Holiday record
Veterans Day 2025 flight delays
Monday 10 November 2025 to Wednesday 12 November 2025 · 55,937 flights
Historical statistics for Veterans Day 2025, not live status and not a forecast for a future Veterans Day.
Cancellations define Veterans Day 2025: 6.39% of scheduled flights never operated, against 2.05% in the weeks around it, a gap of 4.3 points. Beyond that, the on-time rate was 78.0% against 79.8% and late flights averaged 75 minutes against 72.
Key figures
On time
78.0%
Normal weeks: 79.8%
Avg delay
75 min
Delayed flights only. Normal weeks: 72 min
Cancelled
6.39%
Normal weeks: 2.05%
1 hour+ late
9.1%
Normal weeks: 7.4%
3 days and 55,937 flights: that is the window from Monday 10 November 2025 to Wednesday 12 November 2025. Its daily schedule of 18,646 flights matched the 18,974 of the weeks around it.
Against normal weeks
Veterans Day 2025 next to the weeks around it
| Period | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All flights, Veterans Day 2025 | 55,937 | 78.0% | 79.8% | −1.8 | 6.39% | 2.05% |
“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 Veterans Day ran best
Getting away was harder than coming back. The first day, Monday 10 November at 60.1% on time, 19.8 points below the 79.9% of ordinary Mondays, set the low mark. The best day was Wednesday 12 November at 90.9%, while Monday 10 November was the busiest, with 20,224 flights scheduled. 1 of the 3 days ran below the figure for the same weekday in the baseline weeks.
Compared day for day with ordinary weeks: Mon 10 −19.8, Tue 11 +0.5, Wed 12 +5.1 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday 10 November | 20,224 | 60.1% | 79.9% | −19.8 | 9.78% | 0.19% |
| Tuesday 11 November | 17,867 | 84.3% | 83.8% | +0.5 | 5.27% | 0.22% |
| Wednesday 12 November | 17,846 | 90.9% | 85.8% | +5.1 | 3.66% | 0.27% |
“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
Departure time mattered more than the date. Flights leaving 5am–8am ran 85.3% on time, and by 5pm–8pm that had fallen to 71.4%, 13.9 points lower. The 5am–8am window moved most against its normal weeks, 5.5 points worse than 90.8%.
| Departure | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5am–8am | 9,014 | 85.3% | 90.8% | −5.5 | 7.22% | 1.16% |
| 8am–11am | 10,920 | 83.8% | 85.1% | −1.3 | 7.77% | 1.67% |
| 11am–2pm | 10,146 | 78.6% | 80.3% | −1.7 | 5.80% | 1.69% |
| 2pm–5pm | 10,067 | 74.1% | 75.0% | −0.9 | 5.89% | 2.27% |
| 5pm–8pm | 9,749 | 71.4% | 71.0% | +0.4 | 6.65% | 3.03% |
| 8pm–5am | 6,041 | 73.4% | 74.7% | −1.3 | 4.06% | 2.67% |
“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 Veterans Day 2025
Among large airports the on-time rate ran from New York (LGA) at 50.8%, Boston (BOS) at 67.3% and Chicago (ORD) at 68.0% at the low end to Salt Lake City (SLC) at 88.2%, Seattle (SEA) at 87.0% and Minneapolis (MSP) at 86.4% at the top. New York (LGA) fell furthest against its own normal weeks, from 62.6% to 50.8%. Measured against each airport's own normal weeks, 17 of 31 did worse.
Three hubs set the tone for the whole network: Chicago (ORD, 2,826 departures, 68.0% on time), Atlanta (ATL, 2,637 departures, 79.5% on time) and Denver (DEN, 2,473 departures, 86.3% on time). Between them they handled 14% of departures.
Not every airport struggled: Dallas (DAL, +8.9 points), Austin (AUS, +6.3 points) and Seattle (SEA, +5.4 points) improved on their usual on-time rate.
Delay length varied widely by airport. Delayed departures from New York (LGA) averaged 97 minutes, against 79 in its normal weeks, the longest of any large airport; at Dallas (DAL) the average was 51 minutes.
