- Thursday is the worst day for flight cancellations, but Tuesday is the best, per AirHelp data.
- Tuesday also was the best day for on-time flights and the least flight disruption, the data showed.
Air passengers are experiencing significant travel disruption during their attempts to jet away this summer, with flight cancellations one of the most common issues.
Almost 950 US flights were cancelled on Sunday, per tracking site FlightAware, as the airline industry grapples with a surge in travel demand as well as a staff shortage post-pandemic. Passengers have reported lost luggage, flight chaos, and families being booked on different flights.
New data shared with Insider by AirHelp, an air passenger rights company, shows the best and worst days for flight cancellations and disruption in the US this summer.
AirHelp's data — which looked at flights between May 27 and July 31 — suggests that that Thursday is the worst day to travel
More than 3.6% of flights were cancelled on an average Thursday, according to AirHelp data. It also showed that 3.2% of flights were axed on Friday.
Trailing behind the worst days were Wednesday and Saturday, both with 2.7% of flights cancelled, and Sunday with 2.5% of flights scrapped.
The best days to fly on were Monday and Tuesday with 1.9% and 1.8% of flights cancelled respectively, per the data.
Friday was rated in the data as the worst day for punctuality with just 69% of flights being on time. By contrast, Tuesday was the day with the best on-time status as 78% of flights were punctual.
Although AirHelp's data ranked Thursday as the worst day for flight cancellations, the greatest amount of overall flight disruption happened on Friday. Again, Tuesday came out on top as the day with the least flight disruption.
"Weekday flights – such as those on Tuesdays – are less common given they fall on typical workdays," Pawliszyn said. "With less traffic and demand, it's no surprise that we're seeing this pattern in on-time versus disrupted flights."
The company's data also revealed the 10 worst US airports for flight cancellations, ranking LaGuardia Airport the worst, closely followed by Newark Liberty International.