The matched-period finding
BTS reported 105,436 cancellations among 4,554,659 covered operations from January through July 2026, a 2.31% cancellation rate. The same 2025 period had 77,557 cancellations among 4,505,420 operations, or 1.72%. That is a difference of 0.59 percentage points and 27,879 more reported cancellations in this series. It does not establish the cause of the change or count affected passengers.
Source: BTS Marketing Carrier year-to-date table; source checked 2026-10-05 21:28 UTC.
July in context
July 2026’s rate was 2.79%. It exceeded June 2026’s 1.71% by 1.08 percentage points, while the July-to-July difference was 0.21 points (2.79% versus 2.58%). The month-to-month difference may reflect seasonality. These comparisons alone cannot identify a cause.
| Period | Canceled | Reported operations | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan–Jul 2025 | 77,557 | 4,505,420 | 1.72% |
| Jan–Jul 2026 | 105,436 | 4,554,659 | 2.31% |
| Jul 2025 | 17,948 | 696,049 | 2.58% |
| Jun 2026 | 11,457 | 671,781 | 1.71% |
| Jul 2026 | 19,438 | 697,754 | 2.79% |
What this means for a traveler
This is historical reporting, so it cannot predict whether an individual flight will operate. For a changed or canceled trip, check the airline’s current flight status and the replacement itinerary it offers. If a refund matters, review the US Department of Transportation’s current refund guidance before accepting an alternative. Eligibility depends on the trip facts and the traveler’s choice; this report makes no individual determination.
Methodology · version 1.0
- Metric: canceled flights divided by reported flight operations, multiplied by 100. Each numerator and denominator comes from the same BTS table and period. Rates are rounded to two decimal places for display; differences use unrounded rates.
- Scope: reported nonstop domestic flights in BTS’s marketing-carrier on-time series. The BTS data profile describes the covered certificated carriers and code-share reporting. This is not a count of every US flight.
- Time periods: calendar months and matched January–July year-to-date windows. The annual summary displayed January–July when checked; its historical comparison is also January–July.
- Inclusion and missing data: no additional airline or airport threshold applies to this national component. No missing values are imputed. Airport and airline rankings require a separate method and minimum-operations threshold before publication.
- Updates: monthly after a new BTS month is available. If BTS revises counts, the report will note the new source value and date. This component does not measure schedule-change notices, cancellation causes, complaints, passenger totals, or current-day conditions.
Sources and reuse
- BTS year-to-date table — Jan–Jul 2025 and 2026 cancellations and operations.
- BTS 2026 monthly table — June and July 2026 counts.
- BTS 2025 monthly table — July 2025 counts.
- BTS data profile — definitions and coverage.
Data date: January–July 2026, with matched 2025 comparisons. All sources checked 2026-10-05 21:28 UTC. The calculations may be cited with attribution to FlightChangeCheck and BTS; the method and CSV are available above.
For corrections, contact support@flightchangecheck.com. See our research methodology. Version 1.0 · Prepared October 6, 2026.