | 70.1% | 71.5% | −1.4 | 0.69% | 0.79% |
“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
Set against other years, 2025 ranks 3 of 4 for punctuality (63.5% in 2022, 81.8% in 2023, 74.6% in 2024 and 72.4% in 2025). By this site's test, 4 years out of 4 had a real holiday effect.
| 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 | 285,023 | 74.6% | 81.0% | −6.4 | 0.99% | 2.26% |
| 2025 (this page) | 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
If 2025 is any guide: Thursday 25 December was the best day to fly; book before the evening, since 5pm–8pm departures ran 20.6 points worse than 5am–8am ones; and allow extra connection time at Oakland (OAK) and San Francisco (SFO). Treat that as one data point; the Christmas and New Year overview shows which of these patterns repeat.
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 2024
- Press kit: chart, data file and summary for Christmas and New Year 2025
- Every US travel holiday
- The holidays that fly better than a normal week
- The busiest US travel days, and what they cost in punctuality
- Denver International (DEN) all year
- Chicago O'Hare International (ORD) 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.