Holiday record
Thanksgiving week 2023 flight delays
Saturday 18 November 2023 to Sunday 26 November 2023 · 164,722 flights
Historical statistics for Thanksgiving week 2023, not live status and not a forecast for a future Thanksgiving week.
Thanksgiving week 2023 flights ran 3.8 points less punctual than the weeks around it: 83.2% arrived on time, against 87.0%. Beyond that, late flights averaged 60 minutes against 60 and cancellations came to 0.13% against 0.17%.
Key figures
On time
83.2%
Normal weeks: 87.0%
Avg delay
60 min
Delayed flights only. Normal weeks: 60 min
Cancelled
0.13%
Normal weeks: 0.17%
1 hour+ late
4.6%
Normal weeks: 3.4%
9 days and 164,722 flights: that is the window from Saturday 18 November 2023 to Sunday 26 November 2023. Its daily schedule of 18,302 flights matched the 18,707 of the weeks around it.
Against normal weeks
Thanksgiving week 2023 next to the weeks around it
| Period | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All flights, Thanksgiving week 2023 | 164,722 | 83.2% | 87.0% | −3.8 | 0.13% | 0.17% |
“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 Thanksgiving week ran best
Sunday 26 November at 71.1% on time closed the window as its worst day, 9.7 points below the 80.8% of ordinary Sundays. The best day was Thursday 23 November at 95.3%, while Sunday 26 November was the busiest, with 20,578 flights scheduled. 6 of the 9 days ran below the figure for the same weekday in the baseline weeks.
Compared day for day with ordinary weeks: Sat 18 −2.1, Sun 19 +1.1, Mon 20 −3.3, Tue 21 −10.1, Wed 22 −3.5, Thu 23 +8.8, Fri 24 +2.0, Sat 25 −4.1, Sun 26 −9.7 points. The longest bad stretch ran 3 days, from Monday 20 November to Wednesday 22 November.
| Day | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday 18 November | 17,166 | 85.9% | 88.0% | −2.1 | 0.09% | 0.14% |
| Sunday 19 November | 19,734 | 81.9% | 80.8% | +1.1 | 0.14% | 0.18% |
| Monday 20 November | 19,580 | 83.3% | 86.6% | −3.3 | 0.17% | 0.15% |
| Tuesday 21 November | 19,743 | 79.6% | 89.7% | −10.1 | 0.26% | 0.14% |
| Wednesday 22 November | 20,080 | 86.2% | 89.7% | −3.5 | 0.05% | 0.28% |
| Thursday 23 November | 11,417 | 95.3% | 86.5% | +8.8 | 0.02% | 0.15% |
| Friday 24 November | 17,066 | 88.6% | 86.6% | +2.0 | 0.06% | 0.16% |
| Saturday 25 November | 19,358 | 83.9% | 88.0% | −4.1 | 0.18% | 0.14% |
| Sunday 26 November | 20,578 | 71.1% | 80.8% | −9.7 | 0.12% | 0.18% |
“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
The later the flight, the worse the odds: 5am–8am departures 90.1% on time, 8pm–5am departures 76.7%. The 8pm–5am window moved most against its normal weeks, 7.3 points worse than 84.0%.
| Departure | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5am–8am | 27,448 | 90.1% | 91.7% | −1.6 | 0.11% | 0.21% |
| 8am–11am | 30,605 | 87.6% | 89.9% | −2.3 | 0.08% | 0.18% |
| 11am–2pm | 29,475 | 84.7% | 88.0% | −3.3 | 0.11% | 0.17% |
| 2pm–5pm | 28,640 | 81.3% | 84.9% | −3.6 | 0.09% | 0.18% |
| 5pm–8pm | 27,193 | 77.1% | 82.5% | −5.4 | 0.16% | 0.15% |
| 8pm–5am | 21,361 | 76.7% | 84.0% | −7.3 | 0.24% | 0.16% |
“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 Thanksgiving week 2023
63 airports scheduled at least 500 departures. Fort Lauderdale (FLL) at 65.5%, San Juan (SJU) at 73.0% and Denver (DEN) at 76.1% ran the lowest on-time rates, Honolulu (HNL) at 92.5%, Kahului (OGG) at 91.7% and Salt Lake City (SLC) at 89.8% the highest. Fort Lauderdale (FLL) fell furthest against its own normal weeks, from 78.0% to 65.5%. In all, 57 of 63 ran below their own figures for the surrounding weeks.
By volume the holiday ran through Atlanta (ATL, 8,113 departures, 86.1% on time), Denver (DEN, 6,956 departures, 76.1% on time) and Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW, 6,863 departures, 83.3% on time), which handled 13% of all departures between them.
