Holiday travel
Memorial 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 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, about the same in one, and worse in one of the three years. The gap ran from 16.1 points below usual in 2024 to 7.0 points above usual in 2026.
0.55% of scheduled departures were cancelled across the Memorial Day windows, against 0.59% 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024May 25–27, 2024 | 444 | 63.3% | 79.4% | −16.1worse | 1.35% | 0.59% |
| 2025May 24–26, 2025 | 524 | 80.1% | 79.4% | +0.7about the same | 0.19% | 0.59% |
| 2026May 23–25, 2026 | 494 | 86.4% | 79.4% | +7.0better | 0.20% | 0.58% |
| All years3 windows | 1,462 | 77.2% | 79.4% | −2.2about the same | 0.55% | 0.59% |
Day by day
The Saturday before Memorial Day was the worst day of the window in all three years. Over the years it ran 72.7% on time, 9.1 points below an ordinary Saturday.
Memorial Day was the best day of the window in all three years. Over the years it ran 82.4% on time, 3.3 points above an ordinary Monday.
- 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: 2024, 2025, 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday beforeoutside the window | about the same | 73.2% | 76.5% | −3.3about the same | 0.19% | 66.9 · 77.7 · 74.0 |
| Friday beforeoutside the window | about the same | 77.9% | 75.1% | +2.8about the same | 0.38% | 75.8 · 78.0 · 79.6 |
| Saturday before | about the same | 72.7% | 81.8% | −9.1worse | 0.65% | 55.3 · 77.6 · 83.3 |
| Sunday before | 5% fewer | 75.9% | 77.4% | −1.5about the same | 0.41% | 59.6 · 80.9 · 85.4 |
| Memorial Day | about the same | 82.4% | 79.1% | +3.3about the same | 0.58% | 74.7 · 81.4 · 89.9 |
| Tuesday afteroutside the window | about the same | 83.0% | 81.2% | +1.8about the same | 0.41% | 75.8 · 82.6 · 90.1 |
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, May 26, 2024 (147 departures), Monday, May 27, 2024 (153 departures), Sunday, May 25, 2025 (178 departures), Monday, May 26, 2025 (184 departures), Sunday, May 24, 2026 (160 departures), and Monday, May 25, 2026 (178 departures).
Across the whole window, flights leaving 5–9 AM had the highest on-time rate: 87.1%, still 1.5 points below usual for that time of day. Those leaving 6–9 PM had the lowest: 62.3%, 6.6 points below usual for that time of day.
Against usual for their time of day, flights leaving 12–3 PM did best (+0.2 points) and those leaving 9 PM–5 AM did worst (−10.0 points).
On each year’s two busiest days, flights leaving 12–3 PM had the highest on-time rate: 87.4%, 7.2 points above usual for that time of day. Those leaving 3–6 PM had the lowest: 71.4%, still 3.8 points above usual for that time of day.
Against usual for their time of day, flights leaving 12–3 PM did best (+7.2 points) and those leaving 5–9 AM did worst (−2.6 points).
| Leaving | On time, whole window | Usual | Gap, points | On time, busiest days | Usual | Gap, points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5–9 AM | 87.1% | 88.6% | −1.5about the same | 86.6% | 89.2% | −2.6about the same |
| 9 AM–12 PM | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 12–3 PM | 82.8% | 82.6% | +0.2about the same | 87.4% | 80.2% | +7.2better |
| 3–6 PM | 69.5% | 69.6% | −0.1about the same | 71.4% | 67.6% | +3.8about the same |
| 6–9 PM | 62.3% | 68.9% | −6.6about the same | — | — | — |
| 9 PM–5 AM | 66.9% | 76.9% | −10.0worse | — | — | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024May 25–27, 2024 | 63.3% | −16.1 | 72.7% | −2.3 |
| 2025May 24–26, 2025 | 80.1% | +0.7 | 76.4% | +1.4 |
| 2026May 23–25, 2026 | 86.4% | +7.0 | 75.0% | 0.0 |
For every holiday at once, see the five holidays at IAD, or the network view.