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Thanksgiving & Christmas Flight Delays at MEM: Frederick W. Smith International Airport
Which day of Thanksgiving week is best at MEM?
| Day | Flights (4 yrs) | Late (15+ min) | Cancelled | Avg dep. delay (min) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tue before | 263 | 20.2% | 0.0% | 19.6 |
| Wed before | 274 | 16.1% | 0.0% | 11.5 |
| Thanksgiving Day | 140 | 5.7% | 0.0% | 4.5 |
| Fri after | 214 | 9.8% | 0.0% | 5.9 |
| Sat after | 262 | 22.6% | 1.9% | 13.6 |
| Sun after | 285 | 26.1% | 1.4% | 24.5 |
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 MEM
| Year | Thanksgiving week late | Thanksgiving week cancelled | Rest of Nov. late | Dec 20–31 late | Dec 20–31 cancelled |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 16.7% | 0.3% | 19.6% | 33.8% | 9.6% |
| 2023 | 13.5% | 0.0% | 13.0% | 12.9% | 0.6% |
| 2024 | 15.3% | 0.0% | 12.5% | 24.5% | 0.8% |
| 2025 | 26.0% | 2.1% | 18.6% | 20.3% | 1.7% |
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 MEM
Across 2022–2025, 22.7% of flights from MEM arrived 15+ minutes late and 3.2% were cancelled during Dec 20–31, compared with 16.6% late and 0.6% cancelled from Dec 1–19 (+6.1 pts late arrivals).
Airlines at MEM, Thanksgiving week
| Airline (flights it operated) | Flights (4 yrs) | Late | Cancelled | Dec 20–31 late |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Airlines | 289 | 17.6% | 0.0% | 26.4% |
| Southwest | 255 | 17.7% | 0.4% | 25.1% |
| Delta Air Lines | 243 | 10.7% | 0.0% | 13.2% |
* Regional airline that mostly flies under another airline’s brand (for example American Eagle, Delta Connection, United Express), so the ticket you bought may not match the operator. Airlines with fewer than 200 flights in the window are omitted.
Why flights from MEM were late (Thanksgiving week)
| Cause category (BTS) | Share of delay minutes |
|---|---|
| Airline (crew, maintenance, cleaning…) | 37.9% |
| Extreme weather | 3.1% |
| National Aviation System (air traffic, volume) | 19.5% |
| Security | 0.0% |
| Late-arriving aircraft | 39.5% |
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
Source: BTS Airline On-Time Performance data, flights departing MEM 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.