According to PlainFlights' airport traffic ranking (BTS On-Time Performance total flights), Asheville, NC (AVL) ranks #101 of 382 tracked US airports by total flights (most flights = #1). Asheville, NC posts bottom-quartile on-time performance among the 382 tracked U.S. airports, as a high-volume U.S. airport.
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AVL on-time rate vs. the national average
Ahead of the U.S. average across all 382 tracked airports.
Delay Cause Breakdown
Top delay cause: Late Aircraft.
Total delay minutes: 909,329.
Late Aircraft38.7% (352,080 min)
Carrier32.4% (294,393 min)
NAS (National Aviation System)20.8% (189,139 min)
Weather7.9% (71,761 min)
Security0.2% (1,956 min)
AVL - seasonal on-time pattern
Best: February (92.9%) · worst: July (85.5%)
AVL - on-time rate by year
2020–2025, year-over-year trend.
AVL - taxi-out and taxi-in (monthly)
Average taxi-out 16.2 min · taxi-in 6.8 min over the last 24 reported months (U.S. airport mean taxi-out ≈ 16.4 min).
AVL's average taxi-out (16.2 min) sits near the recent U.S. airport mean (~16.4 min). Month-to-month, it swings from 15.0 min (April 2025) to 18.1 min (January 2024).
Two PlainFlights-derived comparison paths for Asheville, NC, both outside North Carolina so the neighborhoods are not same-state geography. Axes stay disjoint: volume peers exclude the on-time peer set. Same-state compare stays below.
The standout signal at Asheville, NC is the delay mix: Late Aircraft owns 38.7% of 909,329 delay minutes across 114,713 BTS flights. The on-time headline is 80% (1 pts above the 79% national average), with 22,985 delayed and 1,787 cancelled (1.56%).
Delay minutes concentrate in Late Aircraft (38.7% late-aircraft, 32.4% carrier, 20.8% NAS, 7.9% weather, 0.2% security). As a busy airport, that mix matters more for connection planning than for a thin schedule.
On the multi-year calendar, AVL is strongest in February (92.9% on-time) and weakest in July (85.5%), a 7.4-point swing. Volume peaks in July (~1,891 flights/month). The busiest connecting route is to ATL (Atlanta) at 87% on-time. Field definitions: on-time performance explained.
Asheville, NC vs. the national on-time distribution
On-time rate among all 382 tracked U.S. airports
80%Top 84%higher than 16% of 382 airports
Asheville, NC
60%95%
U.S. airports by on-time rate, bucketed by value
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more airports. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Data Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), On-Time Performance Data (2020–2025).
Statistics reflect cumulative performance across all available reporting periods. On-time rates exclude cancelled and diverted flights.
AVL's on-time book sits in the slower half of the BTS set; check the delay mix and the worst month before treating the headline as typical.
Check the busiest route from AVL before you book a connection. See top routes →
Travel in February rather than July if your dates are flexible. Seasonal patterns →
Gate-to-wheels taxi-out averages 16.2 min here; check the monthly series before a tight connection. Taxi times →
On-time rate reflects the BTS historical average across all reporting carriers at this airport, not any single flight or airline.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Asheville, NC's on-time rate?
Asheville, NC (AVL) has a 80% on-time rate across 114,713 BTS-tracked flights (2020-2025), 1 pts above the 79% national flight-weighted average; that places it in roughly the bottom-quartile on-time performance.
How does AVL rank among U.S. airports by traffic volume?
Asheville, NC ranks #101 of 382 tracked US airports by total BTS flights (most flights = #1), making it a high-volume U.S. airport.
What's the most common cause of delays at Asheville, NC?
Late Aircraft is the leading delay cause at AVL, accounting for 38.7% of delay minutes. The full breakdown: 38.7% late-aircraft, 32.4% carrier, 20.8% NAS/air-traffic-control, 7.9% weather, and 0.2% security.
When is the best time to fly through Asheville, NC?
February is historically AVL's strongest month at 92.9% on-time, while July is the weakest at 85.5%, a 7.4-point swing across the BTS historical record.
Data sourced from U.S. Department of Transportation Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) On-Time Performance data. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainFlights