Memorial Day weekend 2026 flight delays

Trouble came early. Friday 22 May at 71.0% on time, the first day, was the weakest, 10.0 points below the 81.0% of ordinary Fridays. The best day was Saturday 23 May at 76.9%, while Friday 22 May was the busiest, with 21,005 flights scheduled. 4 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 22 −10.0, Sat 23 −7.0, Sun 24 −2.0, Mon 25 −0.1 points. The longest bad stretch ran 4 days, from Friday 22 May to Monday 25 May.

Late departures were the weak spot. 5pm–8pm flights ran 62.2% on time, 26.0 points below the 88.2% of 5am–8am flights. The 5pm–8pm window moved most against its normal weeks, 6.2 points worse than 68.4%.

The picture split by airport, with 28 of 41 large airports below their normal weeks and the rest above. Atlanta (ATL) fell furthest against its own normal weeks, from 82.1% to 61.6%. The weakest were Dallas (DAL) at 57.3%, Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) at 58.8% and Atlanta (ATL) at 61.6%; the strongest Portland (PDX) at 87.2%, Salt Lake City (SLC) at 86.9% and Newark (EWR) at 86.3%.

The biggest airports carried the most weight: Chicago (ORD, 4,318 departures, 67.1% on time), Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW, 3,694 departures, 58.8% on time) and Denver (DEN, 3,650 departures, 77.7% on time), together 15% of every departure in the window.

The large airports that did better than usual were Portland (PDX, +4.6 points), Denver (DEN, +4.1 points) and St. Louis (STL, +2.8 points).

Not all delays were equal. Delayed departures from Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) averaged 88 minutes, against 78 in its normal weeks, the longest of any large airport; at Chicago (MDW) the average was 41 minutes.

Holiday traffic did not rise evenly. Daily departures rose most at Fort Lauderdale (FLL, +6%), New York (JFK, +4%) and Honolulu (HNL, +3%), and fell most at Chicago (MDW, −7%). All three ran below their normal on-time rate, which fits airports stretched by the extra schedule.

Short holiday windows spread traffic thin across routes: the busiest, SFO to LAX (137 flights, 64.0% on time against 63.9% normally), stayed under 500 flights. The ten busiest appear below with their figures marked as small samples; 1 of them beat their normal weeks.

16.3 points separated the best carrier from the worst: Alaska Airlines at 83.2%, PSA Airlines at 66.9%. PSA Airlines lost the most ground against its own normal weeks, 11.8 points. Alaska Airlines gained the most on its normal weeks, 0.2 points.

Tight connections depend less on the on-time rate than on how many flights ran badly late. 9.5% of arrivals over Memorial Day weekend 2026 were an hour or more late, against 7.2% normally, up 2.3 points. Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) had the highest share among large airports at 20.9%.

Cancellations were local rather than general. Overall 0.95% of flights were called off against 0.95% normally, but Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) reached 7.85% and New Orleans (MSY) 1.20%.

Set against other years, 2026 ranks 3 of 4 for punctuality (84.6% in 2023, 72.0% in 2024, 77.9% in 2025 and 74.2% in 2026). 3 of them cleared the measurable-effect test.

Lessons from 2026: Saturday 23 May was the best day to fly; book before the evening, since 5pm–8pm departures ran 26.0 points worse than 5am–8am ones; and allow extra connection time at Atlanta (ATL) and Houston (IAH). Those are one year's patterns; check them against the other years before relying on them.

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.