Holiday travel
Memorial Day at SFO
San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, CA. July 2023 – July 2026. Set against SFO’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 Memorial Day (the last Monday of May). In the data: May 25–27, 2024; May 24–26, 2025; May 23–25, 2026. Three windows are in the data: enough to see whether a day repeats, not enough to call it a rule.
Compared with ordinary days, Memorial Day flights were better in one and about the same in two of the three years. The gap ran from 0.4 points above usual in 2025 to 7.5 points above usual in 2024.
0.40% of scheduled departures were cancelled across the Memorial Day windows, against 0.60% on ordinary days of the same weekdays. It was lower in one of the three years.
| Year | Departures | On time | Usual | Gap, points | Cancelled | Usual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024May 25–27, 2024 | 991 | 82.3% | 74.8% | +7.5better | 0.30% | 0.60% |
| 2025May 24–26, 2025 | 1,212 | 75.3% | 74.9% | +0.4about the same | 0.66% | 0.60% |
| 2026May 23–25, 2026 | 1,275 | 76.0% | 74.9% | +1.1about the same | 0.24% | 0.60% |
| All years3 windows | 3,478 | 77.5% | 74.9% | +2.6better | 0.40% | 0.60% |
Day by day
Memorial Day was the worst day of the window in two of the three years. Over the years it ran 72.4% on time, about level with an ordinary Monday.
The Saturday before Memorial Day was the best day of the window in two of the three years. Over the years it ran 80.5% on time, about level with an ordinary Saturday.
- 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: 2024, 2025, 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday beforeoutside the window | about the same | 75.5% | 71.2% | +4.3better | 0.73% | 74.1 · 80.7 · 71.8 |
| Friday beforeoutside the window | about the same | 70.7% | 70.4% | +0.3about the same | 0.65% | 79.1 · 78.5 · 56.8 |
| Saturday before | about the same | 80.5% | 80.6% | −0.1about the same | 0.18% | 80.1 · 82.2 · 79.3 |
| Sunday before | 7% fewer | 80.2% | 72.0% | +8.2better | 0.35% | 85.3 · 77.4 · 79.0 |
| Memorial Day | about the same | 72.4% | 72.3% | +0.1about the same | 0.65% | 81.4 · 67.1 · 70.3 |
| Tuesday afteroutside the window | 2% more | 77.6% | 79.3% | −1.7about the same | 0.77% | 80.1 · 82.0 · 71.3 |
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 SFO were Sunday, May 26, 2024 (327 departures), Monday, May 27, 2024 (352 departures), Sunday, May 25, 2025 (394 departures), Monday, May 26, 2025 (430 departures), Sunday, May 24, 2026 (415 departures), and Monday, May 25, 2026 (452 departures).
Across the whole window, flights leaving 5–9 AM had the highest on-time rate: 90.2%, 1.4 points above usual for that time of day. Those leaving 12–3 PM had the lowest: 72.2%, still 5.2 points above usual for that time of day.
Against usual for their time of day, flights leaving 3–6 PM did best (+7.4 points) and those leaving 9 AM–12 PM did worst (−0.9 points).
On each year’s two busiest days, flights leaving 5–9 AM had the highest on-time rate: 88.8%, about level with usual for that time of day. Those leaving 9 PM–5 AM had the lowest: 69.9%, about level with usual for that time of day.
Against usual for their time of day, flights leaving 12–3 PM did best (+10.7 points) and those leaving 9 AM–12 PM did worst (−0.5 points).
| Leaving | On time, whole window | Usual | Gap, points | On time, busiest days | Usual | Gap, points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5–9 AM | 90.2% | 88.8% | +1.4about the same | 88.8% | 88.6% | +0.2about the same |
| 9 AM–12 PM | 73.4% | 74.3% | −0.9about the same | 72.9% | 73.4% | −0.5about the same |
| 12–3 PM | 72.2% | 67.0% | +5.2better | 74.1% | 63.4% | +10.7better |
| 3–6 PM | 75.9% | 68.5% | +7.4better | 72.8% | 64.3% | +8.5better |
| 6–9 PM | 75.5% | 71.2% | +4.3better | 74.2% | 66.9% | +7.3better |
| 9 PM–5 AM | 73.9% | 73.3% | +0.6about the same | 69.9% | 69.1% | +0.8about the same |
SFO beside every covered airport
Storms and outages move whole regions at once. This puts SFO’s year beside the year of all covered airports together, each against its own usual, to show whether SFO did better or worse than the network.
| Year | SFO on time | SFO, gap from usual | All airports on time | All airports, gap from usual |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024May 25–27, 2024 | 82.3% | +7.5 | 72.7% | −2.3 |
| 2025May 24–26, 2025 | 75.3% | +0.4 | 76.4% | +1.4 |
| 2026May 23–25, 2026 | 76.0% | +1.1 | 75.0% | 0.0 |
For every holiday at once, see the five holidays at SFO, or the network view.