Holiday record
Labor Day weekend 2024 flight delays
Friday 30 August 2024 to Monday 2 September 2024 · 75,754 flights
Historical statistics for Labor Day weekend 2024, not live status and not a forecast for a future Labor Day weekend.
Labor Day weekend 2024's effect showed up in how late flights ran rather than how many ran late: delayed flights averaged 75 minutes behind schedule, 7 minutes more than the 67 of the weeks around it. Beyond that, the on-time rate was 79.5% against 83.4% and cancellations came to 0.93% against 0.62%.
Key figures
On time
79.5%
Normal weeks: 83.4%
Avg delay
75 min
Delayed flights only. Normal weeks: 67 min
Cancelled
0.93%
Normal weeks: 0.62%
1 hour+ late
7.3%
Normal weeks: 5.4%
Between Friday 30 August 2024 to Monday 2 September 2024 airlines scheduled 75,754 flights. Measured per day against the 28 baseline days, the holiday was 3% quieter than usual (18,939 flights a day against 19,536).
Against normal weeks
Labor Day weekend 2024 next to the weeks around it
| Period | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All flights, Labor Day weekend 2024 | 75,754 | 79.5% | 83.4% | −3.9 | 0.93% | 0.62% |
“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 Labor Day weekend ran best
The holiday started badly: its opening day, Friday 30 August at 71.2% on time, 11.9 points below the 83.1% of ordinary Fridays, was the worst of the window. The best day was Saturday 31 August at 83.3%, while Friday 30 August was the busiest, with 20,885 flights scheduled. 2 of the 4 days ran below the figure for the same weekday in the baseline weeks.
Day-by-day change against normal weekdays: Fri 30 −11.9, Sat 31 −2.0, Sun 1 +2.3, Mon 2 +0.4 points. No more than two days 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 30 August | 20,885 | 71.2% | 83.1% | −11.9 | 1.57% | 0.20% |
| Saturday 31 August | 16,428 | 83.3% | 85.3% | −2.0 | 0.87% | 0.17% |
| Sunday 1 September | 17,780 | 82.7% | 80.4% | +2.3 | 0.78% | 1.37% |
| Monday 2 September | 20,661 | 81.8% | 81.4% | +0.4 | 0.46% | 1.02% |
“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: 68.7% on time for 5pm–8pm departures against 90.9% for 5am–8am. The 5pm–8pm window moved most against its normal weeks, 6.4 points worse than 75.1%.
| Departure | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5am–8am | 11,869 | 90.9% | 93.0% | −2.1 | 1.44% | 0.49% |
| 8am–11am | 14,578 | 86.9% | 88.9% | −2.0 | 0.63% | 0.36% |
| 11am–2pm | 13,919 | 82.6% | 85.7% | −3.1 | 0.30% | 0.37% |
| 2pm–5pm | 13,779 | 74.3% | 79.7% | −5.4 | 0.33% | 0.65% |
| 5pm–8pm | 13,028 | 68.7% | 75.1% | −6.4 | 0.94% | 1.01% |
| 8pm–5am | 8,581 | 70.4% | 76.2% | −5.8 | 2.72% | 1.02% |
“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 Labor Day weekend 2024
The slowdown was broad rather than local: 32 of 39 large airports ran below their own normal weeks. Dallas (DAL) fell furthest against its own normal weeks, from 86.6% to 69.3%. At the bottom of the table were Miami (MIA) at 62.1%, Charlotte (CLT) at 63.2% and Fort Lauderdale (FLL) at 67.3%; at the top, Honolulu (HNL) at 90.8%, Salt Lake City (SLC) at 87.1% and Minneapolis (MSP) at 86.8%.
Three hubs set the tone for the whole network: Atlanta (ATL, 3,476 departures, 82.0% on time), Denver (DEN, 3,401 departures, 86.0% on time) and Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW, 3,398 departures, 70.0% on time). Between them they handled 14% of departures.
Not every airport struggled: Seattle (SEA, +9.8 points), Denver (DEN, +5.4 points) and Orlando (MCO, +3.4 points) improved on their usual on-time rate.
Not all delays were equal. Delayed departures from Raleigh (RDU) averaged 129 minutes, against 71 in its normal weeks, the longest of any large airport; at Honolulu (HNL) the average was 33 minutes.
