Holiday travel report
Thanksgiving 2026: when to fly, and who leaves on time
Departures scheduled before 9 am left the gate on time 91% of the time; after 5 pm, 69%. Delta Air Lines left on time most often (84% of departures) among US airlines with 50+ departures a day.
Departures, seats and on-time numbers for Nov 24 to Nov 30 against the weeks before, airport by airport and airline by airline.
Fly early: on-time departures by time of day
Departures scheduled before 9 am left the gate on time 91% of the time; after 5 pm, 69%. Delays build through the day: a late plane makes its next flight late too.
Share of departures that left the gate less than 15 minutes after their scheduled time, by scheduled departure time (local), across 235 airports.
Most on-time airlines
Delta Air Lines left on time most often (84% of departures), Southwest Airlines least often (65%), among US airlines with 50+ departures a day.
| Airline | Departures a day | On time | 30+ min late |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delta | 4,682 | 84% | 10% |
| Breeze | 232 | 84% | 10% |
| United | 4,716 | 83% | 12% |
| Allegiant | 254 | 79% | 13% |
| Alaska | 1,312 | 78% | 13% |
| JetBlue | 712 | 77% | 16% |
| American | 5,784 | 76% | 17% |
| Frontier | 580 | 74% | 20% |
| Southwest | 3,709 | 65% | 21% |
| Airlines based outside the US | |||
| China Southern | 75 | 93% | 3% |
| Aeroméxico | 200 | 92% | 3% |
| Turkish Airlines | 607 | 90% | 4% |
| Korean Air | 238 | 90% | 3% |
| Peach | 131 | 87% | 3% |
| Volaris | 123 | 86% | 8% |
| SAS | 456 | 86% | 7% |
| WestJet | 92 | 86% | 8% |
| Virgin Atlantic | 55 | 82% | 10% |
| Cathay Pacific | 289 | 82% | 10% |
| EVA Air | 142 | 81% | 5% |
| ANA | 461 | 81% | 8% |
| Aer Lingus | 53 | 79% | 9% |
| Japan Airlines | 388 | 79% | 7% |
| Porter | 85 | 77% | 13% |
| Emirates | 323 | 77% | 11% |
| Air France | 78 | 77% | 13% |
| Air Canada | 478 | 77% | 12% |
| Air India | 142 | 76% | 8% |
| Qantas | 268 | 74% | 10% |
| British Airways | 449 | 74% | 14% |
| China Airlines | 138 | 73% | 13% |
| Air Canada Rouge | 113 | 72% | 14% |
| Qatar Airways | 323 | 72% | 14% |
| Viva Aerobus | 66 | 72% | 14% |
| Jetstar Japan | 72 | 71% | 9% |
| Iberia | 71 | 71% | 20% |
| KLM | 429 | 70% | 14% |
| Austrian | 241 | 68% | 13% |
| SWISS | 253 | 64% | 12% |
| Eurowings | 103 | 63% | 21% |
| Lufthansa | 412 | 61% | 14% |
| Aegean | 184 | 58% | 21% |
| Condor | 110 | 51% | 25% |
On time = left the gate less than 15 minutes after its scheduled time; 30+ min late = left half an hour or more after it.
On-time departures by airport
Of the 54 airports with 100+ departures a day, Istanbul (IST) left on time most often (87%) and San Diego (SAN) least often (59%).
The busiest hour at the 20 busiest airports
The hour with the most scheduled departures: the longest security lines and the busiest gates. At O’Hare (ORD), the busiest hour is 8 am–9 am with about 105 scheduled departures.
