Holiday record
Martin Luther King Jr. weekend 2026 flight delays
Friday 16 January 2026 to Monday 19 January 2026 · 70,081 flights
Historical statistics for Martin Luther King Jr. weekend 2026, not live status and not a forecast for a future Martin Luther King Jr. weekend.
Cancellations define Martin Luther King Jr. weekend 2026: 0.74% of scheduled flights never operated, against 5.54% in the weeks around it, a gap of 4.8 points. Beyond that, the on-time rate was 76.8% against 80.3% and late flights averaged 69 minutes against 77.
Key figures
On time
76.8%
Normal weeks: 80.3%
Avg delay
69 min
Delayed flights only. Normal weeks: 77 min
Cancelled
0.74%
Normal weeks: 5.54%
1 hour+ late
7.7%
Normal weeks: 7.3%
4 days and 70,081 flights: that is the window from Friday 16 January 2026 to Monday 19 January 2026. Its daily schedule of 17,520 flights matched the 17,471 of the weeks around it.
Against normal weeks
Martin Luther King Jr. weekend 2026 next to the weeks around it
| Period | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All flights, Martin Luther King Jr. weekend 2026 | 70,081 | 76.8% | 80.3% | −3.5 | 0.74% | 5.54% |
“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 Martin Luther King Jr. weekend ran best
The low point came mid-holiday, on Sunday 18 January at 72.4% on time, 0.5 points below the 72.9% of ordinary Sundays. The best day was Saturday 17 January at 81.4%, while Monday 19 January was the busiest, with 18,876 flights scheduled. 3 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 16 −2.6, Sat 17 +1.8, Sun 18 −0.5, Mon 19 −0.9 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 16 January | 18,709 | 78.8% | 81.4% | −2.6 | 0.61% | 1.89% |
| Saturday 17 January | 15,214 | 81.4% | 79.6% | +1.8 | 0.33% | 11.02% |
| Sunday 18 January | 17,282 | 72.4% | 72.9% | −0.5 | 1.43% | 13.25% |
| Monday 19 January | 18,876 | 75.1% | 76.0% | −0.9 | 0.58% | 7.17% |
“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: 71.6% on time for 5pm–8pm departures against 84.4% for 5am–8am. The 5pm–8pm window moved most against its normal weeks, 4.3 points worse than 75.9%.
| Departure | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5am–8am | 11,088 | 84.4% | 86.9% | −2.5 | 0.77% | 6.13% |
| 8am–11am | 13,722 | 79.6% | 83.1% | −3.5 | 0.59% | 5.57% |
| 11am–2pm | 13,249 | 76.1% | 80.3% | −4.2 | 0.70% | 5.12% |
| 2pm–5pm | 12,683 | 73.5% | 77.4% | −3.9 | 0.79% | 4.88% |
| 5pm–8pm | 12,197 | 71.6% | 75.9% | −4.3 | 0.66% | 5.85% |
| 8pm–5am | 7,142 | 75.8% | 77.1% | −1.3 | 1.15% | 6.02% |
“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 Martin Luther King Jr. weekend 2026
38 airports scheduled at least 500 departures. Chicago (ORD) at 50.6%, Detroit (DTW) at 51.2% and Minneapolis (MSP) at 51.3% ran the lowest on-time rates, Houston (HOU) at 91.2%, Portland (PDX) at 89.1% and Las Vegas (LAS) at 88.1% the highest. Minneapolis (MSP) fell furthest against its own normal weeks, from 75.3% to 51.3%. In all, 19 of 38 ran below their own figures for the surrounding weeks.
13% of the holiday's departures left from just three airports, Denver (DEN, 3,148 departures, 82.3% on time), Atlanta (ATL, 3,143 departures, 81.6% on time) and Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW, 3,141 departures, 79.0% on time).
Not every airport struggled: Honolulu (HNL, +7.6 points), Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW, +4.6 points) and Dallas (DAL, +4.2 points) improved on their usual on-time rate.
How long a delay lasted depended heavily on the airport. Delayed departures from Sacramento (SMF) averaged 98 minutes, against 56 in its normal weeks, the longest of any large airport; at Dallas (DAL) the average was 35 minutes.
