Holiday travel
Labor Day at JFK
John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York, NY. July 2023 – July 2026. Set against JFK’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.
Labor Day flights ran better than ordinary days in all three years. The gap ran from 6.3 points above usual in 2024 to 13.2 points above usual in 2023.
0.17% of scheduled departures were cancelled across the Labor Day windows, against 2.96% 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 | 1,071 | 88.4% | 75.2% | +13.2better | 0.19% | 2.96% |
| 2024Aug 31 – Sep 2, 2024 | 1,041 | 81.5% | 75.2% | +6.3better | 0.00% | 2.96% |
| 2025Aug 30 – Sep 1, 2025 | 879 | 86.8% | 75.3% | +11.5better | 0.34% | 2.96% |
| All years3 windows | 2,991 | 85.5% | 75.2% | +10.3better | 0.17% | 2.96% |
Day by day
The Saturday before Labor Day was the worst day of the window in two of the three years. Over the years it ran 82.9% on time, still 10.6 points above an ordinary Saturday.
Labor Day was the best day of the window in two of the three years. Over the years it ran 88.5% on time, 10.1 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 40%, 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 | 77.5% | 73.6% | +3.9better | 0.69% | 85.8 · 62.6 · 84.8 |
| Friday beforeoutside the window | about the same | 71.2% | 74.1% | −2.9about the same | 0.40% | 83.8 · 48.7 · 82.3 |
| Saturday before | about the same | 82.9% | 72.3% | +10.6better | 0.31% | 89.4 · 77.9 · 81.0 |
| Sunday before | about the same | 85.1% | 74.8% | +10.3better | 0.20% | 88.2 · 78.3 · 89.6 |
| Labor Day | about the same | 88.5% | 78.4% | +10.1better | 0.00% | 87.6 · 88.3 · 89.7 |
| Tuesday afteroutside the window | about the same | 90.4% | 84.3% | +6.1better | 0.00% | 92.1 · 91.0 · 87.7 |
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 JFK were Sunday, Sep 3, 2023 (357 departures), Monday, Sep 4, 2023 (362 departures), Sunday, Sep 1, 2024 (351 departures), Monday, Sep 2, 2024 (351 departures), Sunday, Aug 31, 2025 (292 departures), and Monday, Sep 1, 2025 (300 departures).
Across the whole window, flights leaving 5–9 AM had the highest on-time rate: 89.2%, 2.7 points above usual for that time of day. Those leaving 9 PM–5 AM had the lowest: 80.1%, still 11.4 points above usual for that time of day.
The holiday helped flights leaving 3–6 PM the most (17.5 points above usual for that time of day) and those leaving 5–9 AM the least (2.7 points above).
On each year’s two busiest days, flights leaving 5–9 AM had the highest on-time rate: 90.4%, 3.6 points above usual for that time of day. Those leaving 6–9 PM had the lowest: 83.4%, still 17.1 points above usual for that time of day.
The holiday helped flights leaving 6–9 PM the most (17.1 points above usual for that time of day) and those leaving 5–9 AM the least (3.6 points above).
| Leaving | On time, whole window | Usual | Gap, points | On time, busiest days | Usual | Gap, points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5–9 AM | 89.2% | 86.5% | +2.7better | 90.4% | 86.8% | +3.6better |
| 9 AM–12 PM | 89.2% | 80.6% | +8.6better | 88.5% | 80.8% | +7.7better |
| 12–3 PM | 83.4% | 75.4% | +8.0better | 84.6% | 74.8% | +9.8better |
| 3–6 PM | 86.2% | 68.7% | +17.5better | 87.3% | 72.9% | +14.4better |
| 6–9 PM | 80.8% | 63.5% | +17.3better | 83.4% | 66.3% | +17.1better |
| 9 PM–5 AM | 80.1% | 68.7% | +11.4better | 83.5% | 70.8% | +12.7better |
JFK beside every covered airport
Storms and outages move whole regions at once. This puts JFK’s year beside the year of all covered airports together, each against its own usual, to show whether JFK did better or worse than the network.
| Year | JFK on time | JFK, gap from usual | All airports on time | All airports, gap from usual |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023Sep 2–4, 2023 | 88.4% | +13.2 | 87.4% | +7.6 |
| 2024Aug 31 – Sep 2, 2024 | 81.5% | +6.3 | 82.1% | +2.4 |
| 2025Aug 30 – Sep 1, 2025 | 86.8% | +11.5 | 82.2% | +2.5 |
For every holiday at once, see the five holidays at JFK, or the network view.