Not every airport struggled: Kahului (OGG, +4.6 points), Honolulu (HNL, +4.2 points) and Seattle (SEA, +1.7 points) improved on their usual on-time rate.
Delay length varied widely by airport. Delayed departures from Jacksonville (JAX) averaged 94 minutes, against 76 in its normal weeks, the longest of any large airport; at Houston (HOU) the average was 37 minutes.
The extra holiday flying was concentrated in a handful of places. Daily departures rose most at San Juan (SJU, +14%), West Palm Beach (PBI, +5%) and Fort Myers (RSW, +5%), and fell most at New York (LGA, −13%). Each of them paid for the extra flights with a lower on-time rate.
| Airport | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta (ATL) | 8,113 | 86.1% | 90.8% | −4.7 | 0.01% | 0.06% |
| Denver (DEN) | 6,956 | 76.1% | 87.3% | −11.2 | 0.19% | 0.17% |
| Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) | 6,863 | 83.3% | 85.3% | −2.0 | 0.10% | 0.12% |
| Chicago (ORD) | 5,846 | 80.8% | 86.3% | −5.5 | 0.10% | 0.13% |
| Charlotte (CLT) | 4,856 | 79.5% | 85.4% | −5.9 | 0.08% | 0.04% |
| Phoenix (PHX) | 4,724 | 83.9% | 88.4% | −4.5 | 0.02% | 0.10% |
| Los Angeles (LAX) | 4,613 | 84.7% | 87.6% | −2.9 | 0.04% | 0.13% |
| Las Vegas (LAS) | 4,598 | 78.4% | 84.4% | −6.0 | 0.20% | 0.26% |
| Orlando (MCO) | 4,325 | 76.9% | 82.2% | −5.3 | 0.07% | 0.23% |
| Seattle (SEA) | 3,778 | 85.2% | 83.5% | +1.7 | 0.21% | 0.12% |
| New York (LGA) | 3,520 | 84.4% | 90.0% | −5.6 | 0.03% | 0.07% |
| San Francisco (SFO) | 3,269 | 83.9% | 85.2% | −1.3 | 0.06% | 0.13% |
| Boston (BOS) | 3,162 | 83.6% | 85.2% | −1.6 | 0.09% | 0.11% |
| Washington (DCA) | 3,096 | 86.4% | 86.7% | −0.3 | 0.42% | 0.15% |
| Newark (EWR) | 3,089 | 86.5% | 88.6% | −2.1 | 0.10% | 0.03% |
| New York (JFK) | 3,073 | 82.4% | 85.8% | −3.4 | 0.00% | 0.02% |
| Detroit (DTW) | 2,986 | 85.8% | 87.7% | −1.9 | 0.00% | 0.04% |
| Minneapolis (MSP) | 2,872 | 88.3% | 90.2% | −1.9 | 0.07% | 0.05% |
| Miami (MIA) | 2,723 | 80.1% | 81.4% | −1.3 | 0.04% | 0.04% |
| Houston (IAH) | 2,635 | 84.8% | 86.1% | −1.3 | 0.00% | 0.05% |
| Salt Lake City (SLC) | 2,588 | 89.8% | 90.3% | −0.5 | 0.08% | 0.05% |
| Baltimore (BWI) | 2,451 | 77.5% | 84.6% | −7.1 | 0.08% | 0.16% |
| Fort Lauderdale (FLL) | 2,382 | 65.5% | 78.0% | −12.5 | 0.04% | 0.20% |
| Nashville (BNA) | 2,371 | 82.6% | 86.5% | −3.9 | 0.00% | 0.07% |
| San Diego (SAN) | 2,267 | 82.5% | 87.1% | −4.6 | 0.04% | 0.47% |
| Austin (AUS) | 2,203 | 82.1% | 84.8% | −2.7 | 0.00% | 0.16% |
| Philadelphia (PHL) | 2,086 | 82.8% | 83.9% | −1.1 | 0.24% | 0.03% |
| Tampa (TPA) | 2,062 | 82.5% | 86.6% | −4.1 | 0.10% | 0.16% |
| Chicago (MDW) | 1,944 | 83.1% | 87.2% | −4.1 | 0.10% | 0.09% |
| Dallas (DAL) | 1,836 | 83.9% | 86.7% | −2.8 | 0.11% | 0.15% |
“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 Thanksgiving week 2023
Holiday windows are too short for most routes to build a sample: the busiest, HNL to OGG (288 flights, 93.0% on time against 88.4% normally), did not reach 500. The ten busiest are listed below as small samples, and 5 of them ran better than their normal weeks.
