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Thanksgiving & Christmas Flight Delays at GRR: Gerald R. Ford International Airport

Over the last four Thanksgiving travel weeks (2022–2025, Tuesday before through Sunday after), 28.1% of flights that left Gerald R. Ford International Airport (Grand Rapids, MI) arrived at least 15 minutes late and 1.6% were cancelled. In the rest of November the same airport had 15.5% late and 1.7% cancelled, so Thanksgiving week had 12.6 points more late arrivals. The best day was Tue before (11.1% late); the worst was Sun after (48.5% late).

28.1%late arrivals, Thanksgiving week

1.6%cancelled, Thanksgiving week

25.5%late arrivals, Dec 20–31

5.4%cancelled, Dec 20–31

Which day of Thanksgiving week is best at GRR?

Day	Flights (4 yrs)	Late (15+ min)	Cancelled	Avg dep. delay (min)
Tue before	218	11.1%	0.5%	9.1
Wed before	221	19.3%	0.9%	12.6
Thanksgiving Day	126	16.0%	0.8%	8.2
Fri after	164	30.5%	0.0%	15.2
Sat after	220	38.3%	5.0%	14.3
Sun after	233	48.5%	1.7%	35.7

Pooled over 2022–2025. Thanksgiving 2026 is Thursday, Nov 26, so the window is Tue Nov 24 – Sun Nov 29. Individual days have fewer flights, so small differences are noise.

Year by year at GRR

Year	Thanksgiving week late	Thanksgiving week cancelled	Rest of Nov. late	Dec 20–31 late	Dec 20–31 cancelled
2022	9.5%	0.4%	25.5%	36.4%	20.3%
2023	14.2%	0.0%	9.4%	12.3%	0.5%
2024	42.0%	0.3%	12.0%	22.2%	1.1%
2025	42.9%	5.2%	15.8%	35.3%	2.2%

Single years can be dominated by one storm or airline meltdown; look at the range, not just the average. Dec 20–31, 2022 includes the late-December 2022 winter storm and airline disruptions nationwide.

Christmas week (Dec 20–31) at GRR

Across 2022–2025, 25.5% of flights from GRR arrived 15+ minutes late and 5.4% were cancelled during Dec 20–31, compared with 25.3% late and 0.7% cancelled from Dec 1–19 (+0.2 pts late arrivals).

Why flights from GRR were late (Thanksgiving week)

Cause category (BTS)	Share of delay minutes
Airline (crew, maintenance, cleaning…)	26.5%
Extreme weather	10.8%
National Aviation System (air traffic, volume)	35.7%
Security	0.0%
Late-arriving aircraft	27.0%

Share of reported delay minutes on flights that arrived 15+ minutes late. “Extreme weather” is only a narrow category; many weather-related delays are counted under National Aviation System or late-arriving aircraft. Categories are assigned by airlines to BTS rules.

Other airports nearby

DTW – Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport

Source: BTS Airline On-Time Performance data, flights departing GRR operated by airlines that report to BTS. “Late” = arrived 15 or more minutes after schedule (the DOT definition), counted among flights that were not cancelled or diverted. Computed by Holiday Delay Odds; see methodology.