Holiday travel
Memorial Day weekend flight delays
The long weekend ending on the last Monday of May, the unofficial start of summer travel.
Based on 2026 and earlier data. 2027 results expected around July 2027. Historical statistics, not a forecast and not live status.
Memorial Day weekend 2027 falls on Friday 28 May 2027 to Monday 31 May 2027. What follows is based on 2026 data and the years before it, back to 2023; figures for 2027 itself should arrive around July 2027, once the US DOT has published the months it covers.
The data backs up Memorial Day weekend's reputation: 2 of its last 3 years showed a measurable effect. Still, 2 years ran more punctually than normal, so the effect cuts both ways.
Of the 4 Memorial Day weekends on record here (2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026), 3 moved a headline figure past the test and 1 did not.
Key figures for 2026
On time, 2026
74.2%
Normal weeks: 78.8%
Avg delay
72 min
Normal weeks: 69 min
Cancelled
0.95%
Normal weeks: 0.95%
Flights
79,261
Friday 22 May to Monday 25 May 2026
Year by year the holiday's on-time gap to its normal weeks was +5.4 in 2023, −2.2 in 2024, +1.3 in 2025 and −4.6 in 2026 points, below normal by 0.0 points on average. The delay gap was +1 minute in 2023, +3 minutes in 2024, +10 minutes in 2025 and +2 minutes in 2026; the cancellation gap −0.24 in 2023, −0.05 in 2024, −0.17 in 2025 and 0.00 in 2026 points.
2026's window scheduled 79,261 flights, 19,815 a day, which is −0% on the 19,878 a day of the weeks around it; over the years in the data the holiday's total grew 8%.
For anyone connecting: 4.9% in 2023 (normally 6.9%), 11.4% in 2024 (normally 9.8%), 8.7% in 2025 (normally 8.4%) and 9.5% in 2026 (normally 7.2%) of arrivals ran an hour or more late.
Year on year
Every Memorial Day weekend in the data
| Year | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 73,454 | 84.6% | 79.2% | +5.4 | 0.46% | 0.70% |
| 2024, close to normal | 77,237 | 72.0% | 74.2% | −2.2 | 1.40% | 1.45% |
| 2025 | 78,097 | 77.9% | 76.6% | +1.3 | 0.65% | 0.82% |
| 2026 | 79,261 | 74.2% | 78.8% | −4.6 | 0.95% | 0.95% |
“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 12.6 points, from 72.0% on time in 2024 to 84.6% in 2023.
The busiest single day each year was Friday 26 May 2023 (19,696 flights), Friday 24 May 2024 (20,852 flights), Friday 23 May 2025 (20,826 flights) and Friday 22 May 2026 (21,005 flights).
Each year's weakest day: Friday 26 May 2023 (78.2%), Friday 24 May 2024 (68.2%), Monday 26 May 2025 (71.9%) and Friday 22 May 2026 (71.0%). The worst day moved around from year to year, which points to weather rather than to a fixed crunch in the holiday schedule.
The strongest day of the window across 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026 was the Saturday, 80.3% on time on average, and the weakest the Friday at 74.9%. Memorial Day weekend lands on the same weekdays every year, so this is a pattern to plan around.
Early or late matters: 5am–8am departures averaged 89.4% on time across 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026, 5pm–8pm departures 66.0%. That 23.4 points gap is bigger than the holiday effect itself.
2024 was the year for cancellations, 1.40% of scheduled flights and 5.46% at New York (LGA); the calmest was 2023 at 0.46%.
Airports and airlines
Who handles Memorial Day weekend best
Averaged across 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026, the airports that handled the holiday best against their own normal weeks were Las Vegas (LAS, +5.7), Austin (AUS, +4.9) and Miami (MIA, +4.9); the ones that struggled most were Atlanta (ATL, −6.5), Chicago (ORD, −4.0) and New York (LGA, −3.6).
Each year one airport took the biggest hit against its own normal weeks: Denver (DEN, −2.7 points) in 2023, Atlanta (ATL, −22.1 points) in 2024, Denver (DEN, −15.0 points) in 2025 and Atlanta (ATL, −20.5 points) in 2026.
By carrier across 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026, Republic Airways averaged the best on-time rate at 82.9% and Frontier Airlines the worst at 65.8%, a gap of 17.0 points.
Alaska Airlines handled the holiday best relative to its usual record (+3.6 points on average), and United Airlines worst (−2.1).
Year by year, the best-performing carrier with 500 or more flights was Republic Airways in 2023 (92.2%), Hawaiian Airlines in 2024 (83.0%), Hawaiian Airlines in 2025 (90.6%) and Alaska Airlines in 2026 (83.2%).
LAX to SFO and SFO to LAX were among the five busiest routes in every year, so their figures on the year pages are worth comparing across years.
What to do with this
Planning Memorial Day weekend 2027
Planning Memorial Day weekend 2027? On the record so far: fly the Saturday if the dates allow; take a 5am–8am departure; and allow more connection time at Atlanta (ATL) and Chicago (ORD).
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
- Memorial Day weekend 202384.6%
- Memorial Day weekend 202472.0%
- Memorial Day weekend 202577.9%
- Memorial Day weekend 202674.2%
- 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.