Analysis: Where U.S. Flight Cancellations Concentrate

‍DALLAS — U.S. airlines are heading into a fourth consecutive day of elevated operational disruption, with cancellation rates remaining above normal levels and on-time performance slipping, according to fresh data from Cirium.

As of Saturday, November 8, 2025, U.S. airlines canceled 803 of 21,748 scheduled flights, an overall 3.7% cancellation rate, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. Below is the updated number for Sunday 9, 2025.

American, United, and Delta account for the majority of cancellations by volume, with patterns clustering around Charlotte (CLT) hub operations, Denver–Colorado Springs, and select Northeast–Florida and capital corridor markets. (Source: Cirium)

Worst-Hit Routes (today)

• Denver–Phoenix (WN): 3 cancellations out of 7 scheduled (~43%).
• Charlotte–Orlando (AA): 3/9 (~33%) each way (CLT–MCO and MCO–CLT).
• Colorado Springs–Denver (UA): 3/9 (~33%) each way (COS–DEN and DEN–COS).
• Charlotte spoke routes (AA): 2/6 (~33%) on several CLT spokes, notably CLT–ORF, CLT–TRI, and DFW–GRK / GRK–DFW (AA).
• Northeast–Florida (B6): 2/6 (~33%) on BOS–FLL and JFK–FLL pairs.
• Capital corridor shuttle (UA): 2/6 (~33%) on DCA–EWR in both directions.

Airport Impact

• Highest cancellations by volume: CLT (63) leads by a wide margin, followed by ATL (37), ORD (37), DEN (29), DFW (26), MCO (20), PHX (20), JFK (19), DCA (18), EWR (17), LAX (17).
• Highest cancellation rates (≥50 flights): CLT ~9.2%, ORF ~9.2%, CMH ~7.8%, BUF ~7.5%, BUR ~6.0%, BHM ~5.9%, MCI ~5.7%, PIT ~5.7%, DCA ~5.7%.

Airline Impact (by cancellations)

• American (AA): 292 cancellations (~5.3% of 5,485 flights).
• United (UA): 173 (~4.2% of 4,088).
• Delta (DL): 160 (~3.9% of 4,095).
• Southwest (WN): 83 (~2.7% of 3,132).
• Alaska (AS): 33 (~3.1% of 1,079).
• JetBlue (B6): 22 (~3.3% of 657).

Regional Patterns

• CLT-centric ripple: Elevated cancellations on Charlotte spokes (to MCO, ORF, TRI) suggest localized hub constraints driving disproportionate impact in the Carolinas/Mid-Atlantic.
• Front Range pairing: DEN–COS disruptions cut both ways, pointing to operational imbalances in the Front Range.
• Northeast–Florida softness: BOS/JFK–FLL pairs show notable trims (B6), consistent with a leisure-heavy corridor absorbing tactical reductions.
• Capital corridor blips: DCA–EWR cancellations (UA) indicate potential ATC/flow management or crew ripple on short-stage sectors.

Sunday, November 9 Update

TAs of 4:00 p.m. Eastern, Cirium reports an uptick in cancellations crossing the 2,000 mark on Sunday, with 7.8% of all scheduled U.S. departures canceled (2,015 flights). That follows a turbulent Saturday when cancellations peaked at 6.5% of the national schedule. Looking ahead, Monday’s schedule (~25,700 planned departures) already shows more than 600 cancellations in the system, with additional cuts possible as carriers finalize aircraft routing and crew assignments overnight. Weather remains a factor, with snow in Chicago and rain in New York and Boston weighing on operations.

A Four-Day Trend Across Major U.S. Carriers

Cirium’s rolling analysis shows disruption building from Thursday, November 6, then intensifying on Friday and Saturday and remaining elevated on Sunday. The three largest legacy carriers—American, Delta, and United—continue to post the highest absolute number of cancellations, while Southwest remains comparatively less affected. On Sunday specifically, Delta’s cancellation rate moved into the low-teens, with American and United both around the high-single digits. Cirium emphasizes these are operational cancellations rather than schedule changes, which has implications for rebooking and compensation under DOT rules.

On-Time Performance Slips

Cirium characterizes Sunday’s on-time departure performance as about average at the national level. That’s a modest improvement from Friday–Saturday, when systemwide punctuality dipped into the low-to-mid-70% range, a level operations trackers typically consider “noteworthy” but not a systemwide breakdown. With Sunday departures returning toward ~25,000, performance will hinge on how quickly carriers recover crews and aircraft from the weekend weather and disruption.

What Comes Next

Cirium will publish its next dataset early Monday morning (Eastern) to determine whether the cancellation wave is tapering or extending into the workweek. Analysts will also watch for frequency consolidation or seat-blocking—signs that carriers are shifting from reactive to strategic disruption management. For specific route, airport, or carrier slices, Cirium invites data requests and notes that full origin–destination and airline breakdowns for Nov. 6–11 are available to newsrooms and visualization teams.

Complete List: Airport with Cuts

_{Methodology: Analysis of the data provided Cirium workbook; figures reflect schedules and cancellations as of 8:45 a.m. Eastern on Saturday, November 8, 2025, to Sunday 11 a.m. All percentages rounded; route highlights emphasize markets with ≥6 scheduled flights to avoid small-sample distortions—source: Cirium.}