Holiday traffic did not rise evenly. Daily departures rose most at New York (LGA, +7%), Washington (DCA, +5%) and Minneapolis (MSP, +3%), and fell most at Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW, −8%). 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) | 2,826 | 68.0% | 78.2% | −10.2 | 13.38% | 1.91% |
| Atlanta (ATL) | 2,637 | 79.5% | 80.6% | −1.1 | 4.97% | 2.49% |
| Denver (DEN) | 2,473 | 86.3% | 84.9% | +1.4 | 5.30% | 1.09% |
| Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) | 2,341 | 79.1% | 76.9% | +2.2 | 3.93% | 3.46% |
| Phoenix (PHX) | 1,621 | 74.4% | 78.6% | −4.2 | 6.97% | 1.83% |
| Los Angeles (LAX) | 1,503 | 83.0% | 80.0% | +3.0 | 5.32% | 1.55% |
| Charlotte (CLT) | 1,429 | 83.8% | 81.3% | +2.5 | 2.24% | 1.45% |
| Las Vegas (LAS) | 1,392 | 74.4% | 78.2% | −3.8 | 5.24% | 1.48% |
| New York (LGA) | 1,273 | 50.8% | 62.6% | −11.8 | 12.10% | 5.05% |
| Seattle (SEA) | 1,256 | 87.0% | 81.6% | +5.4 | 5.65% | 1.43% |
| Orlando (MCO) | 1,244 | 77.1% | 76.2% | +0.9 | 4.90% | 2.11% |
| Washington (DCA) | 1,241 | 71.7% | 71.6% | +0.1 | 5.48% | 3.21% |
| San Francisco (SFO) | 1,185 | 79.5% | 77.2% | +2.3 | 5.91% | 1.55% |
| Boston (BOS) | 1,170 | 67.3% | 76.0% | −8.7 | 10.00% | 2.73% |
| Newark (EWR) | 1,073 | 74.1% | 69.6% | +4.5 | 8.39% | 5.26% |
| Detroit (DTW) | 1,006 | 76.1% | 81.6% | −5.5 | 6.86% | 1.93% |
| Houston (IAH) | 1,000 | 77.5% | 78.8% | −1.3 | 2.80% | 0.94% |
| Salt Lake City (SLC) | 928 | 88.2% | 87.5% | +0.7 | 5.82% | 1.38% |
| Minneapolis (MSP) | 908 | 86.4% | 86.7% | −0.3 | 5.18% | 1.64% |
| Miami (MIA) | 895 | 79.6% | 76.6% | +3.0 | 4.80% | 2.01% |
| Nashville (BNA) | 875 | 74.9% | 77.7% | −2.8 | 2.40% | 1.24% |
| New York (JFK) | 849 | 71.2% | 72.4% | −1.2 | 6.60% | 3.78% |
| San Diego (SAN) | 827 | 76.2% | 74.6% | +1.6 | 9.19% | 2.69% |
| Baltimore (BWI) | 742 | 82.6% | 83.1% | −0.5 | 5.66% | 1.43% |
| Philadelphia (PHL) | 729 | 75.0% | 76.1% | −1.1 | 4.39% | 1.96% |
| Austin (AUS) | 726 | 81.3% | 75.0% | +6.3 | 2.07% | 0.99% |
| Fort Lauderdale (FLL) | 702 | 75.6% | 78.6% | −3.0 | 5.41% | 2.44% |
| Tampa (TPA) | 610 | 76.7% | 80.0% | −3.3 | 7.05% | 2.09% |
| Dallas (DAL) | 582 | 85.1% | 76.2% | +8.9 | 5.67% | 2.02% |
| Chicago (MDW) | 553 | 75.2% | 83.3% | −8.1 | 16.82% | 1.33% |
“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 Veterans Day 2025
Holiday windows are too short for most routes to build a sample: the busiest, LGA to ORD (108 flights, 47.4% on time against 58.2% normally), did not reach 500. The ten busiest are listed below as small samples, and 6 of them ran better than their normal weeks.
