Holiday record
Columbus Day weekend 2024 flight delays
Friday 11 October 2024 to Monday 14 October 2024 · 82,056 flights
Historical statistics for Columbus Day weekend 2024, not live status and not a forecast for a future Columbus Day weekend.
Anyone who avoided Columbus Day weekend 2024 expecting chaos avoided a normal week. 84.8% of flights landed on time, against 86.2% either side of it; the 66-minute average delay compares with 62, and cancellations came to 1.11% against 1.17%.
Key figures
On time
84.8%
Normal weeks: 86.2%
Avg delay
66 min
Delayed flights only. Normal weeks: 62 min
Cancelled
1.11%
Normal weeks: 1.17%
1 hour+ late
4.8%
Normal weeks: 3.9%
Counted from Friday 11 October 2024 to Monday 14 October 2024, the holiday put 82,056 flights on the schedule over 4 days. Day for day the schedule barely changed, 20,514 flights against 20,005 in the weeks around it.
Against normal weeks
Columbus Day weekend 2024 next to the weeks around it
| Period | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All flights, Columbus Day weekend 2024 | 82,056 | 84.8% | 86.2% | −1.4 | 1.11% | 1.17% |
“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 Columbus Day weekend ran best
Getting away was harder than coming back. The first day, Friday 11 October at 81.7% on time, 0.5 points below the 81.2% of ordinary Fridays, set the low mark. The best day was Saturday 12 October at 88.7%, while Friday 11 October was the busiest, with 21,548 flights scheduled. 1 of the 4 days ran below the figure for the same weekday in the baseline weeks.
Compared day for day with ordinary weeks: Fri 11 +0.5, Sat 12 +0.8, Sun 13 +2.8, Mon 14 −2.6 points. No more than one day in a row ran below the weekday baseline, so the weak days were isolated rather than a sustained slowdown.
| Day | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friday 11 October | 21,548 | 81.7% | 81.2% | +0.5 | 2.44% | 1.27% |
| Saturday 12 October | 17,585 | 88.7% | 87.9% | +0.8 | 0.76% | 0.29% |
| Sunday 13 October | 21,421 | 85.7% | 82.9% | +2.8 | 0.68% | 0.32% |
| Monday 14 October | 21,502 | 83.8% | 86.4% | −2.6 | 0.48% | 0.34% |
“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: 77.9% on time for 5pm–8pm departures against 92.6% for 5am–8am. The 5pm–8pm window moved most against its normal weeks, 3.5 points worse than 81.4%.
| Departure | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5am–8am | 13,216 | 92.6% | 92.6% | 0.0 | 1.89% | 1.29% |
| 8am–11am | 15,134 | 89.2% | 89.6% | −0.4 | 1.28% | 1.15% |
| 11am–2pm | 14,564 | 86.5% | 87.0% | −0.5 | 1.03% | 1.10% |
| 2pm–5pm | 14,459 | 81.7% | 83.3% | −1.6 | 0.93% | 1.12% |
| 5pm–8pm | 14,282 | 77.9% | 81.4% | −3.5 | 0.81% | 1.25% |
| 8pm–5am | 10,401 | 80.3% | 82.4% | −2.1 | 0.62% | 1.08% |
“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 Columbus Day weekend 2024
44 airports scheduled at least 500 departures. San Diego (SAN) at 69.7%, Newark (EWR) at 74.5% and Boston (BOS) at 77.7% ran the lowest on-time rates, Minneapolis (MSP) at 92.7%, Kansas City (MCI) at 90.6% and Houston (HOU) at 89.8% the highest. Newark (EWR) fell furthest against its own normal weeks, from 84.5% to 74.5%. In all, 30 of 44 ran below their own figures for the surrounding weeks.
By volume the holiday ran through Atlanta (ATL, 4,009 departures, 87.4% on time), Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW, 3,688 departures, 82.6% on time) and Denver (DEN, 3,538 departures, 86.5% on time), which handled 14% of all departures between them.
Not every airport struggled: Charlotte (CLT, +2.9 points), Las Vegas (LAS, +2.7 points) and Austin (AUS, +2.6 points) improved on their usual on-time rate.
When flights did run late, how late depended on where. Delayed departures from Columbus (CMH) averaged 102 minutes, against 70 in its normal weeks, the longest of any large airport; at Dallas (DAL) the average was 38 minutes.
