Holiday record
Labor Day weekend 2025 flight delays
Friday 29 August 2025 to Monday 1 September 2025 · 74,543 flights
Historical statistics for Labor Day weekend 2025, not live status and not a forecast for a future Labor Day weekend.
Anyone who avoided Labor Day weekend 2025 expecting chaos avoided a normal week. 81.0% of flights landed on time, against 81.5% either side of it; the 74-minute average delay compares with 70, and cancellations came to 1.05% against 0.62%.
Key figures
On time
81.0%
Normal weeks: 81.5%
Avg delay
74 min
Delayed flights only. Normal weeks: 70 min
Cancelled
1.05%
Normal weeks: 0.62%
1 hour+ late
6.9%
Normal weeks: 6.4%
4 days and 74,543 flights: that is the window from Friday 29 August 2025 to Monday 1 September 2025. Its daily schedule of 18,636 flights matched the 18,887 of the weeks around it.
Against normal weeks
Labor Day weekend 2025 next to the weeks around it
| Period | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All flights, Labor Day weekend 2025 | 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.
Day by day
Which day of Labor Day weekend ran best
Trouble came early. Friday 29 August at 77.3% on time, the first day, was the weakest, 1.4 points below the 78.7% of ordinary Fridays. The best day was Sunday 31 August at 83.6%, while Friday 29 August was the busiest, with 20,329 flights scheduled. 1 of the 4 days ran below the figure for the same weekday in the baseline weeks.
Against the same weekday in normal weeks, day by day: Fri 29 −1.4, Sat 30 +0.5, Sun 31 +4.6, Mon 1 +0.4 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 29 August | 20,329 | 77.3% | 78.7% | −1.4 | 0.76% | 0.23% |
| Saturday 30 August | 16,343 | 81.2% | 80.7% | +0.5 | 2.33% | 1.14% |
| Sunday 31 August | 17,714 | 83.6% | 79.0% | +4.6 | 0.84% | 0.67% |
| Monday 1 September | 20,157 | 82.2% | 81.8% | +0.4 | 0.47% | 0.99% |
“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
Late departures were the weak spot. 5pm–8pm flights ran 70.8% on time, 20.7 points below the 91.5% of 5am–8am flights. The 8pm–5am window moved most against its normal weeks, 1.8 points worse than 76.6%.
| Departure | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5am–8am | 11,870 | 91.5% | 92.3% | −0.8 | 1.38% | 0.51% |
| 8am–11am | 14,475 | 87.7% | 87.8% | −0.1 | 0.77% | 0.36% |
| 11am–2pm | 13,837 | 82.8% | 83.1% | −0.3 | 1.10% | 0.34% |
| 2pm–5pm | 13,331 | 75.9% | 75.9% | 0.0 | 1.13% | 0.55% |
| 5pm–8pm | 12,599 | 70.8% | 71.3% | −0.5 | 1.10% | 1.07% |
| 8pm–5am | 8,431 | 74.8% | 76.6% | −1.8 | 0.75% | 1.11% |
“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 2025
Ranked by on-time rate, Honolulu (HNL) at 91.9%, Minneapolis (MSP) at 90.2% and Salt Lake City (SLC) at 89.7% led the large airports and Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) at 48.5%, Dallas (DAL) at 61.2% and Houston (HOU) at 63.6% trailed. Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) fell furthest against its own normal weeks, from 76.0% to 48.5%. Against their own normal weeks, 11 of 37 slipped.
By volume the holiday ran through Chicago (ORD, 3,785 departures, 83.8% on time), Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW, 3,507 departures, 48.5% on time) and Denver (DEN, 3,506 departures, 75.9% on time), which handled 14% of all departures between them.
Best against their own normal weeks: Las Vegas (LAS, +7.2 points), Chicago (ORD, +7.1 points) and Minneapolis (MSP, +7.0 points).
When flights did run late, how late depended on where. Delayed departures from Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) averaged 99 minutes, against 74 in its normal weeks, the longest of any large airport; at Chicago (MDW) the average was 42 minutes.
