Holiday travel
July 4 at SEA
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Seattle, WA. July 2023 – July 2026. Set against SEA’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 3.6 points above usual in 2025 to 10.8 points above usual in 2024.
0.24% of scheduled departures were cancelled across the July 4 windows, against 0.90% 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 | 2,375 | 84.3% | 74.0% | +10.3better | 0.21% | 0.93% |
| 2024Jul 1–5, 2024 | 2,506 | 83.3% | 72.5% | +10.8better | 0.16% | 0.82% |
| 2025Jul 1–5, 2025 | 2,515 | 76.9% | 73.3% | +3.6better | 0.32% | 0.85% |
| 2026Jul 1–5, 2026 | 2,508 | 76.8% | 72.7% | +4.1better | 0.28% | 1.01% |
| All years4 windows | 9,904 | 80.3% | 73.1% | +7.2better | 0.24% | 0.90% |
Day by day
July 5 (Wed, Fri, Sat, Sun) was the worst day of the window in two of the four years. Over the years it ran 76.5% on time, still 2.7 points above what ordinary days of the same weekdays had.
July 4 was the best day of the window in three of the four years. Over the years it ran 86.2% on time, 13.4 points above what ordinary days of the same weekdays had.
July 4 itself carried 14% fewer departures than an ordinary day of the same weekday and ran 86.2% 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 60%, 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 | 77.5% | 73.3% | +4.2better | 0.71% | — · 74.8 · 75.7 · 81.8 |
| Jun 29Sat, Sun, Mon · outside the window | about the same | 78.4% | 73.2% | +5.2better | 0.58% | — · 78.6 · 72.7 · 84.0 |
| Jun 30Sun, Mon, Tue · outside the window | about the same | 77.1% | 73.0% | +4.1better | 0.38% | — · 80.0 · 71.1 · 80.7 |
| Jul 1Sat, Mon, Tue, Wed | 2% fewer | 78.7% | 74.3% | +4.4better | 0.35% | 83.3 · 79.8 · 70.5 · 81.6 |
| Jul 2Sun, Tue, Wed, Thu | 4% fewer | 80.4% | 72.9% | +7.5better | 0.10% | 85.8 · 84.3 · 77.2 · 74.9 |
| Jul 3Mon, Wed, Thu, Fri | 3% fewer | 80.3% | 71.8% | +8.5better | 0.34% | 87.6 · 80.6 · 74.8 · 79.3 |
| July 4Tue, Thu, Fri, Sat | 14% fewer | 86.2% | 72.8% | +13.4better | 0.11% | 87.9 · 89.5 · 80.6 · 86.5 |
| Jul 5Wed, Fri, Sat, Sun | 3% fewer | 76.5% | 73.8% | +2.7better | 0.30% | 77.6 · 82.9 · 82.4 · 63.7 |
| Jul 6Thu, Sat, Sun, Mon · outside the window | about the same | 75.8% | 72.2% | +3.6better | 0.29% | 82.6 · 79.8 · 68.1 · 73.7 |
| Jul 7Fri, Sun, Mon, Tue · outside the window | about the same | 75.4% | 72.7% | +2.7better | 0.47% | 83.7 · 75.0 · 67.4 · 76.3 |
| Jul 8Sat, Mon, Tue, Wed · outside the window | about the same | 77.0% | 74.3% | +2.7better | 0.73% | 81.7 · 71.3 · 76.5 · 79.1 |
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 SEA were Tuesday, Jul 4, 2023 (475 departures), Wednesday, Jul 5, 2023 (499 departures), Monday, Jul 1, 2024 (516 departures), Wednesday, Jul 3, 2024 (520 departures), Tuesday, Jul 1, 2025 (521 departures), Thursday, Jul 3, 2025 (541 departures), Thursday, Jul 2, 2026 (527 departures), and Sunday, Jul 5, 2026 (526 departures).
Across the whole window, flights leaving 5–9 AM had the highest on-time rate: 88.8%, 3.1 points above usual for that time of day. Those leaving 6–9 PM had the lowest: 76.3%, still 8.0 points above usual for that time of day.
The holiday helped flights leaving 3–6 PM the most (10.6 points above usual for that time of day) and those leaving 5–9 AM the least (3.1 points above).
On each year’s two busiest days, flights leaving 5–9 AM had the highest on-time rate: 89.4%, 3.8 points above usual for that time of day. Those leaving 6–9 PM had the lowest: 69.3%, still 2.0 points above usual for that time of day.
Against usual for their time of day, flights leaving 3–6 PM did best (+6.8 points) and those leaving 9 AM–12 PM did worst (0.0 points).
| Leaving | On time, whole window | Usual | Gap, points | On time, busiest days | Usual | Gap, points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5–9 AM | 88.8% | 85.7% | +3.1better | 89.4% | 85.6% | +3.8better |
| 9 AM–12 PM | 78.2% | 72.8% | +5.4better | 72.2% | 72.2% | 0.0about the same |
| 12–3 PM | 77.7% | 69.6% | +8.1better | 72.6% | 69.1% | +3.5about the same |
| 3–6 PM | 79.3% | 68.7% | +10.6better | 74.7% | 67.9% | +6.8better |
| 6–9 PM | 76.3% | 68.3% | +8.0better | 69.3% | 67.3% | +2.0about the same |
| 9 PM–5 AM | 78.1% | 69.3% | +8.8better | 74.2% | 69.9% | +4.3better |
SEA beside every covered airport
Storms and outages move whole regions at once. This puts SEA’s year beside the year of all covered airports together, each against its own usual, to show whether SEA did better or worse than the network.
| Year | SEA on time | SEA, gap from usual | All airports on time | All airports, gap from usual |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023Jul 1–5, 2023 | 84.3% | +10.3 | 73.9% | +2.9 |
| 2024Jul 1–5, 2024 | 83.3% | +10.8 | 82.2% | +11.7 |
| 2025Jul 1–5, 2025 | 76.9% | +3.6 | 73.5% | +2.3 |
| 2026Jul 1–5, 2026 | 76.8% | +4.1 | 73.1% | +3.2 |
For every holiday at once, see the five holidays at SEA, or the network view.