Charlotte, NC

What the Data Says About CLT

Charlotte, NC in Charlotte, North Carolina handled 2,345,248 flights in the Bureau of Transportation Statistics dataset between 2020 and 2025, posting a 82% on-time departure rate. Of those flights, 421,203 experienced delays, 25,904 were cancelled, and 2,512 were diverted. The cancellation rate works out to 1.10%, the diversion rate to 0.11%, and the average delay when departures run late is 81.1 minutes. These figures are the baseline for comparing CLT against other airports in the same state and nationally.

Breaking down what drives delays at CLT, Late Aircraft leads the pack. Late Aircraft accounts for 44.3% of total delay minutes, followed by Carrier at 31.4% and NAS (National Aviation System) at 16.4%. Weather contributes 7.6% of delay minutes at this airport, while security holds the smallest share at 0.4%. Travelers often overestimate the weather share; the BTS categorization shows late-arriving aircraft and carrier operations as the larger contributors.

Seasonally, November runs the cleanest at CLT with a 93.1% on-time rate, while July is the roughest at 85.1% — a 8-point swing between best and worst month. Volume peaks in March, when average flights hit 35,147. The busiest route from CLT is to ATL (Atlanta), with 29,653 flights at a 84.4% on-time rate. Combine these numbers — 82% on-time, 81.1-minute average delay, 1.10% cancellation rate — and you have a concrete picture of departure reliability at Charlotte, NC.