| Route | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HNL to OGGsmall sample | 288 | 93.0% | 88.4% | +4.6 | 0.35% | 1.82% |
| OGG to HNLsmall sample | 288 | 90.2% | 83.5% | +6.7 | 0.69% | 2.19% |
| LAX to SFOsmall sample | 285 | 86.7% | 82.6% | +4.1 | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| SFO to LAXsmall sample | 284 | 87.0% | 83.0% | +4.0 | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| LAS to LAXsmall sample | 241 | 75.4% | 81.7% | −6.3 | 0.41% | 0.00% |
| LAX to LASsmall sample | 241 | 77.1% | 83.1% | −6.0 | 0.41% | 0.42% |
| DEN to PHXsmall sample | 231 | 77.4% | 83.1% | −5.7 | 0.43% | 0.00% |
| PHX to DENsmall sample | 231 | 84.8% | 89.6% | −4.8 | 0.00% | 0.60% |
| JFK to LAXsmall sample | 226 | 87.6% | 87.5% | +0.1 | 0.00% | 0.14% |
| LAX to JFKsmall sample | 225 | 72.0% | 87.9% | −15.9 | 0.00% | 0.14% |
“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 Thanksgiving week 2023
Spirit Airlines had the weakest holiday at 68.5% on time, 23.7 points behind Republic Airways at 92.2%. Spirit Airlines lost the most ground against its own normal weeks, 10.6 points. Hawaiian Airlines gained the most on its normal weeks, 5.9 points.
For connections, the hour-late figure matters more than the on-time rate. 4.6% of arrivals over Thanksgiving week 2023 were an hour or more late, against 3.4% normally, up 1.2 points. Fort Lauderdale (FLL) had the highest share among large airports at 11.7%.
Cancellations stayed negligible, 0.13% across all flights and no more than 0.43% at any large airport.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 35,950 | 82.0% | 87.0% | −5.0 | 0.09% | 0.25% |
| Delta Air Lines | 23,438 | 89.7% | 91.3% | −1.6 | 0.02% | 0.01% |
| American Airlines | 21,895 | 82.2% | 85.0% | −2.8 | 0.01% | 0.02% |
| SkyWest Airlines | 16,805 | 83.9% | 87.4% | −3.5 | 0.21% | 0.28% |
| United Airlines | 16,767 | 85.7% | 88.8% | −3.1 | 0.11% | 0.09% |
| Spirit Airlines | 6,908 | 68.5% | 79.1% | −10.6 | 0.20% | 0.50% |
| JetBlue Airways | 6,532 | 70.7% | 79.8% | −9.1 | 0.00% | 0.12% |
| Republic Airways | 6,057 | 92.2% | 93.1% | −0.9 | 0.03% | 0.02% |
| Alaska Airlines | 5,668 | 85.7% | 83.4% | +2.3 | 0.48% | 0.31% |
| Envoy Air | 5,603 | 82.3% | 86.5% | −4.2 | 0.20% | 0.18% |
| Frontier Airlines | 4,721 | 74.0% | 81.4% | −7.4 | 0.36% | 0.13% |
| Endeavor Air | 4,580 | 88.8% | 91.6% | −2.8 | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| PSA Airlines | 4,521 | 84.1% | 86.8% | −2.7 | 0.71% | 0.18% |
| Allegiant Air | 3,320 | 79.5% | 81.3% | −1.8 | 0.12% | 0.11% |
| Hawaiian Airlines | 1,957 | 89.2% | 83.3% | +5.9 | 0.56% | 2.14% |
“Normal weeks” are the two weeks either side of the holiday, leaving out other holiday periods. Change is in percentage points.
Year on year
Thanksgiving week across the years
In the run of 3 years (83.2% in 2023, 83.6% in 2024 and 77.8% in 2025), 2023 lands between the best and the worst. A measurable effect turned up in 1 of the 3.
| Year | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 (this page) | 164,722 | 83.2% | 87.0% | −3.8 | 0.13% | 0.17% |
| 2024, close to normal | 175,194 | 83.6% | 84.2% | −0.6 | 0.14% | 0.36% |
| 2025, close to normal | 172,288 | 77.8% | 76.3% | +1.5 | 1.74% | 2.09% |
“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 Thanksgiving week
What 2023 suggests for a future Thanksgiving week: avoid the final day of the window, the worst of 2023; book before the evening, since 8pm–5am departures ran 13.4 points worse than 5am–8am ones; and allow extra connection time at Fort Lauderdale (FLL) and San Juan (SJU). 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
- Thanksgiving week: every year and the next one
- Thanksgiving week 2024
- Thanksgiving week 2025
- Press kit: chart, data file and summary for Thanksgiving week 2023
- 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.