Holiday travel
Easter weekend flight delays
Good Friday through Easter Monday.
Based on 2026 and earlier data. 2027 results expected around May 2027. Historical statistics, not a forecast and not live status.
The next Easter weekend runs from Friday 26 March 2027 to Monday 29 March 2027. This page does not forecast it: it is based on 2026 data, the most recent Easter weekend with complete figures, and on every year back to 2023. 2027 results are expected around May 2027, since the US DOT releases on-time data roughly two months after each month ends.
This is a holiday with a real effect on flying. In 2 of the last 3 years it cleared the measurable-effect test, and on average the on-time rate ran above normal. 3 of 4 years were better than normal rather than worse.
There are 4 years of Easter weekend in the data, from 2023 to 2026, and 3 of them cleared the measurable-effect test.
Key figures for 2026
On time, 2026
78.2%
Normal weeks: 80.1%
Avg delay
70 min
Normal weeks: 68 min
Cancelled
1.57%
Normal weeks: 0.92%
Flights
80,633
Friday 3 April to Monday 6 April 2026
Against the two weeks either side, the on-time rate moved +7.1 points in 2023, +3.4 points in 2024, +1.7 points in 2025 and −1.9 points in 2026, an average of +2.6. Average delay moved −8 minutes in 2023, −6 minutes in 2024, +6 minutes in 2025 and +2 minutes in 2026, and cancellations −1.20 points in 2023, −0.56 points in 2024, −0.36 points in 2025 and +0.65 points in 2026.
2026's window scheduled 80,633 flights, 20,158 a day, which is +1% on the 19,982 a day of the weeks around it; over the years in the data the holiday's total grew 8%.
The share of arrivals an hour or more late, the figure that decides a connection, was 4.6% in 2023 (normally 8.0%), 5.4% in 2024 (normally 7.4%), 6.9% in 2025 (normally 7.1%) and 7.5% in 2026 (normally 6.5%).
Year on year
Every Easter weekend in the data
| Year | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 74,691 | 83.2% | 76.1% | +7.1 | 0.56% | 1.76% |
| 2024 | 77,640 | 82.4% | 79.0% | +3.4 | 0.27% | 0.83% |
| 2025 | 78,819 | 81.4% | 79.7% | +1.7 | 0.47% | 0.83% |
| 2026, close to normal | 80,633 | 78.2% | 80.1% | −1.9 | 1.57% | 0.92% |
“Normal weeks” are the two weeks either side of the holiday, leaving out other holiday periods. Change is in percentage points.
Patterns
What repeats from year to year
Between years the holiday swung by 5.0 points, from 78.2% on time in 2026 to 83.2% in 2023.
Schedules peaked on Friday 7 April 2023 (19,591 flights), Friday 29 March 2024 (20,134 flights), Friday 18 April 2025 (20,453 flights) and Friday 3 April 2026 (20,791 flights).
The worst single day was Friday 7 April 2023 (80.9%), Monday 1 April 2024 (79.5%), Friday 18 April 2025 (79.0%) and Saturday 4 April 2026 (76.5%). The worst day moved around from year to year, which points to weather rather than to a fixed crunch in the holiday schedule.
On average across 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026, the Saturday ran best at 82.6% on time and the Friday worst at 80.1%. Easter weekend lands on the same weekdays every year, so this is a pattern to plan around.
The 8pm–5am window has been the least reliable time to leave, 75.4% on time on average across 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026, against 89.5% for 5am–8am. That 14.0 points gap is bigger than the holiday effect itself.
2026 was the year for cancellations, 1.57% of scheduled flights and 3.79% at Chicago (ORD); the calmest was 2024 at 0.27%.
Airports and airlines
Who handles Easter weekend best
By airport across 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026, Charlotte (CLT, −0.3 points), Houston (IAH, −0.3 points) and San Diego (SAN, +0.1 points) fell furthest behind their own normal weeks on average, while Baltimore (BWI, +8.0), Dallas (DAL, +7.4) and Nashville (BNA, +6.8) held up best. Only airports with 500 departures in every window count.
Each year one airport took the biggest hit against its own normal weeks: San Diego (SAN, −3.1 points) in 2023, San Diego (SAN, −7.4 points) in 2024, Houston (HOU, −8.4 points) in 2025 and Charlotte (CLT, −12.0 points) in 2026.
Over the holiday across 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026, Frontier Airlines was the least reliable large carrier at 69.8% on time on average, against 86.3% for Delta Air Lines.
Southwest Airlines handled the holiday best relative to its usual record (+4.9 points on average), and Frontier Airlines worst (−0.9).
Year by year, the best-performing carrier with 500 or more flights was Republic Airways in 2023 (92.1%), Endeavor Air in 2024 (93.2%), Republic Airways in 2025 (88.3%) and Alaska Airlines in 2026 (88.0%).
Year after year the same routes carry the holiday: SFO to LAX and LAX to SFO ranked in the busiest five each time.
What to do with this
Planning Easter weekend 2027
What the years add up to for 2027: fly the Saturday if the dates allow; take a 5am–8am departure; and allow more connection time at Charlotte (CLT) and Houston (IAH). None of it guarantees a smooth trip; it moves the odds.
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
- Easter weekend 202383.2%
- Easter weekend 202482.4%
- Easter weekend 202581.4%
- Easter weekend 202678.2%
- Every US travel holiday
- The holidays that fly better than a normal week
- The busiest US travel days, and what they cost in punctuality
- How the figures are computed
Holiday windows are fixed by rule each year. See every window.
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.