The holiday reshaped where people flew. Daily departures rose most at Fort Lauderdale (FLL, +6%), Orlando (MCO, +6%) and Miami (MIA, +4%), and fell most at Chicago (ORD, −5%). The growth cost punctuality at two of the three.
| Airport | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denver (DEN) | 3,148 | 82.3% | 83.0% | −0.7 | 0.67% | 1.87% |
| Atlanta (ATL) | 3,143 | 81.6% | 77.6% | +4.0 | 0.19% | 5.80% |
| Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) | 3,141 | 79.0% | 74.4% | +4.6 | 0.25% | 11.89% |
| Chicago (ORD) | 3,067 | 50.6% | 68.0% | −17.4 | 0.52% | 4.38% |
| Phoenix (PHX) | 2,184 | 85.1% | 82.5% | +2.6 | 0.46% | 2.66% |
| Los Angeles (LAX) | 1,876 | 84.9% | 83.2% | +1.7 | 0.69% | 2.39% |
| Orlando (MCO) | 1,848 | 74.6% | 76.1% | −1.5 | 0.43% | 4.25% |
| Las Vegas (LAS) | 1,814 | 88.1% | 85.6% | +2.5 | 0.33% | 2.04% |
| Charlotte (CLT) | 1,810 | 79.7% | 78.6% | +1.1 | 0.39% | 15.42% |
| Washington (DCA) | 1,520 | 69.8% | 74.5% | −4.7 | 0.59% | 11.26% |
| Seattle (SEA) | 1,503 | 84.4% | 82.4% | +2.0 | 1.26% | 1.96% |
| San Francisco (SFO) | 1,426 | 87.3% | 85.7% | +1.6 | 0.84% | 2.29% |
| New York (LGA) | 1,397 | 60.5% | 81.9% | −21.4 | 2.51% | 8.64% |
| Miami (MIA) | 1,385 | 79.7% | 76.0% | +3.7 | 0.43% | 5.80% |
| Boston (BOS) | 1,306 | 57.8% | 78.6% | −20.8 | 1.00% | 8.56% |
| Newark (EWR) | 1,301 | 62.9% | 82.9% | −20.0 | 0.69% | 7.51% |
| Houston (IAH) | 1,242 | 87.3% | 85.9% | +1.4 | 0.16% | 3.46% |
| Salt Lake City (SLC) | 1,218 | 82.1% | 87.1% | −5.0 | 0.66% | 1.91% |
| Detroit (DTW) | 1,213 | 51.2% | 67.8% | −16.6 | 1.40% | 4.39% |
| Fort Lauderdale (FLL) | 1,151 | 70.6% | 72.9% | −2.3 | 0.61% | 5.13% |
| New York (JFK) | 1,038 | 64.9% | 78.0% | −13.1 | 2.02% | 7.77% |
| Nashville (BNA) | 1,021 | 85.1% | 83.5% | +1.6 | 0.29% | 8.56% |
| Minneapolis (MSP) | 1,009 | 51.3% | 75.3% | −24.0 | 0.79% | 2.73% |
| San Diego (SAN) | 949 | 84.6% | 86.8% | −2.2 | 0.95% | 2.48% |
| Philadelphia (PHL) | 908 | 60.3% | 79.3% | −19.0 | 0.88% | 9.67% |
| Baltimore (BWI) | 907 | 76.5% | 84.7% | −8.2 | 0.11% | 6.72% |
| Austin (AUS) | 857 | 84.7% | 82.9% | +1.8 | 0.23% | 5.44% |
| Tampa (TPA) | 847 | 82.6% | 80.9% | +1.7 | 0.00% | 4.59% |
| Dallas (DAL) | 697 | 86.8% | 82.6% | +4.2 | 0.00% | 6.70% |
| Honolulu (HNL) | 654 | 85.8% | 78.2% | +7.6 | 0.76% | 1.48% |
“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 Martin Luther King Jr. weekend 2026
The busiest routes were LGA to ORD (121 flights, 65.0% on time against 78.6% normally), ORD to LGA (121 flights, 48.3% on time against 75.2% normally) and HNL to OGG (116 flights, 78.3% on time against 77.3% 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. 4 of those ten ran above their normal on-time rate.
