Holiday travel
July 4 at MIA
Miami International Airport, Miami, FL. July 2023 – July 2026. Set against MIA’s own ordinary days of the same weekday in the weeks around each holiday.
The window, year by year
The window runs July 1 through July 5, around July 4, whatever weekday it falls on. In the data: Jul 1–5, 2023; Jul 1–5, 2024; Jul 1–5, 2025; Jul 1–5, 2026. July 4 fell on a Tuesday in 2023, Thursday in 2024, Friday in 2025, and Saturday in 2026. Four windows are in the data: enough to see whether a day repeats, not enough to call it a rule.
Compared with ordinary days, July 4 flights were better in one and worse in three of the four years. The gap ran from 11.6 points below usual in 2025 to 13.7 points above usual in 2024.
1.00% of scheduled departures were cancelled across the July 4 windows, against 2.47% on ordinary days of the same weekdays. It was lower in all four years.
| Year | Departures | On time | Usual | Gap, points | Cancelled | Usual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023Jul 1–5, 2023 | 1,353 | 61.8% | 66.5% | −4.7worse | 0.59% | 2.54% |
| 2024Jul 1–5, 2024 | 1,377 | 80.3% | 66.6% | +13.7better | 0.22% | 2.51% |
| 2025Jul 1–5, 2025 | 1,396 | 55.3% | 66.9% | −11.6worse | 1.58% | 2.36% |
| 2026Jul 1–5, 2026 | 1,469 | 59.4% | 65.4% | −6.0worse | 1.57% | 2.49% |
| All years4 windows | 5,595 | 64.1% | 66.4% | −2.3worse | 1.00% | 2.47% |
Day by day
July 1 (Sat, Mon, Tue, Wed) was the worst day of the window in two of the four years. Over the years it ran 61.8% on time, 5.6 points below what ordinary days of the same weekdays had.
July 4 was the best day of the window in all four years. Over the years it ran 81.2% on time, 15.1 points above what ordinary days of the same weekdays had.
- 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. A dashed stub is a day with too few flights to print a rate.
| Day | Departures against an ordinary day | On time | Usual | Gap, points | Cancelled | Each year: 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 28Fri, Sat, Sun · outside the window | about the same | 57.6% | 62.9% | −5.3worse | 2.02% | — · 43.4 · 51.0 · 77.6 |
| Jun 29Sat, Sun, Mon · outside the window | about the same | 67.8% | 64.3% | +3.5better | 0.80% | — · 65.1 · 52.0 · 86.1 |
| Jun 30Sun, Mon, Tue · outside the window | 2% fewer | 60.0% | 65.7% | −5.7worse | 3.19% | — · 32.4 · 63.8 · 81.8 |
| Jul 1Sat, Mon, Tue, Wed | 3% fewer | 61.8% | 67.4% | −5.6worse | 1.61% | 59.9 · 72.2 · 62.9 · 52.1 |
| Jul 2Sun, Tue, Wed, Thu | 2% fewer | 52.8% | 67.8% | −15.0worse | 0.63% | 45.1 · 80.1 · 33.5 · 52.0 |
| Jul 3Mon, Wed, Thu, Fri | 2% fewer | 61.4% | 65.9% | −4.5worse | 0.35% | 63.4 · 81.0 · 40.9 · 61.2 |
| July 4Tue, Thu, Fri, Sat | 9% fewer | 81.2% | 66.1% | +15.1better | 0.57% | 83.1 · 90.1 · 72.0 · 79.4 |
| Jul 5Wed, Fri, Sat, Sun | about the same | 64.4% | 64.6% | −0.2about the same | 1.79% | 58.6 · 78.5 · 68.3 · 52.5 |
| Jul 6Thu, Sat, Sun, Mon · outside the window | about the same | 54.9% | 65.4% | −10.5worse | 1.37% | 69.9 · 76.4 · 36.8 · 37.9 |
| Jul 7Fri, Sun, Mon, Tue · outside the window | about the same | 66.5% | 64.4% | +2.1about the same | 0.79% | 47.1 · 74.4 · 74.6 · 69.1 |
| Jul 8Sat, Mon, Tue, Wed · outside the window | about the same | 68.9% | 67.4% | +1.5about the same | 2.19% | 49.8 · 68.3 · 70.5 · 86.9 |
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 MIA were Saturday, Jul 1, 2023 (280 departures), Wednesday, Jul 5, 2023 (281 departures), Monday, Jul 1, 2024 (282 departures), Wednesday, Jul 3, 2024 (279 departures), Thursday, Jul 3, 2025 (296 departures), Saturday, Jul 5, 2025 (306 departures), Thursday, Jul 2, 2026 (299 departures), and Sunday, Jul 5, 2026 (304 departures).
Across the whole window, flights leaving 5–9 AM had the highest on-time rate: 87.1%, about level with usual for that time of day. Those leaving 3–6 PM had the lowest: 47.9%, 6.3 points below usual for that time of day.
Against usual for their time of day, flights leaving 9 AM–12 PM did best (+1.4 points) and those leaving 3–6 PM did worst (−6.3 points).
On each year’s two busiest days, flights leaving 5–9 AM had the highest on-time rate: 88.0%, about level with usual for that time of day. Those leaving 3–6 PM had the lowest: 46.0%, 8.4 points below usual for that time of day.
The holiday cost flights leaving 12–3 PM the most (12.4 points below usual for that time of day) and those leaving 5–9 AM the least (0.2 points below).
| Leaving | On time, whole window | Usual | Gap, points | On time, busiest days | Usual | Gap, points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5–9 AM | 87.1% | 87.9% | −0.8about the same | 88.0% | 88.2% | −0.2about the same |
| 9 AM–12 PM | 79.6% | 78.2% | +1.4about the same | 76.8% | 79.0% | −2.2about the same |
| 12–3 PM | 65.5% | 67.5% | −2.0about the same | 56.7% | 69.1% | −12.4worse |
| 3–6 PM | 47.9% | 54.2% | −6.3worse | 46.0% | 54.4% | −8.4worse |
| 6–9 PM | 50.1% | 54.8% | −4.7worse | 46.7% | 55.4% | −8.7worse |
| 9 PM–5 AM | 59.1% | 59.5% | −0.4about the same | 53.1% | 59.9% | −6.8worse |
Cancellations
The worst day for cancellations in each year was Tuesday, Jul 1, 2025 (6.18% of that day’s departures, 77% of the window’s cancellations) and Sunday, Jul 5, 2026 (5.92% of that day’s departures, 78% of the window’s cancellations).
MIA beside every covered airport
Storms and outages move whole regions at once. This puts MIA’s year beside the year of all covered airports together, each against its own usual, to show whether MIA did better or worse than the network.
| Year | MIA on time | MIA, gap from usual | All airports on time | All airports, gap from usual |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023Jul 1–5, 2023 | 61.8% | −4.7 | 73.9% | +2.9 |
| 2024Jul 1–5, 2024 | 80.3% | +13.7 | 82.2% | +11.7 |
| 2025Jul 1–5, 2025 | 55.3% | −11.6 | 73.5% | +2.3 |
| 2026Jul 1–5, 2026 | 59.4% | −6.0 | 73.1% | +3.2 |
For every holiday at once, see the five holidays at MIA, or the network view.