The holiday reshaped where people flew. Daily departures rose most at Miami (MIA, +3%), Orlando (MCO, +2%) and New York (JFK, +0%), and fell most at Kansas City (MCI, −8%). The growth cost punctuality at two of the three.
| Airport | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta (ATL) | 3,476 | 82.0% | 86.0% | −4.0 | 0.32% | 0.29% |
| Denver (DEN) | 3,401 | 86.0% | 80.6% | +5.4 | 0.18% | 0.25% |
| Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) | 3,398 | 70.0% | 80.8% | −10.8 | 0.26% | 0.28% |
| Chicago (ORD) | 3,243 | 73.9% | 79.7% | −5.8 | 0.34% | 0.47% |
| Charlotte (CLT) | 2,305 | 63.2% | 77.8% | −14.6 | 8.76% | 0.46% |
| Los Angeles (LAX) | 2,088 | 85.3% | 85.9% | −0.6 | 0.24% | 0.28% |
| Las Vegas (LAS) | 2,032 | 71.4% | 83.9% | −12.5 | 0.64% | 0.30% |
| Seattle (SEA) | 1,974 | 83.7% | 73.9% | +9.8 | 0.30% | 0.54% |
| Phoenix (PHX) | 1,920 | 81.0% | 84.9% | −3.9 | 0.16% | 0.27% |
| New York (LGA) | 1,707 | 84.5% | 85.9% | −1.4 | 0.64% | 2.41% |
| Boston (BOS) | 1,608 | 81.6% | 83.3% | −1.7 | 0.50% | 0.94% |
| San Francisco (SFO) | 1,526 | 80.3% | 82.1% | −1.8 | 0.66% | 0.47% |
| Orlando (MCO) | 1,513 | 78.6% | 75.2% | +3.4 | 0.53% | 0.58% |
| Washington (DCA) | 1,474 | 74.8% | 84.2% | −9.4 | 1.76% | 1.30% |
| Detroit (DTW) | 1,412 | 85.3% | 85.2% | +0.1 | 0.57% | 0.35% |
| Minneapolis (MSP) | 1,398 | 86.8% | 85.4% | +1.4 | 0.21% | 0.17% |
| New York (JFK) | 1,392 | 73.3% | 81.7% | −8.4 | 0.14% | 1.58% |
| Newark (EWR) | 1,386 | 75.8% | 82.7% | −6.9 | 1.88% | 2.75% |
| Houston (IAH) | 1,234 | 75.0% | 81.2% | −6.2 | 0.49% | 0.55% |
| Philadelphia (PHL) | 1,212 | 76.9% | 77.3% | −0.4 | 1.24% | 1.11% |
| Salt Lake City (SLC) | 1,188 | 87.1% | 86.0% | +1.1 | 0.17% | 0.18% |
| Baltimore (BWI) | 1,078 | 76.1% | 80.1% | −4.0 | 0.83% | 0.80% |
| Miami (MIA) | 1,075 | 62.1% | 71.1% | −9.0 | 0.84% | 0.57% |
| Nashville (BNA) | 1,067 | 76.7% | 87.0% | −10.3 | 1.12% | 0.49% |
| San Diego (SAN) | 1,023 | 73.9% | 84.6% | −10.7 | 0.39% | 0.27% |
| Chicago (MDW) | 864 | 80.0% | 85.1% | −5.1 | 0.00% | 0.26% |
| Austin (AUS) | 840 | 80.5% | 87.4% | −6.9 | 0.83% | 0.32% |
| Fort Lauderdale (FLL) | 813 | 67.3% | 74.3% | −7.0 | 0.49% | 0.63% |
| Dallas (DAL) | 713 | 69.3% | 86.6% | −17.3 | 0.14% | 0.27% |
| Tampa (TPA) | 711 | 79.9% | 80.5% | −0.6 | 0.84% | 0.68% |
“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 Labor Day weekend 2024
No route reached 500 flights over the 4 days, so none is ranked. The busiest were LAX to SFO (126 flights, 79.4% on time against 76.5% normally), SFO to LAX (126 flights, 81.7% on time against 84.7% normally) and OGG to HNL (125 flights, 90.4% on time against 94.0% normally); 1 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LAX to SFOsmall sample | 126 | 79.4% | 76.5% | +2.9 | 0.00% | 0.11% |
| SFO to LAXsmall sample | 126 | 81.7% | 84.7% | −3.0 | 0.00% | 0.22% |
| OGG to HNLsmall sample | 125 | 90.4% | 94.0% | −3.6 | 0.00% | 0.78% |
| HNL to OGGsmall sample | 124 | 94.4% | 94.9% | −0.5 | 0.00% | 0.67% |
| LGA to ORDsmall sample | 117 | 76.9% | 82.2% | −5.3 | 0.00% | 2.29% |
| ORD to LGAsmall sample | 117 | 77.8% | 82.2% | −4.4 | 0.00% | 2.18% |
| JFK to LAXsmall sample | 109 | 78.9% | 85.4% | −6.5 | 0.00% | 0.63% |
| LAX to JFKsmall sample | 109 | 82.6% | 86.6% | −4.0 | 0.00% | 0.63% |
| LAS to LAXsmall sample | 102 | 77.5% | 83.3% | −5.8 | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| LAX to LASsmall sample | 102 | 73.5% | 80.4% | −6.9 | 0.00% | 0.13% |
“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 Labor Day weekend 2024
Carrier choice was worth 19.9 points of punctuality over the holiday, from Hawaiian Airlines at 86.7% down to PSA Airlines at 66.8%. PSA Airlines lost the most ground against its own normal weeks, 15.3 points. Alaska Airlines gained the most on its normal weeks, 8.9 points.
