Holiday travel
Thanksgiving at DCA
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Washington, DC. July 2023 – July 2026. Set against DCA’s own ordinary days of the same weekday in the weeks around each holiday.
The window, year by year
The window runs the Wednesday before through the Sunday after, around Thanksgiving Day (the fourth Thursday of November). In the data: Nov 22–26, 2023; Nov 27 – Dec 1, 2024; Nov 26–30, 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, Thanksgiving flights were better in two and worse in one of the three years. The gap ran from 14.0 points below usual in 2025 to 7.1 points above usual in 2023.
0.70% of scheduled departures were cancelled across the Thanksgiving windows, against 1.43% on ordinary days of the same weekdays. It was lower in two of the three years.
| Year | Departures | On time | Usual | Gap, points | Cancelled | Usual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023Nov 22–26, 2023 | 1,594 | 87.2% | 80.1% | +7.1better | 0.00% | 1.40% |
| 2024Nov 27 – Dec 1, 2024 | 1,679 | 86.5% | 79.9% | +6.6better | 0.06% | 1.44% |
| 2025Nov 26–30, 2025 | 1,726 | 65.9% | 79.9% | −14.0worse | 1.97% | 1.44% |
| All years3 windows | 4,999 | 79.7% | 79.9% | −0.2about the same | 0.70% | 1.43% |
Day by day
The Sunday after Thanksgiving was the worst day of the window in all three years. Over the years it ran 64.4% on time, 11.9 points below an ordinary Sunday.
Thanksgiving Day was the best day of the window in all three years. Over the years it ran 94.1% on time, 15.9 points above an ordinary Thursday.
Thanksgiving Day itself carried 56% fewer departures than an ordinary Thursday and ran 94.1% 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 30%, not zero.
| Day | Departures against an ordinary day | On time | Usual | Gap, points | Cancelled | Each year: 2023, 2024, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday beforeoutside the window | about the same | 85.1% | 80.0% | +5.1better | 0.00% | 88.5 · 87.0 · 79.9 |
| Tuesday beforeoutside the window | about the same | 73.4% | 79.9% | −6.5worse | 1.05% | 70.9 · 80.5 · 68.6 |
| Wednesday before | 2% more | 76.3% | 81.7% | −5.4worse | 0.24% | 81.8 · 88.0 · 59.1 |
| Thanksgiving Day | 56% fewer | 94.1% | 78.2% | +15.9better | 0.00% | 97.3 · 96.0 · 88.6 |
| Friday after | 19% fewer | 88.4% | 76.5% | +11.9better | 0.00% | 96.7 · 91.4 · 79.5 |
| Saturday after | 11% more | 86.3% | 86.6% | −0.3about the same | 2.48% | 94.2 · 84.9 · 79.8 |
| Sunday after | 4% more | 64.4% | 76.3% | −11.9worse | 0.57% | 75.8 · 78.1 · 39.0 |
| Monday afteroutside the window | about the same | 72.7% | 80.0% | −7.3worse | 0.24% | 80.6 · 74.2 · 63.3 |
| Tuesday afteroutside the window | about the same | 71.8% | 79.9% | −8.1worse | 0.81% | 87.4 · 85.5 · 42.3 |
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 DCA were Wednesday, Nov 22, 2023 (408 departures), Sunday, Nov 26, 2023 (401 departures), Wednesday, Nov 27, 2024 (416 departures), Sunday, Dec 1, 2024 (411 departures), Wednesday, Nov 26, 2025 (416 departures), and Sunday, Nov 30, 2025 (408 departures).
Across the whole window, flights leaving 5–9 AM had the highest on-time rate: 88.6%, about level with usual for that time of day. Those leaving 6–9 PM had the lowest: 68.0%, 5.8 points below usual for that time of day.
Against usual for their time of day, flights leaving 12–3 PM did best (+1.0 points) and those leaving 6–9 PM did worst (−5.8 points).
On each year’s two busiest days, flights leaving 5–9 AM had the highest on-time rate: 81.6%, still 6.6 points below usual for that time of day. Those leaving 6–9 PM had the lowest: 56.1%, 15.1 points below usual for that time of day.
The holiday cost flights leaving 6–9 PM the most (15.1 points below usual for that time of day) and those leaving 9 PM–5 AM the least (0.7 points below).
| Leaving | On time, whole window | Usual | Gap, points | On time, busiest days | Usual | Gap, points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5–9 AM | 88.6% | 87.9% | +0.7about the same | 81.6% | 88.2% | −6.6worse |
| 9 AM–12 PM | 85.7% | 85.3% | +0.4about the same | 78.5% | 85.9% | −7.4worse |
| 12–3 PM | 79.7% | 78.7% | +1.0about the same | 69.5% | 78.8% | −9.3worse |
| 3–6 PM | 73.5% | 74.9% | −1.4about the same | 63.8% | 73.1% | −9.3worse |
| 6–9 PM | 68.0% | 73.8% | −5.8worse | 56.1% | 71.2% | −15.1worse |
| 9 PM–5 AM | 72.7% | — | — | 69.7% | 70.4% | −0.7about the same |
Cancellations
The worst day for cancellations in each year was Saturday, Nov 29, 2025 (6.74% of that day’s departures, 71% of the window’s cancellations).
DCA beside every covered airport
Storms and outages move whole regions at once. This puts DCA’s year beside the year of all covered airports together, each against its own usual, to show whether DCA did better or worse than the network.
| Year | DCA on time | DCA, gap from usual | All airports on time | All airports, gap from usual |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023Nov 22–26, 2023 | 87.2% | +7.1 | 83.7% | +1.9 |
| 2024Nov 27 – Dec 1, 2024 | 86.5% | +6.6 | 82.6% | +0.8 |
| 2025Nov 26–30, 2025 | 65.9% | −14.0 | 72.8% | −9.0 |
For every holiday at once, see the five holidays at DCA, or the network view.