Holiday record
Easter weekend 2023 flight delays
Friday 7 April 2023 to Monday 10 April 2023 · 74,691 flights
Historical statistics for Easter weekend 2023, not live status and not a forecast for a future Easter weekend.
The holiday lifted punctuality: 83.2% of Easter weekend 2023 flights were on time against 76.1% in normal weeks, 7.1 points better. Beyond that, late flights averaged 60 minutes against 68 and cancellations came to 0.56% against 1.76%.
Key figures
On time
83.2%
Normal weeks: 76.1%
Avg delay
60 min
Delayed flights only. Normal weeks: 68 min
Cancelled
0.56%
Normal weeks: 1.76%
1 hour+ late
4.6%
Normal weeks: 8.0%
Counted from Friday 7 April 2023 to Monday 10 April 2023, the holiday put 74,691 flights on the schedule over 4 days. Day for day the schedule barely changed, 18,673 flights against 18,810 in the weeks around it.
Against normal weeks
Easter weekend 2023 next to the weeks around it
| Period | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All flights, Easter weekend 2023 | 74,691 | 83.2% | 76.1% | +7.1 | 0.56% | 1.76% |
“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 Easter weekend ran best
Trouble came early. Friday 7 April at 80.9% on time, the first day, was the weakest, 4.1 points below the 76.8% of ordinary Fridays. The best day was Saturday 8 April at 85.1%, while Friday 7 April was the busiest, with 19,591 flights scheduled. 0 of the 4 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 7 +4.1, Sat 8 +15.2, Sun 9 +12.9, Mon 10 +6.1 points. Not one day ran below its weekday baseline.
| Day | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friday 7 April | 19,591 | 80.9% | 76.8% | +4.1 | 0.75% | 2.23% |
| Saturday 8 April | 16,947 | 85.1% | 69.9% | +15.2 | 0.69% | 3.21% |
| Sunday 9 April | 18,625 | 85.0% | 72.1% | +12.9 | 0.49% | 1.98% |
| Monday 10 April | 19,528 | 82.2% | 76.1% | +6.1 | 0.32% | 0.84% |
“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 90.2% on time, and by 8pm–5am that had fallen to 76.9%, 13.3 points lower. The 5pm–8pm window moved most against its normal weeks, 11.6 points better than 68.3%.
| Departure | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5am–8am | 12,078 | 90.2% | 87.6% | +2.6 | 0.64% | 1.83% |
| 8am–11am | 13,448 | 86.3% | 82.3% | +4.0 | 0.72% | 1.25% |
| 11am–2pm | 13,201 | 83.4% | 77.1% | +6.3 | 0.62% | 1.30% |
| 2pm–5pm | 12,728 | 81.5% | 71.4% | +10.1 | 0.42% | 1.65% |
| 5pm–8pm | 13,010 | 79.9% | 68.3% | +11.6 | 0.40% | 2.28% |
| 8pm–5am | 10,226 | 76.9% | 67.8% | +9.1 | 0.54% | 2.48% |
“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 Easter weekend 2023
40 airports scheduled at least 500 departures. Fort Lauderdale (FLL) at 65.9%, Miami (MIA) at 66.8% and Honolulu (HNL) at 73.6% ran the lowest on-time rates, Minneapolis (MSP) at 92.5%, Dallas (DAL) at 91.1% and Detroit (DTW) at 90.4% the highest. San Diego (SAN) fell furthest against its own normal weeks, from 78.2% to 75.1%. In all, 3 of 40 ran below their own figures for the surrounding weeks.
13% of the holiday's departures left from just three airports, Atlanta (ATL, 3,662 departures, 81.2% on time), Denver (DEN, 2,977 departures, 83.9% on time) and Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW, 2,927 departures, 84.5% on time).
The large airports that did better than usual were Chicago (MDW, +19.6 points), Dallas (DAL, +16.3 points) and Baltimore (BWI, +13.6 points).
Not all delays were equal. Delayed departures from Salt Lake City (SLC) averaged 79 minutes, against 63 in its normal weeks, the longest of any large airport; at Dallas (DAL) the average was 33 minutes.
