The month in US connections: July 2026

Last checked 20 October 2026

July was a harder month for connections than June. Across all airports in the US Department of Transportation's on-time data, cancellations rose from 1.65% of flights in June to 2.62% in July. Short connections lost time more often at 26 of the 31 large hubs we track, and six Northeast Corridor hubs had the highest cancellation rates of the 31 hubs we track.

Six Northeast Corridor hubs

Share of scheduled departures cancelled, July 2026 and June 2026:

Hub	July	June
New York JFK	10.9%	2.0%
New York LaGuardia	9.9%	4.2%
Newark	8.2%	1.5%
Washington National	8.0%	4.9%
Boston	5.9%	1.8%
Philadelphia	5.7%	2.7%

Airlines cancelled 5,261 of 65,874 July departures (8.0%) at Boston, Washington National, Newark, JFK, LaGuardia and Philadelphia, up from 2.9% in June. 2,456 of those cancellations (46.7%) fell on 18, 21 and 28 July, and airlines recorded Extreme Weather as the cause for 1,487 of them (60.5%).

A few days did most of the damage. On 18 July, 59.5% of scheduled departures at LaGuardia, 57.5% at Newark and 54.4% at JFK were cancelled. On 21 July it happened again: 59.1% at LaGuardia, 50.5% at JFK and 45.3% at Newark.

BTS records a reason for each cancellation, as the airline reports it. Across all of July, 6.5% of Newark's scheduled departures were cancelled with the reason recorded as extreme weather and 1.1% as the national aviation system, BTS's category for air traffic control, airport operations, heavy traffic and non-extreme weather. At JFK the figures were 3.9% and 4.3%. The carrier and security categories account for the remainder.

Short connections lost time more often

We measure this on pairs of flights scheduled 30 to 44 minutes apart at the same hub, whether or not they are on the same airline, on days when both flights operated. A connection loses time when the first flight arrives at least 15 minutes later, against its schedule, than the second flight leaves against its own.

In July that happened on 18.9% of Atlanta's connection-days, up from 13.6% in June. The share rose at 26 of the 31 hubs. It fell at five: Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Seattle, Chicago Midway and San Francisco.

San Francisco had the highest share of the 31 hubs we track in both months: 34.1% in July and 35.4% in June. Miami came next in July, at 23.8%.

This measures delay only. Whether a passenger actually missed the second flight also depends on the walk and the airport.

Corrected 20 October 2026: the connection figures are recomputed after we fixed how flight times are matched. Before the correction this section gave Atlanta 19.5% in July and 14.1% in June, San Francisco 33.4% and 35.2%, and Miami 24.5% in July. It said the share rose at 24 of the 31 hubs and fell at seven, including Las Vegas and San Diego.

What airlines reported as the cause

For flights that arrived 15 or more minutes late, BTS records the cause minutes that airlines report. On each hub's most disrupted July day (the day with the highest share of departures cancelled or 15 or more minutes late), late-arriving aircraft was the largest single category at 19 of the 31 hubs. BTS defines late-arriving aircraft as an earlier flight on the same aircraft arriving late, which makes the next flight depart late. Extreme weather, BTS's category for conditions that stop flying, was the largest category at Newark and Washington Dulles, both on 18 July.

The same days recur across the map. For 19 of the 31 hubs, the most disrupted day was 6, 13, 18 or 19 July.

What it means for a connection

A hub's monthly share is an average across thousands of connections. Your own two flights can run much better or much worse than the hub's average, so check your own connection.

The FAA's live status page lists ground delay programs and ground stops as they happen. On a day your hub has one, allow extra time, and check whether yours is the last flight of the day.

Our guides to JFK, Newark, LaGuardia, Atlanta and San Francisco cover the layouts and terminal changes at each.

GateCast grades connections A to F from a year of real US flight-delay data. Check your own connection.

About these figures

BTS publishes about two months after a month ends, and July 2026 was the latest month available on 3 October 2026. The connection measure covers flights among the roughly 100 busiest US airports. Cancellation and lateness figures cover every airline that reports to BTS at each hub, which excludes foreign airlines and some small operators. Cancellation reasons and cause minutes are reported by the airlines in BTS's categories, in each airline's own judgment; cause minutes cover only flights that arrived 15 or more minutes late. Comments, feedback and corrections to [email protected]. We correct errors on the page.

Updated 20 October 2026: added the six-hub July cancellation counts and the June comparison.

Related guides

Sources

US Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS): Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance, June and July 2026 files, all reporting US airlines, departures from each of the 31 large hubs. Used for national and per-hub cancellations, cancellation reasons, each hub's most disrupted days and the cause-minute categories. Read 3 Oct 2026. https://www.transtats.bts.gov/ONTIME/
BTS, Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance, July and June 2026 files, scheduled departures and cancellations at Boston, Washington National, Newark, JFK, LaGuardia and Philadelphia (BOS, DCA, EWR, JFK, LGA, PHL), all reporting US airlines; the cancellation counts and the Extreme Weather share in the six-hub paragraph. Read 4 Oct 2026. https://www.transtats.bts.gov/ONTIME/
GateCast analysis of the same BTS files for the connection measure: share of connection-days (pairs of flights on any airlines) on which a scheduled 30 to 44 minute connection lost 15 or more minutes (first flight's arrival delay minus second flight's departure delay), counting days both flights operated normally, flights among the roughly 100 busiest US airports, July 2026 compared with June 2026. Run 2 to 3 Oct 2026; recomputed 20 Oct 2026 after the correction to how flight times are matched.
BTS, cause categories (late-arriving aircraft, national aviation system, extreme weather, air carrier and security) as BTS defines them in its on-time reporting. https://www.bts.gov/topics/airlines-and-airports/understanding-reporting-causes-flight-delays-and-cancellations. Read 3 Oct 2026.
FAA, National Airspace System Status, live ground delay programs and ground stops. https://nasstatus.faa.gov/. Read 3 Oct 2026.