Only about 1 in 60 US domestic flights is a red-eye, and 97% of them take off in the West. In 2025 the reporting airlines operated 6,898,743 domestic flights; 115,580 of them were overnight flights, scheduled to leave between 9 pm and 3 am and land between 3 am and 10 am the next morning. 97% departed from the thirteen Pacific and Mountain states, Alaska and Hawaii. In 26 years of data that share has never been below 95%. Nobody had put a number on the west-to-east shape of overnight flying before; this study does, and it follows it back to 2000.
The red-eye is not fading. There were 75,158 in 2000 and 115,580 in 2025, a 54% increase, and as a share of the major airlines’ flights it rose from 1.37% to 2.28%. What changed is who flies them, from where, and at what hour. Each section below carries one number a reader can take away, the chart behind it, and the years it covers.
Red-eyes are a western phenomenon
A red-eye works in one direction. Leave the West Coast at 11 pm, cross three time zones, and land in New York or Boston at 7 am with a business day ahead; the reverse trip has no overnight slot that makes sense. That geometry is the whole map: 97% of 2025’s red-eyes departed from the western states, and among the 300 busiest red-eye routes, 82% land in the Central or Eastern time zones. 66,920 red-eyes, 58% of the total, flew 2,000 miles or more.
| State | Red-eye departures | Share of all US red-eyes |
|---|---|---|
| California | 44,266 | 38.3% |
| Nevada | 15,958 | 13.8% |
| Hawaii | 12,129 | 10.5% |
| Washington | 11,580 | 10.0% |
| Arizona | 8,194 | 7.1% |
| Alaska | 6,072 | 5.3% |
| Colorado | 5,821 | 5.0% |
| Utah | 4,611 | 4.0% |
| Oregon | 3,557 | 3.1% |
| Puerto Rico | 2,107 | 1.8% |
| Texas | 368 | 0.3% |
| New Mexico | 175 | 0.2% |
| New York | 167 | 0.1% |
| American Samoa (Pago Pago) | 148 | 0.1% |
| Idaho | 147 | 0.1% |
| Illinois | 113 | 0.1% |
26 years of red-eyes
Two lines because the answer depends on the denominator. The Bureau of Transportation Statistics expanded the set of airlines that must report in 2018, which added millions of regional flights that almost never fly overnight, so the all-airline share dips that year for a reporting reason. On a consistent set of the major airlines and the carriers they absorbed, the red-eye share climbed from 1.37% in 2000 to 2.28% in 2025, peaking at 2.42% in 2018. The low point was 2009 (61,657 red-eyes), the collapse was 2020 (47,975), and the record is 2019 (116,850). The same records exist for 1988, when the airlines then reporting flew 43,306 red-eyes.
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<a href="https://championtraveler.com/news/red-eye-flights-share-of-us-flights/"><img src="https://static-cdn.championtraveler.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/redeye-share-chart-2000-2025.png" alt="Red-eye share of US flights, 2000 to 2025, ChampionTraveler" width="1200" height="560"></a>| Year | Flights | Red-eyes | Share, all airlines | Share, majors | From the West | 2,000+ miles | Airports |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 5,495,557 | 75,158 | 1.37% | 1.37% | 100% | 48% | 24 |
| 2001 | 5,736,582 | 65,508 | 1.14% | 1.25% | 100% | 50% | 24 |
| 2002 | 5,206,216 | 60,183 | 1.16% | 1.26% | 100% | 52% | 25 |
| 2003 | 6,387,071 | 66,295 | 1.04% | 1.37% | 99% | 57% | 28 |
| 2004 | 7,001,513 | 77,826 | 1.11% | 1.57% | 99% | 61% | 32 |
| 2005 | 7,006,866 | 82,574 | 1.18% | 1.68% | 99% | 62% | 32 |
| 2006 | 7,019,988 | 88,051 | 1.25% | 1.84% | 99% | 62% | 36 |
| 2007 | 7,294,649 | 86,120 | 1.18% | 1.82% | 98% | 61% | 36 |
| 2008 | 6,872,294 | 72,585 | 1.06% | 1.60% | 98% | 63% | 34 |
| 2009 | 6,360,908 | 61,657 | 0.97% | 1.48% | 97% | 65% | 34 |