Holiday traffic did not rise evenly. Daily departures rose most at Fort Lauderdale (FLL, +7%), Miami (MIA, +6%) and Orlando (MCO, +5%), and fell most at Charlotte (CLT, −10%). 2 of the three fastest-growing airports ran below their normal on-time rate.
| Airport | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago (ORD) | 3,785 | 83.8% | 76.7% | +7.1 | 0.26% | 2.47% |
| Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) | 3,507 | 48.5% | 76.0% | −27.5 | 9.35% | 1.16% |
| Denver (DEN) | 3,506 | 75.9% | 75.4% | +0.5 | 0.09% | 0.17% |
| Atlanta (ATL) | 3,225 | 88.9% | 82.7% | +6.2 | 0.25% | 0.19% |
| Los Angeles (LAX) | 2,039 | 85.9% | 84.7% | +1.2 | 0.34% | 0.21% |
| Seattle (SEA) | 1,931 | 85.1% | 80.3% | +4.8 | 0.41% | 0.25% |
| Las Vegas (LAS) | 1,917 | 87.2% | 80.0% | +7.2 | 0.37% | 0.25% |
| Charlotte (CLT) | 1,816 | 78.3% | 79.6% | −1.3 | 0.22% | 0.42% |
| Phoenix (PHX) | 1,809 | 77.8% | 84.6% | −6.8 | 0.39% | 0.23% |
| Orlando (MCO) | 1,629 | 79.7% | 75.7% | +4.0 | 0.43% | 0.41% |
| San Francisco (SFO) | 1,537 | 83.9% | 82.1% | +1.8 | 0.46% | 0.31% |
| Boston (BOS) | 1,535 | 82.2% | 79.2% | +3.0 | 0.26% | 0.52% |
| Washington (DCA) | 1,499 | 81.5% | 78.2% | +3.3 | 0.33% | 1.12% |
| New York (LGA) | 1,409 | 87.6% | 81.9% | +5.7 | 0.35% | 1.04% |
| Newark (EWR) | 1,328 | 85.2% | 80.5% | +4.7 | 0.30% | 1.29% |
| Detroit (DTW) | 1,312 | 88.4% | 85.5% | +2.9 | 0.08% | 0.33% |
| Houston (IAH) | 1,228 | 72.6% | 81.0% | −8.4 | 1.14% | 0.27% |
| Minneapolis (MSP) | 1,215 | 90.2% | 83.2% | +7.0 | 0.41% | 0.20% |
| Salt Lake City (SLC) | 1,194 | 89.7% | 87.0% | +2.7 | 0.59% | 0.14% |
| New York (JFK) | 1,178 | 85.7% | 80.6% | +5.1 | 0.25% | 0.73% |
| Philadelphia (PHL) | 1,152 | 80.2% | 77.9% | +2.3 | 0.61% | 0.81% |
| Miami (MIA) | 1,128 | 66.6% | 71.9% | −5.3 | 1.24% | 0.54% |
| Nashville (BNA) | 1,106 | 84.1% | 84.1% | 0.0 | 0.72% | 0.27% |
| San Diego (SAN) | 1,039 | 82.2% | 82.2% | 0.0 | 0.77% | 0.32% |
| Baltimore (BWI) | 1,016 | 86.7% | 84.1% | +2.6 | 0.59% | 0.19% |
| Austin (AUS) | 868 | 75.1% | 83.7% | −8.6 | 2.07% | 0.30% |
| Fort Lauderdale (FLL) | 844 | 71.0% | 78.8% | −7.8 | 0.59% | 0.34% |
| Chicago (MDW) | 818 | 85.6% | 82.4% | +3.2 | 0.00% | 0.63% |
| Tampa (TPA) | 769 | 80.6% | 80.8% | −0.2 | 0.91% | 0.27% |
| Portland (PDX) | 716 | 87.9% | 83.4% | +4.5 | 0.70% | 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 Labor Day weekend 2025
The busiest routes were JFK to LAX (118 flights, 87.3% on time against 84.0% normally), LAX to JFK (118 flights, 87.3% on time against 82.9% normally) and LAX to SFO (116 flights, 74.1% on time against 70.0% 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. 9 of those ten ran above their normal on-time rate.
