Holiday travel
Christmas to New Year’s at CLE
Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, Cleveland, OH. July 2023 – July 2026. Set against CLE’s own ordinary days of the same weekday in the weeks around each holiday.
The window, year by year
The window runs December 23 through January 2, around Christmas Day (December 25). In the data: Dec 23, 2023 – Jan 2, 2024; Dec 23, 2024 – Jan 2, 2025; Dec 23, 2025 – Jan 2, 2026. Christmas Day fell on a Monday in 2023, Wednesday in 2024, and Thursday in 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, Christmas to New Year’s flights were better in one, about the same in one, and worse in one of the three years. The gap ran from 4.7 points below usual in 2025 to 7.1 points above usual in 2023.
2.15% of scheduled departures were cancelled across the Christmas to New Year’s windows, against 2.19% on ordinary days of the same weekdays. It was lower in two of the three years and higher in one.
| Year | Departures | On time | Usual | Gap, points | Cancelled | Usual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023Dec 23, 2023 – Jan 2, 2024 | 1,086 | 83.3% | 76.2% | +7.1better | 0.64% | 2.32% |
| 2024Dec 23, 2024 – Jan 2, 2025 | 1,075 | 78.1% | 77.0% | +1.1about the same | 0.37% | 2.10% |
| 2025Dec 23, 2025 – Jan 2, 2026 | 1,193 | 72.3% | 77.0% | −4.7worse | 5.11% | 2.16% |
| All years3 windows | 3,354 | 77.8% | 76.7% | +1.1about the same | 2.15% | 2.19% |
Day by day
December 29 (Fri, Sun, Mon) was the worst day of the window in the year measured. Over the years it ran 68.7% on time, 5.8 points below what ordinary days of the same weekdays had.
December 26 (Tue, Thu, Fri) was the best day of the window in the year measured. Over the years it ran 76.9% on time, 1.1 points above what ordinary days of the same weekdays had.
Christmas Day itself carried 19% fewer departures than an ordinary day of the same weekday and ran 92.1% on time.
- 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 60%, not zero. A dashed stub is a day with too few flights to print a rate.
| Day | Departures against an ordinary day | On time | Usual | Gap, points | Cancelled | Each year: 2023, 2024, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 19Tue, Thu, Fri · outside the window | 10% more | 74.0% | 75.8% | −1.8about the same | 1.74% | — · — · 58.6 |
| Dec 20Wed, Fri, Sat · outside the window | 12% more | 76.6% | 79.3% | −2.7about the same | 0.61% | — · — · — |
| Dec 21Thu, Sat, Sun · outside the window | 10% more | 79.8% | 73.5% | +6.3better | 1.81% | — · — · — |
| Dec 22Fri, Sun, Mon · outside the window | 4% more | 81.3% | 74.6% | +6.7better | 0.30% | — · — · — |
| Dec 23Sat, Mon, Tue | 14% more | 84.2% | 76.6% | +7.6better | 0.30% | — · — · — |
| Dec 24Sun, Tue, Wed | 12% fewer | 86.1% | 78.0% | +8.1better | 2.26% | — · — · — |
| Christmas Day (Dec 25)Mon, Wed, Thu | 19% fewer | 92.1% | 78.7% | +13.4better | 0.00% | — · — · — |
| Dec 26Tue, Thu, Fri | 6% more | 76.9% | 75.8% | +1.1about the same | 3.02% | — · — · 77.7 |
| Dec 27Wed, Fri, Sat | 8% more | 67.7% | 79.2% | −11.5worse | 1.26% | — · — · — |
| Dec 28Thu, Sat, Sun | 7% more | 69.9% | 73.5% | −3.6about the same | 0.62% | — · — · — |
| Dec 29Fri, Sun, Mon | about the same | 68.7% | 74.5% | −5.8worse | 9.15% | — · — · 62.6 |
| Dec 30Sat, Mon, Tue | 11% more | 79.9% | 76.6% | +3.3about the same | 3.04% | — · — · — |
| Dec 31Sun, Tue, Wed | 8% fewer | 75.7% | 77.9% | −2.2about the same | 1.09% | — · — · — |
| Jan 1Mon, Wed, Thu | 13% fewer | 76.4% | 78.5% | −2.1about the same | 0.73% | — · — · — |
| Jan 2Tue, Thu, Fri | 3% more | 81.2% | 75.8% | +5.4better | 1.24% | — · — · — |
| Jan 3Wed, Fri, Sat · outside the window | 5% more | 64.7% | 79.2% | −14.5worse | 0.33% | — · — · — |
| Jan 4Thu, Sat, Sun · outside the window | 3% more | 67.7% | 73.4% | −5.7worse | 0.64% | — · — · — |
| Jan 5Fri, Sun, Mon · outside the window | 2% fewer | 80.9% | 74.7% | +6.2better | 1.89% | — · — · — |
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 CLE were Saturday, Dec 23, 2023 (107 departures), Tuesday, Dec 26, 2023 (105 departures), Monday, Dec 23, 2024 (111 departures), Friday, Dec 27, 2024 (108 departures), Friday, Dec 26, 2025 (120 departures), and Monday, Dec 29, 2025 (120 departures).
Across the whole window, flights leaving 5–9 AM had the highest on-time rate: 87.0%, 6.6 points above usual for that time of day. Those leaving 6–9 PM had the lowest: 67.9%, about level with usual for that time of day.
Against usual for their time of day, flights leaving 5–9 AM did best (+6.6 points) and those leaving 9 AM–12 PM did worst (−3.2 points).
| Leaving | On time, whole window | Usual | Gap, points | On time, busiest days | Usual | Gap, points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5–9 AM | 87.0% | 80.4% | +6.6better | 85.9% | 81.1% | +4.8better |
| 9 AM–12 PM | 77.6% | 80.8% | −3.2about the same | — | — | — |
| 12–3 PM | 75.0% | 76.4% | −1.4about the same | — | — | — |
| 3–6 PM | 70.5% | 73.2% | −2.7about the same | — | — | — |
| 6–9 PM | 67.9% | 68.4% | −0.5about the same | — | — | — |
| 9 PM–5 AM | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Cancellations
The worst day for cancellations in each year was Monday, Dec 29, 2025 (24.17% of that day’s departures, 48% of the window’s cancellations).
CLE beside every covered airport
Storms and outages move whole regions at once. This puts CLE’s year beside the year of all covered airports together, each against its own usual, to show whether CLE did better or worse than the network.
| Year | CLE on time | CLE, gap from usual | All airports on time | All airports, gap from usual |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023Dec 23, 2023 – Jan 2, 2024 | 83.3% | +7.1 | 81.0% | +2.2 |
| 2024Dec 23, 2024 – Jan 2, 2025 | 78.1% | +1.1 | 76.2% | −3.4 |
| 2025Dec 23, 2025 – Jan 2, 2026 | 72.3% | −4.7 | 71.1% | −8.5 |
For every holiday at once, see the five holidays at CLE, or the network view.