The U.S. Airport Most Likely to Ruin Your Thanksgiving Isn’t JFK

The turkey is ordered, the grandchildren are counting down, and the flight is booked. Then comes the push notification nobody wants: delayed, then delayed again, then the dreaded rebooking queue.

For millions of Americans heading home for Thanksgiving on November 26, the airport they fly through could decide whether they make it to the table on time. And the worst offender is not the one most people would guess.

The Airport at the Top of the List

An analysis of Bureau of Transportation Statistics on-time data for Thanksgiving week in 2023, 2024 and 2025, published by flight delay service DelayGuard, ranked the 25 busiest US airports by the share of flights arriving 15 or more minutes late.

Chicago O’Hare came out worst, with 30.3% of flights late over the Thanksgiving period. Detroit was close behind at 29.0%, with Fort Lauderdale third at 26.8%.

There is an important caveat. O’Hare’s average is pulled up sharply by a disastrous 2025, when 47.4% of its Thanksgiving week flights were late and 13.12% of scheduled departures were cancelled. In 2023 and 2024 its rate was a more ordinary 21.7% and 19.0%. A repeat is not guaranteed, but it shows how quickly one bad week at a major hub can unravel a holiday.

At the other end of the scale, Salt Lake City had the lowest delay rate of the 25 airports at 14.7%, followed by Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

The Day That Causes the Most Misery

Timing matters as much as the airport. Across all three years, the Sunday after Thanksgiving was the worst day of the week, with 32.8% of flights arriving late. In 2025 alone, that figure hit 46.9%. This year, that Sunday falls on November 29.

Thanksgiving Day itself was the calmest day of the week, with just 6.8% of flights late.

The time of day makes a difference too. During Thanksgiving week, flights scheduled between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m. were late 13.0% of the time. Evening departures between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. were late more than twice as often, at 27.6%.

Construction Chaos at Two Big Gateways

JFK may not top the delay rankings, but it brings its own headaches. The Farmers’ Almanac has flagged JFK’s $19 billion redevelopment as a Thanksgiving trouble spot, citing the airport’s own warning of delays, reroutes and road closures inside the airport.

At LAX, travelers should plan on Terminal 5 being unavailable for check-in, drop-off and pickup over the holiday. Anyone being collected by family needs to confirm where to meet well before landing.

Storms in the South

The weather adds another layer of risk this year. The Weather Channel’s Thanksgiving outlook says warmer than normal conditions lower the chance of snow at northern hubs such as Chicago, Detroit and New York. The bigger concern is a wetter than average South, which raises the risk of storm delays at Atlanta, Charlotte, the Florida airports and Texas hubs, with California’s risk rising toward the end of the month.

NOAA’s latest seasonal outlook also favors above-normal rain and snow from November to January across much of the South, Southeast and East Coast, with a strong El Niño likely through the winter.

Why This Matters More for Older Travelers

A delay is an inconvenience at any age. For travelers carrying medications on a strict schedule, managing mobility issues, or relying on a tight connection to a regional airport, a missed connection on the busiest weekend of the year can mean a night in an airport hotel, or no hotel at all.

Rebooking options shrink fast when every flight is full.

What Travelers Should Do

• Fly on Thanksgiving Day itself, or return on Saturday rather than Sunday, if plans allow.

• Book the earliest flight of the day; delays build as the day goes on.

• Avoid connecting through O’Hare or Detroit where a nonstop or alternative hub is available.

• Pack at least two extra days of medication in hand luggage.

• Download the airline’s app and turn on alerts, so rebooking can start before reaching the desk.

• Leave extra time for roads around JFK, and confirm pickup arrangements at LAX.

Sources: DelayGuard analysis of BTS on-time data; Bureau of Transportation Statistics on-time reporting; Quartz on Farmers’ Almanac Thanksgiving trouble spots; The Weather Channel Thanksgiving delay outlook; NOAA Climate Prediction Center seasonal outlook.