Holiday travel
Labor Day at IAD
Washington Dulles International Airport, Washington, VA. July 2023 – July 2026. Set against IAD’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 two and about the same in one of the three years. The gap ran from 2.9 points below usual in 2024 to 10.2 points above usual in 2023.
0.38% of scheduled departures were cancelled across the Labor Day windows, against 1.23% on ordinary days of the same weekdays. It was lower in all three years.
| Year | Departures | On time | Usual | Gap, points | Cancelled | Usual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023Sep 2–4, 2023 | 434 | 92.8% | 82.6% | +10.2better | 0.23% | 1.22% |
| 2024Aug 31 – Sep 2, 2024 | 417 | 79.7% | 82.6% | −2.9about the same | 0.48% | 1.23% |
| 2025Aug 30 – Sep 1, 2025 | 481 | 87.8% | 82.6% | +5.2better | 0.42% | 1.24% |
| All years3 windows | 1,332 | 86.9% | 82.6% | +4.3better | 0.38% | 1.23% |
Day by day
Labor Day was the worst day of the window in two of the three years. Over the years it ran 89.1% on time, still 5.7 points 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 82.4% on time, about level with 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 | 80.2% | 79.4% | +0.8about the same | 8.90% | 86.8 · 64.8 · 84.0 |
| Friday beforeoutside the window | about the same | 80.1% | 82.4% | −2.3about the same | 0.85% | 85.4 · 68.3 · 85.5 |
| Saturday before | about the same | 82.4% | 82.9% | −0.5about the same | 0.47% | 94.7 · 62.2 · 89.7 |
| Sunday before | 8% fewer | 89.0% | 81.6% | +7.4better | 0.46% | 92.1 · 88.1 · 87.1 |
| Labor Day | about the same | 89.1% | 83.4% | +5.7better | 0.21% | 92.0 · 88.3 · 86.8 |
| Tuesday afteroutside the window | 3% fewer | 87.1% | 85.1% | +2.0about the same | 0.23% | 74.8 · 90.8 · 95.3 |
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 IAD were Sunday, Sep 3, 2023 (139 departures), Monday, Sep 4, 2023 (163 departures), Sunday, Sep 1, 2024 (136 departures), Monday, Sep 2, 2024 (146 departures), Saturday, Aug 30, 2025 (157 departures), and Monday, Sep 1, 2025 (168 departures).
Across the whole window, flights leaving 12–3 PM had the highest on-time rate: 92.5%, 3.7 points above usual for that time of day. Those leaving 3–6 PM had the lowest: 79.8%, still 7.9 points above usual for that time of day.
The holiday helped flights leaving 3–6 PM the most (7.9 points above usual for that time of day) and those leaving 5–9 AM the least (2.4 points above).
On each year’s two busiest days, flights leaving 12–3 PM had the highest on-time rate: 92.5%, 4.0 points above usual for that time of day. Those leaving 3–6 PM had the lowest: 85.9%, still 13.3 points above usual for that time of day.
The holiday helped flights leaving 3–6 PM the most (13.3 points above usual for that time of day) and those leaving 5–9 AM the least (2.4 points above).
| Leaving | On time, whole window | Usual | Gap, points | On time, busiest days | Usual | Gap, points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5–9 AM | 92.0% | 89.6% | +2.4about the same | 92.1% | 89.7% | +2.4about the same |
| 9 AM–12 PM | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 12–3 PM | 92.5% | 88.8% | +3.7better | 92.5% | 88.5% | +4.0about the same |
| 3–6 PM | 79.8% | 71.9% | +7.9better | 85.9% | 72.6% | +13.3better |
| 6–9 PM | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 9 PM–5 AM | 85.5% | 80.5% | +5.0about the same | — | — | — |
IAD beside every covered airport
Storms and outages move whole regions at once. This puts IAD’s year beside the year of all covered airports together, each against its own usual, to show whether IAD did better or worse than the network.
| Year | IAD on time | IAD, gap from usual | All airports on time | All airports, gap from usual |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023Sep 2–4, 2023 | 92.8% | +10.2 | 87.4% | +7.6 |
| 2024Aug 31 – Sep 2, 2024 | 79.7% | −2.9 | 82.1% | +2.4 |
| 2025Aug 30 – Sep 1, 2025 | 87.8% | +5.2 | 82.2% | +2.5 |
For every holiday at once, see the five holidays at IAD, or the network view.