Holiday travel
Memorial Day at IAH
George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Houston, TX. July 2023 – July 2026. Set against IAH’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 about the same in one and worse in two of the three years. The gap ran from 10.6 points below usual in 2025 to 1.8 points below usual in 2024.
0.80% of scheduled departures were cancelled across the Memorial Day windows, against 1.37% on ordinary days of the same weekdays. It was lower in one of the three years.
| Year | Departures | On time | Usual | Gap, points | Cancelled | Usual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024May 25–27, 2024 | 963 | 69.8% | 71.6% | −1.8about the same | 0.83% | 1.36% |
| 2025May 24–26, 2025 | 945 | 60.8% | 71.4% | −10.6worse | 0.95% | 1.37% |
| 2026May 23–25, 2026 | 966 | 61.3% | 71.5% | −10.2worse | 0.62% | 1.37% |
| All years3 windows | 2,874 | 64.0% | 71.5% | −7.5worse | 0.80% | 1.37% |
Day by day
Memorial Day was the worst day of the window in two of the three years. Over the years it ran 57.1% on time, 12.1 points below an ordinary Monday.
The Sunday before Memorial Day was the best day of the window in two of the three years. Over the years it ran 77.8% on time, 8.3 points above an ordinary Sunday.
- 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 | about the same | 71.0% | 68.3% | +2.7about the same | 0.39% | 65.8 · 83.3 · 63.6 |
| Friday beforeoutside the window | about the same | 66.0% | 61.2% | +4.8better | 0.67% | 60.6 · 64.8 · 72.3 |
| Saturday before | about the same | 57.4% | 76.1% | −18.7worse | 0.22% | 69.5 · 78.1 · 25.3 |
| Sunday before | 7% fewer | 77.8% | 69.5% | +8.3better | 0.42% | 76.4 · 80.2 · 76.8 |
| Memorial Day | about the same | 57.1% | 69.2% | −12.1worse | 1.64% | 64.0 · 28.8 · 78.5 |
| Tuesday afteroutside the window | 2% more | 64.2% | 73.6% | −9.4worse | 3.72% | 29.5 · 76.3 · 84.6 |
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 IAH were Sunday, May 26, 2024 (313 departures), Monday, May 27, 2024 (341 departures), Sunday, May 25, 2025 (309 departures), Monday, May 26, 2025 (350 departures), Sunday, May 24, 2026 (320 departures), and Monday, May 25, 2026 (344 departures).
Across the whole window, flights leaving 5–9 AM had the highest on-time rate: 76.2%, still 8.2 points below usual for that time of day. Those leaving 6–9 PM had the lowest: 55.0%, 8.4 points below usual for that time of day.
The holiday cost flights leaving 12–3 PM the most (9.4 points below usual for that time of day) and those leaving 9 PM–5 AM the least (2.6 points below).
On each year’s two busiest days, flights leaving 5–9 AM had the highest on-time rate: 84.1%, 1.2 points above usual for that time of day. Those leaving 6–9 PM had the lowest: 56.0%, 4.7 points below usual for that time of day.
Against usual for their time of day, flights leaving 3–6 PM did best (+2.7 points) and those leaving 12–3 PM did worst (−5.3 points).
| Leaving | On time, whole window | Usual | Gap, points | On time, busiest days | Usual | Gap, points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5–9 AM | 76.2% | 84.4% | −8.2worse | 84.1% | 82.9% | +1.2about the same |
| 9 AM–12 PM | 69.2% | 76.7% | −7.5worse | 72.7% | 76.0% | −3.3about the same |
| 12–3 PM | 61.9% | 71.3% | −9.4worse | 64.3% | 69.6% | −5.3worse |
| 3–6 PM | 61.6% | 65.0% | −3.4about the same | 64.2% | 61.5% | +2.7about the same |
| 6–9 PM | 55.0% | 63.4% | −8.4worse | 56.0% | 60.7% | −4.7worse |
| 9 PM–5 AM | 63.1% | 65.7% | −2.6about the same | — | — | — |
IAH beside every covered airport
Storms and outages move whole regions at once. This puts IAH’s year beside the year of all covered airports together, each against its own usual, to show whether IAH did better or worse than the network.
| Year | IAH on time | IAH, gap from usual | All airports on time | All airports, gap from usual |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024May 25–27, 2024 | 69.8% | −1.8 | 72.7% | −2.3 |
| 2025May 24–26, 2025 | 60.8% | −10.6 | 76.4% | +1.4 |
| 2026May 23–25, 2026 | 61.3% | −10.2 | 75.0% | 0.0 |
For every holiday at once, see the five holidays at IAH, or the network view.