Holiday travel
Thanksgiving at MSY
Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, New Orleans, LA. July 2023 – July 2026. Set against MSY’s own ordinary days of the same weekday in the weeks around each holiday.
The window, year by year
The window runs the Wednesday before through the Sunday after, around Thanksgiving Day (the fourth Thursday of November). In the data: Nov 22–26, 2023; Nov 27 – Dec 1, 2024; Nov 26–30, 2025. Three windows are in the data: enough to see whether a day repeats, not enough to call it a rule.
Thanksgiving flights were about as punctual as ordinary days in all three years. The gap ran from 2.5 points below usual in 2025 to 2.6 points above usual in 2024.
0.50% of scheduled departures were cancelled across the Thanksgiving windows, against 0.56% on ordinary days of the same weekdays. It was lower in two of the three years and higher in one.
| Year | Departures | On time | Usual | Gap, points | Cancelled | Usual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023Nov 22–26, 2023 | 667 | 84.6% | 82.4% | +2.2about the same | 0.00% | 0.56% |
| 2024Nov 27 – Dec 1, 2024 | 675 | 85.0% | 82.4% | +2.6about the same | 0.00% | 0.56% |
| 2025Nov 26–30, 2025 | 657 | 79.8% | 82.3% | −2.5about the same | 1.52% | 0.56% |
| All years3 windows | 1,999 | 83.2% | 82.4% | +0.8about the same | 0.50% | 0.56% |
Day by day
The Sunday after Thanksgiving was the worst day of the window in two of the three years. Over the years it ran 71.8% on time, 5.5 points below an ordinary Sunday.
The Friday after Thanksgiving was the best day of the window in two of the three years. Over the years it ran 88.9% on time, 8.0 points above an ordinary Friday.
Thanksgiving Day itself carried 45% fewer departures than an ordinary Thursday and ran 96.7% on time.
- 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. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday beforeoutside the window | about the same | 80.5% | 83.2% | −2.7about the same | 1.12% | 83.9 · 85.6 · 71.7 |
| Tuesday beforeoutside the window | 12% more | 83.9% | 88.5% | −4.6worse | 0.45% | 78.7 · 87.7 · 85.0 |
| Wednesday before | 14% more | 88.6% | 87.8% | +0.8about the same | 0.00% | 88.5 · 90.1 · 87.1 |
| Thanksgiving Day | 45% fewer | 96.7% | 82.5% | +14.2better | 0.00% | — · — · — |
| Friday after | 9% fewer | 88.9% | 80.9% | +8.0better | 0.00% | 89.8 · 88.4 · 88.4 |
| Saturday after | 17% more | 77.0% | 83.6% | −6.6worse | 1.39% | 80.1 · 75.3 · 75.4 |
| Sunday after | 5% more | 71.8% | 77.3% | −5.5worse | 0.85% | 73.3 · 80.4 · 61.3 |
| Monday afteroutside the window | 3% more | 80.5% | 83.2% | −2.7about the same | 0.22% | 85.4 · 88.8 · 66.9 |
| Tuesday afteroutside the window | about the same | 84.5% | 88.5% | −4.0worse | 0.25% | 86.7 · 91.8 · 74.6 |
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 MSY were Wednesday, Nov 22, 2023 (148 departures), Sunday, Nov 26, 2023 (150 departures), Wednesday, Nov 27, 2024 (152 departures), Sunday, Dec 1, 2024 (163 departures), Wednesday, Nov 26, 2025 (148 departures), and Sunday, Nov 30, 2025 (160 departures).
Across the whole window, flights leaving 5–9 AM had the highest on-time rate: 91.9%, about level with usual for that time of day. Those leaving 6–9 PM had the lowest: 73.8%, 2.8 points below usual for that time of day.
Against usual for their time of day, flights leaving 9 AM–12 PM did best (+3.8 points) and those leaving 6–9 PM did worst (−2.8 points).
On each year’s two busiest days, flights leaving 5–9 AM had the highest on-time rate: 89.7%, still 1.7 points below usual for that time of day. Those leaving 12–3 PM had the lowest: 72.5%, 8.4 points below usual for that time of day.
Against usual for their time of day, flights leaving 6–9 PM did best (+0.2 points) and those leaving 12–3 PM did worst (−8.4 points).
| Leaving | On time, whole window | Usual | Gap, points | On time, busiest days | Usual | Gap, points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5–9 AM | 91.9% | 92.2% | −0.3about the same | 89.7% | 91.4% | −1.7about the same |
| 9 AM–12 PM | 89.1% | 85.3% | +3.8better | 83.4% | 85.4% | −2.0about the same |
| 12–3 PM | 80.2% | 80.2% | 0.0about the same | 72.5% | 80.9% | −8.4worse |
| 3–6 PM | 77.4% | 74.2% | +3.2about the same | 75.1% | 75.0% | +0.1about the same |
| 6–9 PM | 73.8% | 76.6% | −2.8about the same | 76.4% | 76.2% | +0.2about the same |
| 9 PM–5 AM | — | — | — | — | — | — |
MSY beside every covered airport
Storms and outages move whole regions at once. This puts MSY’s year beside the year of all covered airports together, each against its own usual, to show whether MSY did better or worse than the network.
| Year | MSY on time | MSY, gap from usual | All airports on time | All airports, gap from usual |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023Nov 22–26, 2023 | 84.6% | +2.2 | 83.7% | +1.9 |
| 2024Nov 27 – Dec 1, 2024 | 85.0% | +2.6 | 82.6% | +0.8 |
| 2025Nov 26–30, 2025 | 79.8% | −2.5 | 72.8% | −9.0 |
For every holiday at once, see the five holidays at MSY, or the network view.