The holiday reshaped where people flew. Daily departures rose most at Orlando (MCO, +10%), Indianapolis (IND, +9%) and New Orleans (MSY, +9%), and fell most at New York (LGA, −5%). 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) | 4,009 | 87.4% | 88.0% | −0.6 | 1.05% | 1.16% |
| Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) | 3,688 | 82.6% | 84.2% | −1.6 | 0.35% | 0.42% |
| Denver (DEN) | 3,538 | 86.5% | 86.8% | −0.3 | 0.31% | 0.42% |
| Chicago (ORD) | 3,360 | 80.0% | 86.7% | −6.7 | 0.36% | 0.49% |
| Charlotte (CLT) | 2,604 | 82.7% | 79.8% | +2.9 | 0.81% | 2.02% |
| Las Vegas (LAS) | 2,367 | 83.8% | 81.1% | +2.7 | 0.25% | 0.41% |
| Phoenix (PHX) | 2,287 | 83.1% | 84.0% | −0.9 | 0.17% | 0.29% |
| Los Angeles (LAX) | 2,248 | 87.8% | 85.7% | +2.1 | 0.18% | 0.32% |
| Seattle (SEA) | 1,820 | 83.6% | 81.9% | +1.7 | 0.05% | 0.41% |
| Orlando (MCO) | 1,726 | 87.2% | 87.7% | −0.5 | 7.07% | 7.43% |
| Boston (BOS) | 1,720 | 77.7% | 87.1% | −9.4 | 0.58% | 0.88% |
| New York (LGA) | 1,718 | 80.1% | 89.9% | −9.8 | 0.52% | 0.84% |
| San Francisco (SFO) | 1,653 | 80.0% | 83.3% | −3.3 | 0.30% | 0.37% |
| Detroit (DTW) | 1,573 | 85.9% | 87.9% | −2.0 | 0.19% | 0.57% |
| Washington (DCA) | 1,509 | 85.4% | 87.3% | −1.9 | 0.40% | 1.01% |
| Minneapolis (MSP) | 1,469 | 92.7% | 91.5% | +1.2 | 0.68% | 0.43% |
| Newark (EWR) | 1,449 | 74.5% | 84.5% | −10.0 | 0.97% | 1.33% |
| New York (JFK) | 1,390 | 82.7% | 88.2% | −5.5 | 0.29% | 0.70% |
| Houston (IAH) | 1,333 | 84.9% | 86.7% | −1.8 | 0.15% | 0.62% |
| Philadelphia (PHL) | 1,281 | 84.4% | 84.8% | −0.4 | 1.17% | 1.04% |
| Salt Lake City (SLC) | 1,256 | 88.2% | 88.6% | −0.4 | 0.00% | 0.23% |
| Nashville (BNA) | 1,216 | 88.8% | 87.3% | +1.5 | 0.90% | 0.85% |
| Baltimore (BWI) | 1,123 | 84.0% | 85.6% | −1.6 | 1.87% | 1.51% |
| Miami (MIA) | 1,117 | 85.2% | 86.8% | −1.6 | 0.09% | 2.19% |
| San Diego (SAN) | 1,116 | 69.7% | 67.6% | +2.1 | 0.45% | 1.43% |
| Austin (AUS) | 969 | 88.2% | 85.6% | +2.6 | 0.41% | 0.61% |
| Fort Lauderdale (FLL) | 933 | 83.6% | 83.8% | −0.2 | 0.54% | 1.25% |
| Chicago (MDW) | 889 | 86.2% | 88.8% | −2.6 | 0.90% | 0.91% |
| Tampa (TPA) | 827 | 85.3% | 87.5% | −2.2 | 8.71% | 11.96% |
| Dallas (DAL) | 803 | 82.9% | 83.0% | −0.1 | 0.12% | 0.69% |
“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 Columbus Day weekend 2024
Holiday windows are too short for most routes to build a sample: the busiest, SFO to LAX (143 flights, 74.1% on time against 83.4% normally), did not reach 500. The ten busiest are listed below as small samples, and 2 of them ran better than their normal weeks.