Some airports took far more of the holiday rush than others. Daily departures rose most at Tampa (TPA, +8%), Fort Lauderdale (FLL, +7%) and Philadelphia (PHL, +4%), and fell most at New York (LGA, −8%). 0 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) | 3,662 | 81.2% | 74.9% | +6.3 | 1.28% | 1.78% |
| Denver (DEN) | 2,977 | 83.9% | 71.9% | +12.0 | 0.47% | 1.22% |
| Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) | 2,927 | 84.5% | 74.0% | +10.5 | 0.14% | 1.98% |
| Chicago (ORD) | 2,772 | 87.8% | 74.6% | +13.2 | 0.14% | 3.12% |
| Las Vegas (LAS) | 2,122 | 78.5% | 67.8% | +10.7 | 0.38% | 1.57% |
| Charlotte (CLT) | 2,101 | 74.7% | 75.5% | −0.8 | 0.05% | 0.90% |
| Los Angeles (LAX) | 2,047 | 81.1% | 80.8% | +0.3 | 0.98% | 1.40% |
| Phoenix (PHX) | 2,016 | 84.8% | 79.5% | +5.3 | 0.50% | 0.79% |
| Orlando (MCO) | 1,946 | 78.2% | 66.9% | +11.3 | 0.67% | 1.54% |
| New York (LGA) | 1,741 | 86.9% | 80.0% | +6.9 | 0.46% | 1.89% |
| Seattle (SEA) | 1,688 | 77.6% | 80.0% | −2.4 | 0.71% | 1.27% |
| Newark (EWR) | 1,590 | 81.0% | 69.0% | +12.0 | 0.38% | 3.60% |
| Boston (BOS) | 1,583 | 80.9% | 77.1% | +3.8 | 0.51% | 1.38% |
| New York (JFK) | 1,554 | 79.8% | 71.0% | +8.8 | 1.61% | 2.45% |
| Washington (DCA) | 1,518 | 87.0% | 79.5% | +7.5 | 0.26% | 1.87% |
| San Francisco (SFO) | 1,434 | 81.9% | 78.6% | +3.3 | 0.35% | 1.16% |
| Detroit (DTW) | 1,389 | 90.4% | 81.3% | +9.1 | 1.22% | 1.84% |
| Minneapolis (MSP) | 1,334 | 92.5% | 79.1% | +13.4 | 0.75% | 2.91% |
| Salt Lake City (SLC) | 1,185 | 88.3% | 74.7% | +13.6 | 1.43% | 1.98% |
| Fort Lauderdale (FLL) | 1,158 | 65.9% | 61.3% | +4.6 | 1.21% | 9.19% |
| Houston (IAH) | 1,157 | 77.7% | 71.3% | +6.4 | 0.52% | 1.45% |
| Miami (MIA) | 1,147 | 66.8% | 66.2% | +0.6 | 0.44% | 1.03% |
| Nashville (BNA) | 1,029 | 87.4% | 75.4% | +12.0 | 0.19% | 1.33% |
| Tampa (TPA) | 1,013 | 85.9% | 77.1% | +8.8 | 0.89% | 1.45% |
| Baltimore (BWI) | 991 | 81.4% | 67.8% | +13.6 | 0.10% | 1.44% |
| Philadelphia (PHL) | 982 | 84.1% | 77.2% | +6.9 | 0.41% | 1.27% |
| Austin (AUS) | 973 | 82.2% | 74.9% | +7.3 | 0.31% | 1.44% |
| San Diego (SAN) | 959 | 75.1% | 78.2% | −3.1 | 0.31% | 1.07% |
| Chicago (MDW) | 884 | 88.2% | 68.6% | +19.6 | 0.34% | 2.18% |
| Dallas (DAL) | 774 | 91.1% | 74.8% | +16.3 | 0.00% | 2.02% |
“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 Easter weekend 2023
The busiest routes were HNL to OGG (142 flights, 70.7% on time against 69.6% normally), OGG to HNL (141 flights, 61.9% on time against 54.5% normally) and SFO to LAX (122 flights, 84.4% on time against 80.4% normally). No route reached 500 flights in 4 days, so the table shows the ten busiest with a small-sample mark and they are not ranked. 10 of those ten ran above their normal on-time rate.