| Route | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LGA to ORDsmall sample | 121 | 65.0% | 78.6% | −13.6 | 3.31% | 8.78% |
| ORD to LGAsmall sample | 121 | 48.3% | 75.2% | −26.9 | 2.48% | 8.04% |
| HNL to OGGsmall sample | 116 | 78.3% | 77.3% | +1.0 | 0.86% | 0.79% |
| OGG to HNLsmall sample | 116 | 78.9% | 75.4% | +3.5 | 1.72% | 1.06% |
| LAX to JFKsmall sample | 109 | 74.3% | 74.8% | −0.5 | 0.00% | 6.51% |
| JFK to LAXsmall sample | 109 | 71.6% | 75.9% | −4.3 | 0.00% | 6.22% |
| SFO to LAXsmall sample | 101 | 97.0% | 89.2% | +7.8 | 0.00% | 0.92% |
| LAX to SFOsmall sample | 101 | 93.1% | 85.6% | +7.5 | 0.00% | 0.61% |
| DEN to PHXsmall sample | 97 | 78.4% | 81.5% | −3.1 | 0.00% | 0.82% |
| LAX to LASsmall sample | 97 | 81.4% | 82.6% | −1.2 | 0.00% | 1.12% |
“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 Martin Luther King Jr. weekend 2026
Carrier choice was worth 24.5 points of punctuality over the holiday, from Alaska Airlines at 85.8% down to JetBlue Airways at 61.3%. Republic Airways lost the most ground against its own normal weeks, 12.5 points. Alaska Airlines gained the most on its normal weeks, 7.0 points.
Tight connections depend less on the on-time rate than on how many flights ran badly late. 7.7% of arrivals over Martin Luther King Jr. weekend 2026 were an hour or more late, against 7.3% normally, essentially unchanged. Boston (BOS) had the highest share among large airports at 22.0%.
Cancellations were local rather than general. Overall 0.74% of flights were called off against 5.54% normally, but New York (LGA) reached 2.51% and Sacramento (SMF) 2.25%.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 13,472 | 84.1% | 86.3% | −2.2 | 0.07% | 3.11% |
| Delta Air Lines | 9,943 | 77.9% | 81.1% | −3.2 | 0.35% | 4.51% |
| American Airlines | 9,849 | 77.4% | 75.0% | +2.4 | 0.04% | 11.22% |
| SkyWest Airlines | 8,353 | 70.3% | 78.7% | −8.4 | 2.30% | 3.30% |
| United Airlines | 8,202 | 78.6% | 83.4% | −4.8 | 0.15% | 2.73% |
| Republic Airways | 3,676 | 68.5% | 81.0% | −12.5 | 1.99% | 9.53% |
| Alaska Airlines | 3,392 | 85.8% | 78.8% | +7.0 | 1.83% | 2.01% |
| Envoy Air | 2,963 | 76.3% | 79.7% | −3.4 | 0.47% | 6.02% |
| Frontier Airlines | 2,483 | 73.8% | 74.1% | −0.3 | 0.77% | 3.44% |
| PSA Airlines | 2,422 | 70.0% | 73.9% | −3.9 | 0.83% | 15.73% |
| JetBlue Airways | 2,361 | 61.3% | 73.2% | −11.9 | 1.19% | 6.70% |
| Spirit Airlines | 1,635 | 65.8% | 74.4% | −8.6 | 3.18% | 7.42% |
| Allegiant Air | 1,330 | 78.0% | 79.5% | −1.5 | 0.15% | 3.14% |
“Normal weeks” are the two weeks either side of the holiday, leaving out other holiday periods. Change is in percentage points.
Year on year
Martin Luther King Jr. weekend across the years
Set against other years, 2026 ranks 3 of 4 for punctuality (80.1% in 2023, 59.0% in 2024, 79.9% in 2025 and 76.8% in 2026). Every one of them cleared the measurable-effect test.
| Year | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 68,366 | 80.1% | 79.2% | +0.9 | 0.45% | 1.60% |
| 2024 | 70,276 | 59.0% | 76.4% | −17.4 | 10.42% | 3.31% |
| 2025 | 68,574 | 79.9% | 81.9% | −2.0 | 1.85% | 3.29% |
| 2026 (this page) | 70,081 | 76.8% | 80.3% | −3.5 | 0.74% | 5.54% |
“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 Martin Luther King Jr. weekend
If 2026 is any guide: Saturday 17 January was the best day to fly; book before the evening, since 5pm–8pm departures ran 12.8 points worse than 5am–8am ones; and allow extra connection time at Minneapolis (MSP) and New York (LGA). Treat that as one data point; the Martin Luther King Jr. 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
- Martin Luther King Jr. weekend: every year and the next one
- Martin Luther King Jr. weekend 2023
- Martin Luther King Jr. weekend 2024
- Martin Luther King Jr. weekend 2025
- Press kit: chart, data file and summary for Martin Luther King Jr. weekend 2026
- Every US travel holiday
- The holidays that fly better than a normal week
- The busiest US travel days, and what they cost in punctuality
- Denver International (DEN) all year
- Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (ATL) 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.