| Route | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JFK to LAXsmall sample | 118 | 87.3% | 84.0% | +3.3 | 0.00% | 0.49% |
| LAX to JFKsmall sample | 118 | 87.3% | 82.9% | +4.4 | 0.00% | 0.37% |
| LAX to SFOsmall sample | 116 | 74.1% | 70.0% | +4.1 | 0.00% | 0.12% |
| ORD to LGAsmall sample | 116 | 87.1% | 72.0% | +15.1 | 0.00% | 1.69% |
| LGA to ORDsmall sample | 116 | 83.6% | 76.2% | +7.4 | 0.00% | 1.69% |
| SFO to LAXsmall sample | 116 | 81.0% | 79.2% | +1.8 | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| OGG to HNLsmall sample | 113 | 98.2% | 95.1% | +3.1 | 0.00% | 0.12% |
| HNL to OGGsmall sample | 113 | 94.7% | 94.8% | −0.1 | 0.00% | 0.12% |
| LAS to LAXsmall sample | 94 | 83.0% | 80.5% | +2.5 | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| LAX to LASsmall sample | 94 | 88.3% | 77.1% | +11.2 | 0.00% | 0.00% |
“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 2025
American Airlines had the weakest holiday at 65.6% on time, 24.9 points behind Delta Air Lines at 90.5%. Envoy Air lost the most ground against its own normal weeks, 13.3 points. Republic Airways gained the most on its normal weeks, 6.9 points.
The number that decides a missed connection is the share of flights an hour or more late. 6.9% of arrivals over Labor Day weekend 2025 were an hour or more late, against 6.4% normally, up 0.5 points. Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) had the highest share among large airports at 27.4%.
Cancellations were local rather than general. Overall 1.05% of flights were called off against 0.62% normally, but Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) reached 9.35% and Austin (AUS) 2.07%.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 13,935 | 80.8% | 82.3% | −1.5 | 0.07% | 0.17% |
| Delta Air Lines | 10,523 | 90.5% | 85.6% | +4.9 | 0.03% | 0.10% |
| American Airlines | 10,361 | 65.6% | 76.6% | −11.0 | 6.20% | 0.94% |
| SkyWest Airlines | 8,989 | 82.4% | 82.6% | −0.2 | 0.19% | 0.87% |
| United Airlines | 8,668 | 82.8% | 79.8% | +3.0 | 0.17% | 0.64% |
| Republic Airways | 3,630 | 89.9% | 83.0% | +6.9 | 0.00% | 1.50% |
| Envoy Air | 3,409 | 70.9% | 84.2% | −13.3 | 1.32% | 1.49% |
| Alaska Airlines | 2,834 | 86.6% | 80.3% | +6.3 | 0.25% | 0.58% |
| JetBlue Airways | 2,679 | 80.6% | 76.7% | +3.9 | 0.11% | 0.42% |
| Frontier Airlines | 2,500 | 75.4% | 77.5% | −2.1 | 0.44% | 0.77% |
| PSA Airlines | 2,470 | 82.0% | 80.9% | +1.1 | 0.61% | 1.20% |
| Spirit Airlines | 2,312 | 82.9% | 81.4% | +1.5 | 0.39% | 0.65% |
| Allegiant Air | 1,366 | 85.3% | 80.5% | +4.8 | 0.00% | 0.10% |
| Hawaiian Airlines | 867 | 90.3% | 88.6% | +1.7 | 0.23% | 0.21% |
“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, 2025 ranks 2 of 3 for punctuality (85.0% in 2023, 79.5% in 2024 and 81.0% in 2025). 2 of them cleared the measurable-effect test.
| Year | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 73,092 | 85.0% | 81.5% | +3.5 | 0.53% | 1.80% |
| 2024 | 75,754 | 79.5% | 83.4% | −3.9 | 0.93% | 0.62% |
| 2025 (this page) | 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
What 2025 suggests for a future Labor Day weekend: Sunday 31 August was the best day to fly; book before the evening, since 5pm–8pm departures ran 20.7 points worse than 5am–8am ones; and allow extra connection time at Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) and Dallas (DAL). A single year can be decided by one storm, so weigh it against the other years before planning around it.
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 2024
- Press kit: chart, data file and summary for Labor Day weekend 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
- Chicago O'Hare International (ORD) 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.