| 2010 | 6,336,862 | 69,708 | 1.10% | 1.71% | 97% | 62% | 31 |
| 2011 | 5,969,303 | 70,091 | 1.17% | 1.71% | 97% | 62% | 33 |
| 2012 | 6,017,900 | 74,803 | 1.24% | 1.83% | 97% | 66% | 32 |
| 2013 | 6,273,470 | 76,254 | 1.21% | 1.87% | 97% | 65% | 36 |
| 2014 | 5,692,827 | 78,412 | 1.38% | 1.91% | 96% | 64% | 38 |
| 2015 | 5,729,195 | 97,147 | 1.70% | 2.24% | 96% | 58% | 47 |
| 2016 | 5,551,797 | 104,926 | 1.89% | 2.33% | 95% | 58% | 49 |
| 2017 | 5,591,928 | 107,050 | 1.91% | 2.33% | 96% | 59% | 51 |
| 2018 | 7,089,656 | 114,888 | 1.62% | 2.42% | 96% | 58% | 55 |
| 2019 | 7,287,112 | 116,850 | 1.60% | 2.38% | 95% | 56% | 61 |
| 2020 | 4,407,320 | 47,975 | 1.09% | 1.71% | 96% | 57% | 54 |
| 2021 | 5,892,337 | 85,988 | 1.46% | 2.22% | 96% | 58% | 51 |
| 2022 | 6,547,839 | 102,729 | 1.57% | 2.21% | 96% | 58% | 52 |
| 2023 | 6,759,956 | 112,900 | 1.67% | 2.22% | 97% | 59% | 48 |
| 2024 | 6,982,746 | 113,778 | 1.63% | 2.21% | 97% | 56% | 58 |
| 2025 | 6,898,743 | 115,580 | 1.68% | 2.28% | 97% | 58% | 45 |
The red-eye capitals
Anchorage is the red-eye capital of America by share. 26% of every departure from Anchorage is a red-eye (22% in 2000), and Anchorage to Seattle was the busiest red-eye route in the country in 2000 and is still number two. No other large airport is above 13%. By count, Los Angeles leads with 19,064 red-eye departures in 2025, but the crown used to belong to Las Vegas: 18,583 in 2000, 14% of everything that left the airport, falling to 6,562 by 2020 and recovering to 15,409. The busiest single red-eye route is Los Angeles to New York JFK (2,337 flights in 2025); LAX to JFK peaked at 3,303 in 2019 and is down 29% since.
Every airport with a red-eye in 2025, sortable and searchable. Share is red-eyes as a fraction of that airport’s departures.
| Airport | State | 2000 | 2010 | 2019 | 2025 | Share 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles (LAX) | California | 15,286 | 13,436 | 21,983 | 19,064 | 10.1% |
| Las Vegas (LAS) | Nevada | 18,583 | 7,960 | 15,669 | 15,409 | 8.4% |
| San Francisco (SFO) | California | 9,848 | 9,180 | 14,867 | 14,959 | 10.4% |
| Seattle (SEA) | Washington | 4,934 | 6,111 | 9,969 | 11,401 | 7.0% |
| Phoenix (PHX) | Arizona | 4,148 | 3,171 | 7,679 | 8,170 | 4.2% |
| Honolulu (HNL) | Hawaii | 3,784 | 4,779 | 4,500 | 6,194 | 10.6% |
| Denver (DEN) | Colorado | 702 | 1,838 | 5,559 | 5,821 | 1.8% |
| San Diego (SAN) | California | 2,424 | 2,801 | 3,821 | 5,267 | 5.5% |
| Anchorage (ANC) | Alaska | 4,325 | 4,043 | 3,693 | 4,774 | 25.6% |
| Salt Lake City (SLC) | Utah | 710 | 1,087 | 4,021 | 4,611 | 4.0% |
| Portland (PDX) | Oregon | 1,933 | 2,117 | 3,082 | 3,557 | 5.9% |
| Kahului (OGG) | Hawaii | 1,469 | 2,960 | 3,086 | 2,463 | 9.7% |
| Sacramento (SMF) | California | 1,000 | 1,210 | 2,162 | 2,310 | 4.0% |
| Kona (KOA) | Hawaii | 606 | 1,085 | 1,917 | 1,766 | 11.3% |
| Lihue (LIH) | Hawaii | 361 | 973 | 1,564 | 1,706 | 11.0% |
| San Juan (SJU) | Puerto Rico | 0 | 387 | 1,310 | 1,417 | 4.0% |
| Ontario (ONT) | California | 951 | 560 | 1,316 | 1,265 | 4.9% |
| Fairbanks (FAI) | Alaska | 362 | 572 | 907 | 1,211 | 32.5% |
| Aguadilla (BQN) | Puerto Rico | 0 | 183 | 813 | 606 | 26.7% |
| Reno (RNO) | Nevada | 1,048 | 2 | 932 | 549 | 2.7% |
| Orange County (SNA) | California | 270 | 716 | 387 | 520 | 1.2% |
| Fresno (FAT) | California | 0 | 0 | 407 | 382 | 2.9% |
| San Jose (SJC) | California | 1,733 | 784 | 1,046 | 289 | 0.6% |
| Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) | Texas | 0 | 0 | 158 | 224 | 0.1% |
| Spokane (GEG) | Washington | 0 | 0 | 259 | 179 | 1.0% |
| Albuquerque (ABQ) | New Mexico | 298 | 0 | 340 | 175 | 0.7% |
| Burbank (BUR) | California | 0 | 331 | 496 | 174 | 0.6% |