| Route | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LGA to ORDsmall sample | 108 | 47.4% | 58.2% | −10.8 | 12.04% | 3.85% |
| ORD to LGAsmall sample | 108 | 43.2% | 58.3% | −15.1 | 12.04% | 3.59% |
| LAX to SFOsmall sample | 92 | 63.9% | 61.3% | +2.6 | 9.78% | 2.02% |
| SFO to LAXsmall sample | 91 | 73.5% | 73.2% | +0.3 | 8.79% | 2.31% |
| LAX to JFKsmall sample | 89 | 89.4% | 76.4% | +13.0 | 4.49% | 2.53% |
| JFK to LAXsmall sample | 89 | 91.8% | 72.8% | +19.0 | 4.49% | 2.22% |
| HNL to OGGsmall sample | 85 | 89.7% | 89.2% | +0.5 | 8.24% | 2.30% |
| OGG to HNLsmall sample | 85 | 88.5% | 89.1% | −0.6 | 8.24% | 2.61% |
| BOS to DCAsmall sample | 84 | 69.9% | 68.4% | +1.5 | 13.10% | 3.05% |
| DCA to BOSsmall sample | 84 | 58.1% | 69.0% | −10.9 | 11.90% | 3.56% |
“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 Veterans Day 2025
The airline mattered a great deal. Alaska Airlines ran 86.7% on time and Republic Airways 60.4%, a 26.3 points gap across 14 carriers. Republic Airways lost the most ground against its own normal weeks, 14.8 points. Alaska Airlines gained the most on its normal weeks, 6.1 points.
For connections, the hour-late figure matters more than the on-time rate. 9.1% of arrivals over Veterans Day 2025 were an hour or more late, against 7.4% normally, up 1.7 points. New York (LGA) had the highest share among large airports at 30.7%.
Cancellations spiked: 6.39% of all flights, more than double the 2.05% of normal weeks. The worst-hit were Chicago (MDW) at 16.82%, Chicago (ORD) at 13.38% and New York (LGA) at 12.10%, and Republic Airways cancelled the most among carriers at 16.15%.
| Airline | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines | 11,234 | 80.4% | 79.3% | +1.1 | 5.21% | 1.26% |
| Delta Air Lines | 8,876 | 80.4% | 82.6% | −2.2 | 4.80% | 1.80% |
| American Airlines | 7,566 | 79.1% | 77.4% | +1.7 | 3.67% | 1.98% |
| SkyWest Airlines | 6,840 | 82.8% | 83.9% | −1.1 | 13.41% | 2.53% |
| United Airlines | 6,746 | 77.4% | 79.7% | −2.3 | 3.22% | 1.12% |
| Republic Airways | 3,126 | 60.4% | 75.2% | −14.8 | 16.15% | 5.39% |
| Envoy Air | 2,350 | 82.8% | 84.3% | −1.5 | 11.28% | 2.96% |
| PSA Airlines | 1,942 | 74.5% | 76.1% | −1.6 | 5.15% | 3.26% |
| Alaska Airlines | 1,938 | 86.7% | 80.6% | +6.1 | 2.01% | 1.33% |
| JetBlue Airways | 1,857 | 65.7% | 73.9% | −8.2 | 6.73% | 2.72% |
| Frontier Airlines | 1,190 | 62.5% | 76.3% | −13.8 | 4.54% | 1.81% |
| Spirit Airlines | 1,069 | 72.9% | 78.0% | −5.1 | 2.43% | 3.30% |
| Hawaiian Airlines | 621 | 79.2% | 80.8% | −1.6 | 5.48% | 2.21% |
| Allegiant Air | 582 | 65.8% | 80.1% | −14.3 | 0.34% | 0.56% |
“Normal weeks” are the two weeks either side of the holiday, leaving out other holiday periods. Change is in percentage points.
Year on year
Veterans Day across the years
In the run of 3 years (89.1% in 2023, 89.8% in 2024 and 78.0% in 2025), 2025 comes out bottom. By this site's test, 2 years out of 3 had a real holiday effect.
| Year | Flights | On time | Normal weeks | Change | Cancelled | Normal weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023, close to normal | 56,133 | 89.1% | 86.5% | +2.6 | 0.11% | 0.19% |
| 2024 | 59,083 | 89.8% | 85.4% | +4.4 | 0.08% | 0.56% |
| 2025 (this page) | 55,937 | 78.0% | 79.8% | −1.8 | 6.39% | 2.05% |
“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 Veterans Day
Practical points from 2025: Wednesday 12 November was the best day to fly; book before the evening, since 5pm–8pm departures ran 13.9 points worse than 5am–8am ones; and allow extra connection time at New York (LGA) and Chicago (ORD). The pattern across years, on the Veterans Day overview, is the safer guide.
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
- Veterans Day: every year and the next one
- Veterans Day 2023
- Veterans Day 2024
- Press kit: chart, data file and summary for Veterans Day 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
- Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (ATL) 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.