Holiday travel
Memorial Day at EWR
Newark Liberty International Airport, Newark, NJ. July 2023 – July 2026. Set against EWR’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 Memorial Day (the last Monday of May). In the data: May 25–27, 2024; May 24–26, 2025; May 23–25, 2026. Three windows are in the data: enough to see whether a day repeats, not enough to call it a rule.
Compared with ordinary days, Memorial Day flights were better in one and worse in two of the three years. The gap ran from 10.1 points below usual in 2024 to 7.6 points above usual in 2026.
1.91% of scheduled departures were cancelled across the Memorial Day windows, against 2.15% 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024May 25–27, 2024 | 1,011 | 69.0% | 79.1% | −10.1worse | 5.14% | 2.14% |
| 2025May 24–26, 2025 | 828 | 72.6% | 79.1% | −6.5worse | 0.00% | 2.15% |
| 2026May 23–25, 2026 | 942 | 86.8% | 79.2% | +7.6better | 0.11% | 2.14% |
| All years3 windows | 2,781 | 76.2% | 79.2% | −3.0worse | 1.91% | 2.15% |
Day by day
No day was the worst more than once: Monday, May 27 in 2024, Saturday, May 24 in 2025, and Sunday, May 24 in 2026.
The Saturday before Memorial Day was the best day of the window in two of the three years. Over the years it ran 75.2% on time, still 5.1 points below 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 20%, not zero.
| Day | Departures against an ordinary day | On time | Usual | Gap, points | Cancelled | Each year: 2024, 2025, 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday beforeoutside the window | 2% fewer | 42.8% | 70.3% | −27.5worse | 2.89% | 31.0 · 31.0 · 65.7 |
| Friday beforeoutside the window | about the same | 73.3% | 72.4% | +0.9about the same | 0.30% | 64.7 · 70.4 · 84.9 |
| Saturday before | 2% fewer | 75.2% | 80.3% | −5.1worse | 0.11% | 78.1 · 57.2 · 87.8 |
| Sunday before | 10% fewer | 78.0% | 76.1% | +1.9about the same | 0.22% | 77.5 · 71.5 · 84.7 |
| Memorial Day | 2% fewer | 75.6% | 81.0% | −5.4worse | 4.98% | 51.9 · 88.0 · 87.8 |
| Tuesday afteroutside the window | about the same | 87.4% | 82.0% | +5.4better | 1.22% | 80.8 · 89.4 · 92.6 |
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 EWR were Sunday, May 26, 2024 (322 departures), Monday, May 27, 2024 (376 departures), Sunday, May 25, 2025 (278 departures), Monday, May 26, 2025 (286 departures), Saturday, May 23, 2026 (303 departures), and Monday, May 25, 2026 (343 departures).
Across the whole window, flights leaving 5–9 AM had the highest on-time rate: 88.8%, about level with usual for that time of day. Those leaving 3–6 PM had the lowest: 64.3%, 6.7 points below usual for that time of day.
Against usual for their time of day, flights leaving 9 PM–5 AM did best (+2.5 points) and those leaving 12–3 PM did worst (−7.6 points).
On each year’s two busiest days, flights leaving 5–9 AM had the highest on-time rate: 88.4%, still 1.6 points below usual for that time of day. Those leaving 3–6 PM had the lowest: 64.3%, 6.3 points below usual for that time of day.
Against usual for their time of day, flights leaving 9 PM–5 AM did best (+4.9 points) and those leaving 3–6 PM did worst (−6.3 points).
| Leaving | On time, whole window | Usual | Gap, points | On time, busiest days | Usual | Gap, points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5–9 AM | 88.8% | 89.6% | −0.8about the same | 88.4% | 90.0% | −1.6about the same |
| 9 AM–12 PM | 83.0% | 86.1% | −3.1about the same | 86.3% | 87.0% | −0.7about the same |
| 12–3 PM | 70.0% | 77.6% | −7.6worse | 72.6% | 77.9% | −5.3about the same |
| 3–6 PM | 64.3% | 71.0% | −6.7worse | 64.3% | 70.6% | −6.3worse |
| 6–9 PM | 70.1% | 69.4% | +0.7about the same | 69.7% | 69.4% | +0.3about the same |
| 9 PM–5 AM | 76.0% | 73.5% | +2.5about the same | 77.8% | 72.9% | +4.9about the same |
Cancellations
The worst day for cancellations in each year was Monday, May 27, 2024 (13.30% of that day’s departures, 96% of the window’s cancellations).
EWR beside every covered airport
Storms and outages move whole regions at once. This puts EWR’s year beside the year of all covered airports together, each against its own usual, to show whether EWR did better or worse than the network.
| Year | EWR on time | EWR, gap from usual | All airports on time | All airports, gap from usual |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024May 25–27, 2024 | 69.0% | −10.1 | 72.7% | −2.3 |
| 2025May 24–26, 2025 | 72.6% | −6.5 | 76.4% | +1.4 |
| 2026May 23–25, 2026 | 86.8% | +7.6 | 75.0% | 0.0 |
For every holiday at once, see the five holidays at EWR, or the network view.