| Airport | Busiest hour | Departures that hour | Departures a day |
|---|---|---|---|
| O’Hare (ORD) | 8 am–9 am | 105 | 1,283 |
| Atlanta (ATL) | 9 am–10 am | 95 | 1,094 |
| Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) | 6 pm–7 pm | 77 | 1,028 |
| Denver (DEN) | 5 pm–6 pm | 94 | 967 |
| Charlotte (CLT) | 11 am–noon | 78 | 737 |
| Los Angeles (LAX) | 9 am–10 am | 55 | 704 |
| Amsterdam (AMS) | 9 am–10 am | 63 | 692 |
| Tokyo Haneda (HND) | 9 am–10 am | 50 | 668 |
| Istanbul (IST) | 7 am–8 am | 65 | 655 |
| London Heathrow (LHR) | 2 pm–3 pm | 43 | 618 |
| Houston Bush (IAH) | 6 pm–7 pm | 70 | 590 |
| Frankfurt (FRA) | 10 am–11 am | 52 | 583 |
| Beijing Capital (PEK) | 8 am–9 am | 51 | 581 |
| Seattle (SEA) | 11 am–noon | 44 | 576 |
| San Francisco (SFO) | 10 am–11 am | 57 | 564 |
| Seoul Incheon (ICN) | 8 am–9 am | 43 | 554 |
| New York JFK | 9 am–10 am | 41 | 543 |
| Las Vegas (LAS) | 6 am–7 am | 40 | 539 |
| Hong Kong (HKG) | 8 am–9 am | 46 | 520 |
| Boston (BOS) | 7 am–8 am | 44 | 519 |
The busiest gates in the US
The busiest gate we measured is 1A at Jeju (CJU): about 17 departures a day, held by Jeju Air. A gate like that turns a plane roughly every hour from first departure to last.
| Gate | Airport | Held by | Departures a day |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1A | Jeju (CJU) | Jeju Air | 17.4 |
| 4 | Jeju (CJU) | Common use | 17.1 |
| 12 | Jeju (CJU) | Jin Air | 16.8 |
| C40 | Palma de Mallorca (PMI) | Common use | 16.7 |
| C21 | Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) | American | 16.4 |
| 3A | Jeju (CJU) | Eastar Jet | 16.1 |
| C19 | Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) | American | 16.0 |
| C39A | Palma de Mallorca (PMI) | Common use | 15.6 |
| 8 | Jeju (CJU) | Common use | 15.4 |
| B26 | Amsterdam (AMS) | KLM | 14.5 |
| 11 | Jeju (CJU) | Common use | 14.3 |
| B3 | Amsterdam (AMS) | KLM | 14.0 |
| A58 | Frankfurt (FRA) | Lufthansa | 13.3 |
| A22 | Frankfurt (FRA) | United | 13.3 |
| 9 | Kona (KOA) | Alaska | 13.0 |
| 3 | Jeju (CJU) | Common use | 12.9 |
| 10 | Jeju (CJU) | Common use | 12.8 |
| F6 | Dubai (DXB) | flydubai | 12.7 |
| A12 | Seattle (SEA) | Delta | 12.7 |
| A17 | Frankfurt (FRA) | United | 12.7 |
Thanksgiving flying questions
What is the best time of day to fly at Thanksgiving?
Early. Departures scheduled before 9 am left the gate on time 91% of the time; after 5 pm, 69%. A delay early in the day follows the plane to every later flight.
Which airline is most on time?
Delta Air Lines left on time most often (84% of departures), Southwest Airlines least often (65%), among US airlines with 50+ departures a day.
Which airport has the most on-time departures?
Of the 54 airports with 100+ departures a day, Istanbul (IST) left on time most often (87%) and San Diego (SAN) least often (59%).
What is the busiest airport gate in the US?
The busiest gate we measured is 1A at Jeju (CJU): about 17 departures a day, held by Jeju Air.
Where do these numbers come from?
Every airline arrival and departure at 235 US airports from FlightAware, worked out by Chockwise. Each airport's latest full days of normal flying (Sep 25 to Oct 21, 2026). On time = left the gate less than 15 minutes after the scheduled time, the line the US Department of Transportation uses.
Use these numbers and tables with credit to Chockwise and a link to chockwise.com. We can break them out for your airport or airline: info@chockwise.com.
235 airports, each averaged over its latest full days of normal flying (Sep 25 to Oct 21, 2026); passenger airlines only, regional partners counted as their brand. Flight data: FlightAware.