| Route | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SFO to LAXsmall sample | 143 | 74.1% | 83.4% | −9.3 | 0.00% | 0.10% |
| LAX to SFOsmall sample | 143 | 68.5% | 75.3% | −6.8 | 0.00% | 0.10% |
| OGG to HNLsmall sample | 124 | 90.3% | 91.5% | −1.2 | 0.00% | 1.03% |
| HNL to OGGsmall sample | 124 | 91.9% | 92.3% | −0.4 | 0.00% | 1.03% |
| DCA to BOSsmall sample | 115 | 81.6% | 87.7% | −6.1 | 0.87% | 0.24% |
| LAS to LAXsmall sample | 115 | 82.6% | 77.3% | +5.3 | 0.00% | 0.13% |
| LGA to ORDsmall sample | 115 | 73.7% | 88.5% | −14.8 | 0.87% | 0.23% |
| ORD to LGAsmall sample | 115 | 79.1% | 85.9% | −6.8 | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| LAX to LASsmall sample | 115 | 84.3% | 79.5% | +4.8 | 0.00% | 0.13% |
| BOS to DCAsmall sample | 115 | 82.6% | 90.3% | −7.7 | 0.00% | 0.37% |
“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 Columbus Day weekend 2024
Frontier Airlines had the weakest holiday at 69.8% on time, 21.4 points behind Envoy Air at 91.2%. Frontier Airlines lost the most ground against its own normal weeks, 6.1 points. PSA Airlines gained the most on its normal weeks, 4.0 points.
For connections, the hour-late figure matters more than the on-time rate. 4.8% of arrivals over Columbus Day weekend 2024 were an hour or more late, against 3.9% normally, up 0.9 points. Newark (EWR) had the highest share among large airports at 11.9%.
Cancellations were local rather than general. Overall 1.11% of flights were called off against 1.17% normally, but Tampa (TPA) reached 8.71% and Orlando (MCO) 7.07%.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 15,907 | 85.7% | 85.8% | −0.1 | 1.28% | 1.30% |
| Delta Air Lines | 11,689 | 88.9% | 89.4% | −0.5 | 0.92% | 1.00% |
| American Airlines | 11,493 | 83.1% | 83.6% | −0.5 | 0.53% | 1.20% |
| SkyWest Airlines | 9,098 | 83.5% | 85.7% | −2.2 | 0.10% | 0.23% |
| United Airlines | 8,840 | 84.5% | 88.4% | −3.9 | 0.61% | 0.90% |
| Republic Airways | 3,426 | 85.5% | 91.6% | −6.1 | 0.23% | 0.25% |
| Spirit Airlines | 3,151 | 81.8% | 84.4% | −2.6 | 1.90% | 2.28% |
| Envoy Air | 3,120 | 91.2% | 89.2% | +2.0 | 0.00% | 0.51% |
| PSA Airlines | 2,752 | 85.4% | 81.4% | +4.0 | 0.47% | 1.83% |
| Alaska Airlines | 2,706 | 84.0% | 81.9% | +2.1 | 0.41% | 0.86% |
| Frontier Airlines | 2,704 | 69.8% | 75.9% | −6.1 | 6.14% | 2.91% |
| JetBlue Airways | 2,602 | 81.1% | 85.4% | −4.3 | 1.81% | 2.54% |
| Endeavor Air | 2,152 | 88.0% | 91.2% | −3.2 | 0.00% | 0.39% |
| Allegiant Air | 1,556 | 84.6% | 83.5% | +1.1 | 10.86% | 6.06% |
| Hawaiian Airlines | 860 | 87.5% | 87.1% | +0.4 | 0.00% | 1.04% |
“Normal weeks” are the two weeks either side of the holiday, leaving out other holiday periods. Change is in percentage points.
Year on year
Columbus Day weekend across the years
On-time rate by year: 84.0% in 2023, 84.8% in 2024 and 74.4% in 2025. 2024 tops that list. 1 of those 3 years showed a measurable holiday effect.
| Year | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023, close to normal | 78,009 | 84.0% | 83.5% | +0.5 | 0.22% | 0.40% |
| 2024 (this page) | 82,056 | 84.8% | 86.2% | −1.4 | 1.11% | 1.17% |
| 2025 | 80,333 | 74.4% | 81.8% | −7.4 | 0.56% | 0.36% |
“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 Columbus Day weekend
Practical points from 2024: Saturday 12 October was the best day to fly; book before the evening, since 5pm–8pm departures ran 14.7 points worse than 5am–8am ones; and allow extra connection time at Newark (EWR) and New York (LGA). The pattern across years, on the Columbus Day weekend 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
- Columbus Day weekend: every year and the next one
- Columbus Day weekend 2023
- Columbus Day weekend 2025
- Press kit: chart, data file and summary for Columbus Day weekend 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
- Dallas/Fort Worth International (DFW) all year
- Denver International (DEN) 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.