It’s no wonder if you are worried that the current airport chaos could ruin your vacation, given that a number of airlines have confirmed the cancelation of more than 30,000 flights for November.
Fortunately, a recent study found that there are certain days of the week when flight cancelations are less likely.
37,000 cancellations from 400 different American airports were examined in the study. Data collecting took place between May 27 and July 15 during the busiest travel times. Based on this data, the best and worst weekdays for avoiding aircraft delays were as follows:
Worst
- Thursday
- 3.6% of total flights canceled
- 28% of total flights delayed
- Friday
- 3.2% of total flights canceled
- 31% of total flights delayed
Not to bad
- Saturday
- 2.7% of total flights canceled
- 27% of total flights delayed
- Wednesday
- 2.7% of total flights canceled
- 25% of total flights delayed
- Sunday
- 2.5% of total flights canceled
- 27% of total flights delayed
Best
- Monday
- 1.9% of total flights canceled
- 23% of total flights delayed
- Tuesday
- 1.8% of total flights canceled
- 22% of total flights delayed
The study found that the day of the week can have a major impact on flight delays. Thursday flights are twice as likely to be canceled as Tuesday flights.
Tuesday won out with the fewest cancelations and delays, followed closely by Monday. The study found that Tuesday and Monday are the best days of the week to fly, and Thursday and Friday are the worst. Travelers should try to fly at the beginning of the week if they have the option to select days when they can do so.
Other Factors That have an impact on flight cancelations
The time at which passengers fly certainly affects the likelihood of a flight being delayed, but who they fly with and where they depart from can also have a significant impact.
TraveloffPath has just identified the top five American airlines that experienced the biggest delays in July. The worst airline for delays was Allegiant Air, with over 40% of their flights experiencing delays. Southwest came in third with 32%, followed by JetBlue in second with 35%.
Flight delays can also be significantly impacted by where passengers fly to or from. The five airports with the highest percentage of cancellations between May 27 and July 15 were:
- LaGuardia Airport (LGA)- 7.7% of total flights canceled
- Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) – 7.6% of total flights canceled
- Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) -5.9% of total flights canceled
- Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) – 4.1% of total flights canceled
- Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) – 4% of total flights canceled