| New York JFK (JFK) | New York | 36 | 803 | 721 | 167 | 0.2% |
| Pago Pago (PPG) | American Samoa (Pago Pago) | 0 | 0 | 120 | 148 | 100.0% |
| Boise (BOI) | Idaho | 0 | 0 | 7 | 147 | 0.6% |
| Houston (IAH) | Texas | 0 | 35 | 367 | 144 | 0.1% |
| Chicago O’Hare (ORD) | Illinois | 0 | 0 | 137 | 113 | 0.0% |
| Orlando (MCO) | Florida | 0 | 318 | 120 | 103 | 0.1% |
| Juneau (JNU) | Alaska | 89 | 0 | 0 | 87 | 1.9% |
| Ponce (PSE) | Puerto Rico | 0 | 29 | 360 | 84 | 12.3% |
| Palm Springs (PSP) | California | 0 | 0 | 342 | 36 | 0.2% |
| Tucson (TUS) | Arizona | 0 | 0 | 58 | 24 | 0.1% |
| Newark (EWR) | New Jersey | 0 | 0 | 97 | 21 | 0.0% |
| Boston (BOS) | Massachusetts | 0 | 168 | 182 | 19 | 0.0% |
The busiest red-eye routes
| Rank | 2000 | 2010 | 2019 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ANC to SEA (2,323) | LAX to JFK (2,165) | LAX to JFK (3,303) | LAX to JFK (2,337) |
| 2 | HNL to LAX (1,952) | ANC to SEA (1,606) | LAX to ORD (1,778) | ANC to SEA (1,748) |
| 3 | LAX to JFK (1,772) | SFO to JFK (1,425) | SFO to EWR (1,568) | HNL to LAX (1,648) |
| 4 | LAX to ORD (1,471) | OGG to LAX (1,377) | LAX to BOS (1,530) | LAX to ORD (1,621) |
| 5 | LAS to ATL (1,464) | LAX to ATL (1,168) | SFO to JFK (1,521) | LAS to ATL (1,529) |
| 6 | HNL to SFO (1,431) | HNL to LAX (1,115) | ANC to SEA (1,511) | LAX to ATL (1,515) |
| 7 | LAS to JFK (1,211) | LAS to JFK (1,091) | HNL to LAX (1,430) | SFO to JFK (1,478) |
| 8 | LAS to DFW (1,120) | SFO to BOS (1,037) | LAX to IAD (1,403) | SFO to EWR (1,362) |
| 9 | LAS to EWR (1,096) | LAX to BOS (941) | SFO to ORD (1,330) | LAX to BOS (1,269) |
| 10 | OGG to LAX (1,089) | SFO to ORD (912) | LAX to EWR (1,303) | SFO to ATL (1,261) |
Who flies them
Share of all red-eye flights by airline, 2000 to 2025
Hover or tap a segment for the number.
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<a href='https://championtraveler.com/news/red-eye-flights-share-of-us-flights/'><img src='https://static-cdn.championtraveler.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/redeye-carriers-chart-2000-2025.png' alt='Who flies America's red-eyes, 2000 to 2025, ChampionTraveler' width='1200' height='600'></a>The legacy airlines lost the red-eye market. American, Delta and United, counting the airlines they absorbed, flew 97% of red-eyes in 2000 and 64% in 2025. JetBlue peaked at 15% of all red-eyes in 2011 and is at 7%; Alaska rose from 3% to 12%; Frontier and Spirit arrived in 2015. Southwest flew no overnight flights for the first 25 years of this series and took 5.6% of the market in its first year. Measured against its own schedule, Alaska is the most red-eye-heavy airline at 5.6% of its flights, then JetBlue 3.5%, United 3.3%, Frontier 3.1%.
| Airline | Share of all red-eyes, 2000 | 2010 | 2019 | 2025 | Share of its own flights, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American | 43.5% | 22.4% | 21.9% | 20.6% | 2.49% |
| Delta | 29.3% | 27.2% | 16.3% | 20.9% | 2.38% |
| United | 24.2% | 25.5% | 22.5% | 22.4% | 3.28% |
| JetBlue | 0.0% | 14.6% | 11.7% | 6.8% | 3.47% |
| Alaska | 3.0% | 4.8% | 10.6% | 11.8% | 5.64% |
| Frontier | 0.0% | 0.6% | 6.3% | 5.2% | 3.09% |
| Spirit | 0.0% | 0.0% | 8.2% | 4.6% | 2.77% |
| Southwest | 0.0% | 3.2% | 0.0% | 5.6% | 0.47% |
| Hawaiian | 0.0% | 1.6% | 1.1% | 2.0% | 2.88% |
Southwest, the newcomer
Southwest flew its first overnight flight in February 2025. In the twelve months to June 2026 it flew 10,361 red-eyes, 9% of every red-eye in the country, about 1,287 a month by June 2026. The national share barely moved over that year (1.64% to 1.69%) because the other airlines flew fewer: Southwest took the overnight market the others were shrinking.
