Holiday travel
Labor Day at AUS
Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, Austin, TX. July 2023 – July 2026. Set against AUS’s own ordinary days of the same weekday in the weeks around each holiday.
The window, year by year
The window runs the Saturday through the Monday, around Labor Day (the first Monday of September). In the data: Sep 2–4, 2023; Aug 31 – Sep 2, 2024; Aug 30 – Sep 1, 2025. Three windows are in the data: enough to see whether a day repeats, not enough to call it a rule.
Compared with ordinary days, Labor Day flights were better in one, about the same in one, and worse in one of the three years. The gap ran from 5.7 points below usual in 2025 to 6.7 points above usual in 2023.
0.64% of scheduled departures were cancelled across the Labor Day windows, against 0.75% on ordinary days of the same weekdays. The rate stayed within a quarter point of usual in all three years.
| Year | Departures | On time | Usual | Gap, points | Cancelled | Usual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023Sep 2–4, 2023 | 671 | 89.1% | 82.4% | +6.7better | 0.45% | 0.75% |
| 2024Aug 31 – Sep 2, 2024 | 590 | 84.9% | 82.4% | +2.5about the same | 0.68% | 0.75% |
| 2025Aug 30 – Sep 1, 2025 | 615 | 76.6% | 82.3% | −5.7worse | 0.81% | 0.75% |
| All years3 windows | 1,876 | 83.7% | 82.4% | +1.3about the same | 0.64% | 0.75% |
Day by day
Labor Day was the worst day of the window in two of the three years. Over the years it ran 83.2% on time, still 1.0 point above an ordinary Monday.
The Saturday before Labor Day was the best day of the window in two of the three years. Over the years it ran 87.6% on time, 2.6 points above an ordinary Saturday.
- Better than usual
- Worse than usual
- About the same
- What ordinary days of the same weekday had
- Lowest to highest single year
- Lighter bars: days just outside the window
Bars show the on-time arrival rate and start at 50%, not zero.
| Day | Departures against an ordinary day | On time | Usual | Gap, points | Cancelled | Each year: 2023, 2024, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday beforeoutside the window | about the same | 79.2% | 79.4% | −0.2about the same | 0.65% | 85.2 · 78.0 · 73.8 |
| Friday beforeoutside the window | about the same | 71.5% | 78.1% | −6.6worse | 2.06% | 73.1 · 70.0 · 71.3 |
| Saturday before | 3% fewer | 87.6% | 85.0% | +2.6about the same | 1.52% | 90.1 · 88.8 · 83.5 |
| Sunday before | 24% fewer | 80.7% | 80.2% | +0.5about the same | 0.52% | 93.1 · 87.1 · 62.1 |
| Labor Day | 3% fewer | 83.2% | 82.2% | +1.0about the same | 0.13% | 85.3 · 80.8 · 83.3 |
| Tuesday afteroutside the window | about the same | 90.3% | 87.4% | +2.9better | 0.29% | 91.0 · 91.8 · 88.0 |
A dash means fewer than 120 flights stood behind the figure, or behind the ordinary days it would be compared with: too few to print a rate, and nothing is estimated in its place. “Usual” is what ordinary days of the same weekday had at the same place in the weeks around the holiday, weighted by the flights being compared.
Which departure times held up
The busiest days at AUS were Sunday, Sep 3, 2023 (206 departures), Monday, Sep 4, 2023 (272 departures), Sunday, Sep 1, 2024 (180 departures), Monday, Sep 2, 2024 (246 departures), Sunday, Aug 31, 2025 (196 departures), and Monday, Sep 1, 2025 (251 departures).
Across the whole window, flights leaving 5–9 AM had the highest on-time rate: 91.6%, about level with usual for that time of day. Those leaving 3–6 PM had the lowest: 75.2%, about level with usual for that time of day.
Against usual for their time of day, flights leaving 6–9 PM did best (+4.6 points) and those leaving 9 AM–12 PM did worst (−1.0 points).
On each year’s two busiest days, flights leaving 5–9 AM had the highest on-time rate: 92.9%, about level with usual for that time of day. Those leaving 3–6 PM had the lowest: 71.6%, 2.0 points below usual for that time of day.
Against usual for their time of day, flights leaving 6–9 PM did best (+4.6 points) and those leaving 3–6 PM did worst (−2.0 points).
| Leaving | On time, whole window | Usual | Gap, points | On time, busiest days | Usual | Gap, points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5–9 AM | 91.6% | 92.5% | −0.9about the same | 92.9% | 92.8% | +0.1about the same |
| 9 AM–12 PM | 85.9% | 86.9% | −1.0about the same | 86.4% | 86.8% | −0.4about the same |
| 12–3 PM | 82.5% | 81.9% | +0.6about the same | 79.1% | 81.0% | −1.9about the same |
| 3–6 PM | 75.2% | 74.4% | +0.8about the same | 71.6% | 73.6% | −2.0about the same |
| 6–9 PM | 79.5% | 74.9% | +4.6about the same | 78.2% | 73.6% | +4.6about the same |
| 9 PM–5 AM | — | — | — | — | — | — |
AUS beside every covered airport
Storms and outages move whole regions at once. This puts AUS’s year beside the year of all covered airports together, each against its own usual, to show whether AUS did better or worse than the network.
| Year | AUS on time | AUS, gap from usual | All airports on time | All airports, gap from usual |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023Sep 2–4, 2023 | 89.1% | +6.7 | 87.4% | +7.6 |
| 2024Aug 31 – Sep 2, 2024 | 84.9% | +2.5 | 82.1% | +2.4 |
| 2025Aug 30 – Sep 1, 2025 | 76.6% | −5.7 | 82.2% | +2.5 |
For every holiday at once, see the five holidays at AUS, or the network view.