Holiday travel
July 4 at SAN
San Diego International Airport, San Diego, CA. July 2023 – July 2026. Set against SAN’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.
July 4 flights ran better than ordinary days in all four years. The gap ran from 2.8 points above usual in 2026 to 14.5 points above usual in 2024.
0.72% of scheduled departures were cancelled across the July 4 windows, against 1.18% on ordinary days of the same weekdays. It was lower in two of the four years.
| Year | Departures | On time | Usual | Gap, points | Cancelled | Usual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023Jul 1–5, 2023 | 1,254 | 79.8% | 72.9% | +6.9better | 1.12% | 1.19% |
| 2024Jul 1–5, 2024 | 1,320 | 85.0% | 70.5% | +14.5better | 0.30% | 1.17% |
| 2025Jul 1–5, 2025 | 1,298 | 77.9% | 72.0% | +5.9better | 0.62% | 1.10% |
| 2026Jul 1–5, 2026 | 1,441 | 72.6% | 69.8% | +2.8better | 0.83% | 1.25% |
| All years4 windows | 5,313 | 78.7% | 71.2% | +7.5better | 0.72% | 1.18% |
Day by day
July 2 (Sun, Tue, Wed, Thu) was the worst day of the window in two of the four years. Over the years it ran 73.8% on time, still 2.5 points above what ordinary days of the same weekdays had.
July 4 was the best day of the window in two of the four years. Over the years it ran 87.0% on time, 15.7 points above what ordinary days of the same weekdays had.
July 4 itself carried 18% fewer departures than an ordinary day of the same weekday and ran 87.0% 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.
| 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 | 77.6% | 70.0% | +7.6better | 0.47% | — · 81.0 · 75.2 · 76.2 |
| Jun 29Sat, Sun, Mon · outside the window | 3% more | 75.7% | 70.8% | +4.9better | 0.57% | — · 74.3 · 74.6 · 78.0 |
| Jun 30Sun, Mon, Tue · outside the window | about the same | 75.8% | 71.1% | +4.7better | 1.14% | — · 76.4 · 77.4 · 73.5 |
| Jul 1Sat, Mon, Tue, Wed | 5% fewer | 77.5% | 74.0% | +3.5better | 0.95% | 79.5 · 78.8 · 74.2 · 77.9 |
| Jul 2Sun, Tue, Wed, Thu | 3% fewer | 73.8% | 71.3% | +2.5about the same | 0.27% | 73.8 · 86.0 · 71.1 · 65.6 |
| Jul 3Mon, Wed, Thu, Fri | 3% fewer | 75.6% | 68.5% | +7.1better | 0.61% | 87.5 · 79.4 · 70.1 · 67.2 |
| July 4Tue, Thu, Fri, Sat | 18% fewer | 87.0% | 71.3% | +15.7better | 0.76% | 80.4 · 91.0 · 92.7 · 84.7 |
| Jul 5Wed, Fri, Sat, Sun | 5% fewer | 81.1% | 71.4% | +9.7better | 1.03% | 77.7 · 91.6 · 85.3 · 71.6 |
| Jul 6Thu, Sat, Sun, Mon · outside the window | about the same | 68.6% | 69.4% | −0.8about the same | 0.77% | 75.4 · 57.9 · 76.8 · 63.7 |
| Jul 7Fri, Sun, Mon, Tue · outside the window | about the same | 71.9% | 69.9% | +2.0about the same | 0.34% | 75.6 · 70.6 · 67.9 · 73.9 |
| Jul 8Sat, Mon, Tue, Wed · outside the window | 2% fewer | 76.8% | 74.0% | +2.8better | 1.93% | 82.5 · 72.1 · 73.9 · 79.7 |
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 SAN were Monday, Jul 3, 2023 (258 departures), Wednesday, Jul 5, 2023 (269 departures), Monday, Jul 1, 2024 (275 departures), Wednesday, Jul 3, 2024 (287 departures), Wednesday, Jul 2, 2025 (273 departures), Thursday, Jul 3, 2025 (294 departures), Thursday, Jul 2, 2026 (315 departures), and Friday, Jul 3, 2026 (309 departures).
Across the whole window, flights leaving 5–9 AM had the highest on-time rate: 90.1%, 4.7 points above usual for that time of day. Those leaving 6–9 PM had the lowest: 67.9%, still 7.3 points above usual for that time of day.
The holiday helped flights leaving 9 AM–12 PM the most (11.0 points above usual for that time of day) and those leaving 9 PM–5 AM the least (3.6 points above).
On each year’s two busiest days, flights leaving 5–9 AM had the highest on-time rate: 89.2%, 3.5 points above usual for that time of day. Those leaving 3–6 PM had the lowest: 63.3%, still 3.0 points above usual for that time of day.
The holiday helped flights leaving 9 AM–12 PM the most (7.9 points above usual for that time of day) and those leaving 12–3 PM the least (2.7 points above).
| Leaving | On time, whole window | Usual | Gap, points | On time, busiest days | Usual | Gap, points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5–9 AM | 90.1% | 85.4% | +4.7better | 89.2% | 85.7% | +3.5better |
| 9 AM–12 PM | 82.9% | 71.9% | +11.0better | 79.1% | 71.2% | +7.9better |
| 12–3 PM | 72.5% | 64.8% | +7.7better | 65.4% | 62.7% | +2.7about the same |
| 3–6 PM | 71.5% | 63.7% | +7.8better | 63.3% | 60.3% | +3.0about the same |
| 6–9 PM | 67.9% | 60.6% | +7.3better | 64.6% | 58.1% | +6.5better |
| 9 PM–5 AM | 78.9% | 75.3% | +3.6about the same | 77.0% | 72.6% | +4.4about the same |
SAN beside every covered airport
Storms and outages move whole regions at once. This puts SAN’s year beside the year of all covered airports together, each against its own usual, to show whether SAN did better or worse than the network.
| Year | SAN on time | SAN, gap from usual | All airports on time | All airports, gap from usual |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023Jul 1–5, 2023 | 79.8% | +6.9 | 73.9% | +2.9 |
| 2024Jul 1–5, 2024 | 85.0% | +14.5 | 82.2% | +11.7 |
| 2025Jul 1–5, 2025 | 77.9% | +5.9 | 73.5% | +2.3 |
| 2026Jul 1–5, 2026 | 72.6% | +2.8 | 73.1% | +3.2 |
For every holiday at once, see the five holidays at SAN, or the network view.