For connections, the hour-late figure matters more than the on-time rate. 7.3% of arrivals over Labor Day weekend 2024 were an hour or more late, against 5.4% normally, up 1.9 points. Charlotte (CLT) had the highest share among large airports at 19.3%.
Cancellations were local rather than general. Overall 0.93% of flights were called off against 0.62% normally, but Charlotte (CLT) reached 8.76% and Raleigh (RDU) 2.65%.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 14,301 | 80.8% | 86.3% | −5.5 | 0.07% | 0.37% |
| Delta Air Lines | 10,686 | 86.0% | 87.3% | −1.3 | 0.05% | 0.18% |
| American Airlines | 10,364 | 70.1% | 78.1% | −8.0 | 3.11% | 0.42% |
| United Airlines | 8,395 | 81.9% | 84.1% | −2.2 | 0.55% | 0.93% |
| SkyWest Airlines | 8,138 | 83.9% | 83.3% | +0.6 | 0.22% | 0.25% |
| Republic Airways | 3,258 | 84.8% | 88.9% | −4.1 | 0.95% | 2.23% |
| Envoy Air | 3,176 | 74.2% | 84.8% | −10.6 | 0.19% | 0.27% |
| Alaska Airlines | 2,885 | 85.2% | 76.3% | +8.9 | 0.38% | 0.93% |
| Spirit Airlines | 2,817 | 73.6% | 79.0% | −5.4 | 1.46% | 0.95% |
| Frontier Airlines | 2,641 | 74.0% | 75.4% | −1.4 | 2.23% | 0.98% |
| JetBlue Airways | 2,580 | 70.5% | 76.3% | −5.8 | 0.19% | 1.19% |
| PSA Airlines | 2,508 | 66.8% | 82.1% | −15.3 | 5.74% | 0.80% |
| Endeavor Air | 1,974 | 83.1% | 89.0% | −5.9 | 0.41% | 1.67% |
| Allegiant Air | 1,162 | 79.4% | 83.6% | −4.2 | 0.00% | 0.05% |
| Hawaiian Airlines | 869 | 86.7% | 90.2% | −3.5 | 0.00% | 1.57% |
“Normal weeks” are the two weeks either side of the holiday, leaving out other holiday periods. Change is in percentage points.
Year on year
Labor Day weekend across the years
Set against other years, 2024 ranks last for punctuality (85.0% in 2023, 79.5% in 2024 and 81.0% in 2025). A measurable effect turned up in 2 of the 3.
| Year | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 73,092 | 85.0% | 81.5% | +3.5 | 0.53% | 1.80% |
| 2024 (this page) | 75,754 | 79.5% | 83.4% | −3.9 | 0.93% | 0.62% |
| 2025, close to normal | 74,543 | 81.0% | 81.5% | −0.5 | 1.05% | 0.62% |
“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 Labor Day weekend
Practical points from 2024: Saturday 31 August was the best day to fly; book before the evening, since 5pm–8pm departures ran 22.2 points worse than 5am–8am ones; and allow extra connection time at Dallas (DAL) and Raleigh (RDU). The pattern across years, on the Labor 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
- Labor Day weekend: every year and the next one
- Labor Day weekend 2023
- Labor Day weekend 2025
- Press kit: chart, data file and summary for Labor 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
- 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.