Newark, LaGuardia and JFK named ‘worst airports’ for 4th of July travel: study

New Yorkers can expect flight cancellations and delays on America’s 250th birthday. 

As food, fireworks and festivities kick off in celebration of Independence Day 2026, frequent flyers in and around the Big Apple are likely to face nixed or postponed takeoffs as Newark Liberty International Airport, LaGuardia Airport and John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK) have been deemed the top three “worst airports for Fourth of July cancellations,” per party-pooping new data. 

“Newark travelers face the highest risk of flight cancellations of any major US airport,” researchers for Rightway Parking, a virtual airport parking reservation hub, revealed in a study. 

The report determined that across the last five Fourth of July travel periods, an average of 24.7% of flights were delayed, and 2% were canceled, nationwide. 

But tristate area trippers have had it the worst. 

“Newark Liberty has the highest Fourth of July cancellation rate in the country, with 3.7% of flights canceled,” continued the insiders, ranking LaGuardia in second place with a 3.3% cancellation rate and JFK in third with a 2.7%. 

Investigators analyzed flight on-time performance data from the US Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), tracking the flight records from top airports — those with more than 10,000 combined departures and arrivals — on each July 4 from 2021 through 2025. 

For all 389 reporting airports and 20 airlines, the experts counted the departures and arrivals that were delayed and canceled. 

“As BTS defines it, a flight is delayed if it leaves the gate or arrives 15 or more minutes behind schedule,” noted the authors. “Rates were calculated across the full 5-year period (total delayed flights divided by total flights) rather than as an average of yearly percentages — so busier years carry proportional weight.”

The busyness of the boroughs, as well as its surrounding neighborhoods, is likely to be on high this holiday weekend. 

The heightened buzz will be, in part, due to the highly anticipated, two-day wedding of pop icon Taylor Swift and a NFL champion Travis Kelce. The A-list lovers are expected to tie the knot at Madison Square Garden, where 1,000 of their closest loved ones are expected to fly into town for the fête.

Beyond the celebrity-studded shindig, city officials are amping up security measures for Saturday, July 4, as hundreds of thousands of revelers are expected to touch down in NYC, painting the town Red, White and Blue for the nation’s anniversary — with temperatures forecast to be in the mid-90s.

Soccer junkies will, too, be landing locally as the FIFA World Cup match between Brazil vs. Norway is slated for Sunday at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium. 

Party animals with big plans had better pray against delays. 

The analysts named Newark in their roundup of the top 10 worst airports for delays. The plane station secured the No. 9 spot with a 28.7% delay rate.

Orlando International earned top billing on the unappealing list with a 34.1% rate, with San Juan’s Luis Munoz Marin International (32.9%) and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International (31.8%) rounding out the top three. 

JFK and LaGuardia, according to the findings, boast 28.1% and 24.3% delay rates, respectively.