| Route | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HNL to OGGsmall sample | 142 | 70.7% | 69.6% | +1.1 | 1.41% | 1.52% |
| OGG to HNLsmall sample | 141 | 61.9% | 54.5% | +7.4 | 1.42% | 1.63% |
| SFO to LAXsmall sample | 122 | 84.4% | 80.4% | +4.0 | 0.00% | 1.74% |
| LAX to SFOsmall sample | 122 | 83.6% | 75.6% | +8.0 | 0.00% | 1.73% |
| LAX to LASsmall sample | 122 | 80.2% | 71.4% | +8.8 | 0.82% | 2.15% |
| LAS to LAXsmall sample | 120 | 85.7% | 71.8% | +13.9 | 0.83% | 1.78% |
| LGA to ORDsmall sample | 115 | 87.0% | 76.0% | +11.0 | 0.00% | 3.60% |
| DCA to BOSsmall sample | 115 | 94.8% | 81.8% | +13.0 | 0.00% | 0.37% |
| ORD to LGAsmall sample | 115 | 89.6% | 74.7% | +14.9 | 0.00% | 3.86% |
| BOS to DCAsmall sample | 115 | 93.0% | 83.2% | +9.8 | 0.00% | 0.62% |
“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 Easter weekend 2023
The airline mattered a great deal. Republic Airways ran 92.1% on time and Hawaiian Airlines 61.0%, a 31.1 points gap across 15 carriers. Alaska Airlines lost the most ground against its own normal weeks, 1.1 points. Southwest Airlines gained the most on its normal weeks, 11.7 points.
Tight connections depend less on the on-time rate than on how many flights ran badly late. 4.6% of arrivals over Easter weekend 2023 were an hour or more late, against 8.0% normally, down 3.4 points. Miami (MIA) had the highest share among large airports at 14.4%.
Cancellations were local rather than general. Overall 0.56% of flights were called off against 1.76% normally, but New York (JFK) reached 1.61% and Salt Lake City (SLC) 1.43%.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 15,098 | 85.2% | 73.5% | +11.7 | 0.11% | 1.00% |
| Delta Air Lines | 10,800 | 85.6% | 79.6% | +6.0 | 2.44% | 3.06% |
| American Airlines | 10,204 | 80.1% | 74.7% | +5.4 | 0.00% | 1.39% |
| United Airlines | 7,638 | 84.6% | 75.3% | +9.3 | 0.33% | 1.72% |
| SkyWest Airlines | 7,443 | 91.0% | 83.2% | +7.8 | 0.19% | 1.66% |
| Republic Airways | 3,495 | 92.1% | 85.0% | +7.1 | 0.00% | 2.34% |
| JetBlue Airways | 3,251 | 72.6% | 65.3% | +7.3 | 0.80% | 2.83% |
| Spirit Airlines | 3,045 | 70.4% | 63.3% | +7.1 | 0.43% | 3.50% |
| Alaska Airlines | 2,621 | 76.5% | 77.6% | −1.1 | 0.65% | 1.24% |
| Envoy Air | 2,292 | 87.0% | 80.6% | +6.4 | 0.00% | 1.40% |
| PSA Airlines | 2,114 | 84.5% | 84.1% | +0.4 | 0.00% | 0.97% |
| Endeavor Air | 2,062 | 89.4% | 84.7% | +4.7 | 0.00% | 0.39% |
| Frontier Airlines | 1,878 | 68.2% | 65.5% | +2.7 | 1.17% | 1.77% |
| Allegiant Air | 1,860 | 78.3% | 69.5% | +8.8 | 0.59% | 1.32% |
| Hawaiian Airlines | 890 | 61.0% | 59.6% | +1.4 | 1.01% | 1.20% |
“Normal weeks” are the two weeks either side of the holiday, leaving out other holiday periods. Change is in percentage points.
Year on year
Easter weekend across the years
In the run of 4 years (83.2% in 2023, 82.4% in 2024, 81.4% in 2025 and 78.2% in 2026), 2023 comes out on top. 3 of those 4 years showed a measurable holiday effect.
| Year | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 (this page) | 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.
What to do with this
Planning around Easter weekend
If 2023 is any guide: Saturday 8 April was the best day to fly; book before the evening, since 8pm–5am departures ran 13.3 points worse than 5am–8am ones; and allow extra connection time at San Diego (SAN). Treat that as one data point; the Easter weekend 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
- Easter weekend: every year and the next one
- Easter weekend 2024
- Easter weekend 2025
- Easter weekend 2026
- Press kit: chart, data file and summary for Easter weekend 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.