Worst Major Airports for Thanksgiving Travel Delays
Holidays · Aug 2025 – Jul 2026
Data through July 2026 · Last updated October 18, 2026
How much on-time departures drop during thanksgiving travel (2024-11-26–2024-12-02, 2025-11-25–2025-12-01) compared with all other days, at the 68 major airports.
St. Louis (STL) ranks first at -9.5 pts, and Houston (HOU) is last of the 68 listed at 3.8 pts.
The median across this list is -1.5 pts.
Top 15: change vs other days
St. Louis (STL)-9.5 pts
Chicago (ORD)-9.5 pts
Omaha (OMA)-8.3 pts
Minneapolis (MSP)-7.8 pts
Detroit (DTW)-7.1 pts
Cleveland (CLE)-6.6 pts
Milwaukee (MKE)-6.5 pts
Kansas City (MCI)-6.2 pts
Cincinnati (CVG)-4.9 pts
Memphis (MEM)-4.8 pts
West Palm Beach/Palm Beach (PBI)-4.1 pts
Columbus (CMH)-3.9 pts
Sacramento (SMF)-3.5 pts
Atlanta (ATL)-3.2 pts
San Juan (SJU)-2.9 pts
Full ranking
| # | Name | Change vs usual | Holiday on-time | Other days | Holiday departures |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | St. Louis (STL) | -9.5 pts | 70.4% | 79.9% | 2,510 |
| 2 | Chicago (ORD) | -9.5 pts | 68.0% | 77.5% | 11,746 |
| 3 | Omaha (OMA) | -8.3 pts | 75.8% | 84.1% | 946 |
| 4 | Minneapolis (MSP) | -7.8 pts | 75.9% | 83.7% | 4,373 |
| 5 | Detroit (DTW) | -7.1 pts | 74.8% | 82.0% | 4,816 |
| 6 | Cleveland (CLE) | -6.6 pts | 77.4% | 84.0% | 1,513 |
| 7 | Milwaukee (MKE) | -6.5 pts | 76.2% | 82.6% | 1,036 |
| 8 | Kansas City (MCI) | -6.2 pts | 76.3% | 82.6% | 1,899 |
| 9 | Cincinnati (CVG) | -4.9 pts | 78.6% | 83.5% | 1,417 |
| 10 | Memphis (MEM) | -4.8 pts | 77.7% | 82.5% | 885 |
| 11 | West Palm Beach/Palm Beach (PBI) | -4.1 pts | 71.9% | 76.0% | 1,300 |
| 12 | Columbus (CMH) | -3.9 pts | 79.7% | 83.6% | 1,712 |
| 13 | Sacramento (SMF) | -3.5 pts | 79.9% | 83.5% | 2,179 |
| 14 | Atlanta (ATL) | -3.2 pts | 77.2% | 80.4% | 12,687 |
| 15 | San Juan (SJU) | -2.9 pts | 76.1% | 79.0% | 1,446 |
| 16 | Portland (PDX) | -2.9 pts | 83.1% | 86.0% | 2,343 |
| 17 | Raleigh/Durham (RDU) | -2.8 pts | 79.9% | 82.7% | 2,362 |
| 18 | Norfolk (ORF) | -2.8 pts | 80.3% | 83.1% | 817 |
| 19 | Indianapolis (IND) | -2.6 pts | 81.2% | 83.9% | 1,870 |
| 20 | San Diego (SAN) | -2.6 pts | 76.3% | 78.9% | 3,742 |
| 21 | Newark (EWR) | -2.5 pts | 78.3% | 80.8% | 4,783 |
| 22 | Oklahoma City (OKC) | -2.4 pts | 81.2% | 83.5% | 902 |
| 23 | Nashville (BNA) | -2.3 pts | 75.5% | 77.8% | 3,914 |
| 24 | Boise (BOI) | -2.2 pts | 84.2% | 86.5% | 913 |
| 25 | Jacksonville (JAX) | -2.1 pts | 80.4% | 82.5% | 1,197 |
| 26 | New York (JFK) | -2.0 pts | 79.9% | 81.9% | 4,298 |