When red-eyes leave
The middle-of-the-night red-eye is disappearing. Departures after midnight were 31% of red-eyes in 2000 and 14% in 2025; the 11 pm departure went from 29% to 40%. Summer is red-eye season: 1.96% of July flights are red-eyes against 1.46% in January (2015 to 2025, excluding 2020). Day of week barely matters; Saturday is the most red-eye-heavy day.
| Month | Red-eye share of flights |
|---|---|
| January | 1.46% |
| February | 1.46% |
| March | 1.63% |
| April | 1.62% |
| May | 1.68% |
| June | 1.89% |
| July | 1.96% |
| August | 1.87% |
| September | 1.53% |
| October | 1.49% |
| November | 1.58% |
| December | 1.72% |
Are red-eyes more reliable?
Red-eyes get cancelled less often. In 2025, 1.05% of scheduled red-eyes were cancelled against 1.47% of all flights, and from 2002 to 2016 the red-eye cancellation rate ran at roughly half the overall rate. Diversions are rarer too (0.17% versus 0.27%). On punctuality, 82.4% of 2025 red-eyes arrived within 15 minutes of schedule against 77.6% of other flights, with a mean arrival delay of 13.1 minutes versus 17.3; 68% of red-eyes landed early or on time. The overnight sky is empty, so the delays that pile up through the afternoon never reach the red-eye.
What is a red-eye flight?
What is a red-eye flight?
A red-eye is an overnight flight: it departs late in the evening and lands early the next morning, so passengers sleep, or fail to, in the air. There is no official definition. This study counts a flight as a red-eye when it is scheduled to depart between 9 pm and 3 am local time and to land between 3 am and 10 am local time.
What time does a red-eye flight leave?
Most leave between 10 pm and midnight. In 2025, 27% of US red-eyes were scheduled to depart in the 10 pm hour and 40% in the 11 pm hour; only 14% left after midnight.
Why is it called a red-eye?
From the red, tired eyes of passengers who have been awake through the night. The term dates to the 1960s, when overnight transcontinental flights became routine in the United States.
Are red-eye flights cheaper?
Usually, but not always. A 2026 NapLab study of five US airlines found red-eyes about 8% cheaper than comparable daytime flights on average, 22% cheaper on weekends and about 10% more expensive on weekdays. Prices are not part of this study.
Are red-eye flights more reliable?
Yes on cancellations: 1.05% of red-eyes were cancelled in 2025 against 1.47% of all flights. Yes on punctuality: 82% arrived within 15 minutes of schedule against 78% of other flights.
Which airline flies the most red-eyes?
By count, United (22% of all US red-eyes in 2025). As a share of its own schedule, Alaska Airlines (5.6% of its flights).
Which airport has the most red-eye flights?
Los Angeles (LAX) by count, with 19,064 red-eye departures in 2025. Anchorage by share, where 26% of all departures are red-eyes.
Price finding cited from NapLab, Are Red-Eye Flights Worth Losing Sleep? (2026).
Methodology and data
Data: the Bureau of Transportation Statistics Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance database, every scheduled domestic flight of the reporting airlines from January 2000 through December 2025, plus the twelve months to June 2026 for the Southwest section. A red-eye is scheduled to depart between 9:00 pm and 2:59 am local time and to land between 3:00 am and 9:59 am local time. A departure window alone over-counts late-evening short hops that land before midnight, so the arrival condition is required. Cancelled flights are excluded from counts and shares, and counted separately for the cancellation rates. Airline families merge each airline with the carriers it absorbed (US Airways, America West and TWA with American; Northwest with Delta; Continental with United; AirTran with Southwest; Virgin America and Horizon with Alaska). The set of airlines required to report grew in 2018, which is why the all-airline share and the consistent major-airline share are both shown. Western states are the thirteen Pacific and Mountain states plus Alaska and Hawaii. International flights are not in this database.
Journalists and researchers who need a cut of the underlying tables (any year, airport, airline or route) can ask through the form on our About page; we send it with a request for a credit link. The full per-flight dataset is public at the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
Cite this study
ChampionTraveler, “Red-Eye Flights Are a Western Phenomenon: 26 Years of Data on Who Flies Overnight, From Where, and When,” 2026-09-09. https://championtraveler.com/news/red-eye-flights-share-of-us-flights/