| 27 | Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) | -1.9 pts | 72.3% | 74.2% | 11,505 |
| 28 | Hartford (BDL) | -1.9 pts | 81.7% | 83.6% | 878 |
| 29 | Phoenix (PHX) | -1.9 pts | 78.4% | 80.3% | 8,089 |
| 30 | Austin (AUS) | -1.8 pts | 77.2% | 78.9% | 3,353 |
| 31 | Los Angeles (LAX) | -1.7 pts | 81.6% | 83.3% | 7,367 |
| 32 | Oakland (OAK) | -1.7 pts | 79.7% | 81.4% | 1,383 |
| 33 | Albuquerque (ABQ) | -1.5 pts | 82.8% | 84.3% | 933 |
| 34 | Washington (DCA) | -1.5 pts | 75.5% | 76.9% | 5,072 |
| 35 | Charleston (CHS) | -1.5 pts | 80.6% | 82.1% | 962 |
| 36 | Salt Lake City (SLC) | -1.5 pts | 84.5% | 85.9% | 4,184 |
| 37 | Chicago (MDW) | -1.3 pts | 76.7% | 78.0% | 2,739 |
| 38 | San Antonio (SAT) | -1.3 pts | 82.0% | 83.3% | 1,612 |
| 39 | Baltimore (BWI) | -1.2 pts | 75.7% | 76.9% | 3,735 |
| 40 | Denver (DEN) | -1.2 pts | 77.3% | 78.5% | 11,860 |
| 41 | Buffalo (BUF) | -1.1 pts | 80.6% | 81.7% | 811 |
| 42 | Pittsburgh (PIT) | -1.1 pts | 83.6% | 84.8% | 1,632 |
| 43 | Washington (IAD) | -1.0 pts | 84.3% | 85.3% | 2,154 |
| 44 | Ontario (ONT) | -0.8 pts | 83.4% | 84.2% | 1,010 |
| 45 | Fort Myers (RSW) | -0.8 pts | 80.2% | 81.0% | 1,505 |
| 46 | Seattle (SEA) | -0.7 pts | 80.7% | 81.4% | 5,809 |
| 47 | Philadelphia (PHL) | -0.7 pts | 79.1% | 79.8% | 3,496 |
| 48 | Fort Lauderdale (FLL) | -0.7 pts | 74.4% | 75.0% | 3,757 |
| 49 | Charlotte (CLT) | -0.6 pts | 77.9% | 78.4% | 7,629 |
| 50 | Santa Ana (SNA) | -0.5 pts | 82.3% | 82.8% | 1,680 |
| 51 | Burbank (BUR) | -0.5 pts | 82.5% | 83.0% | 1,247 |
| 52 | Anchorage (ANC) | -0.4 pts | 85.6% | 86.0% | 539 |
| 53 | San Jose (SJC) | -0.3 pts | 84.5% | 84.8% | 1,889 |
| 54 | Miami (MIA) | -0.2 pts | 76.5% | 76.7% | 4,299 |
| 55 | Tampa (TPA) | -0.1 pts | 80.2% | 80.2% | 3,195 |
| 56 | Orlando (MCO) | +0.1 pts | 78.0% | 77.9% | 6,227 |
| 57 | Houston (IAH) | +0.3 pts | 80.3% | 80.0% | 4,550 |
| 58 | Louisville (SDF) | +0.4 pts | 84.3% | 83.9% | 817 |
| 59 | Reno (RNO) | +0.7 pts | 84.6% | 83.9% | 800 |
| 60 | Boston (BOS) | +0.9 pts | 80.6% | 79.8% | 5,466 |
| 61 | New Orleans (MSY) | +1.0 pts | 80.5% | 79.5% | 1,934 |
| 62 | Las Vegas (LAS) | +1.6 pts | 79.8% | 78.2% | 6,777 |
| 63 | San Francisco (SFO) | +1.7 pts | 82.3% | 80.5% | 5,672 |
| 64 | New York (LGA) | +1.9 pts | 82.3% | 80.4% | 5,510 |
| 65 | Kahului (OGG) | +2.2 pts | 89.4% | 87.2% | 980 |
| 66 | Honolulu (HNL) | +3.0 pts | 89.6% | 86.7% | 2,235 |
| 67 | Dallas (DAL) | +3.2 pts | 77.1% | 74.0% | 2,768 |
| 68 | Houston (HOU) | +3.8 pts | 81.7% | 77.9% | 2,159 |
80%+ good 70–79.9% fair <70% poor