According to PlainFlights' airport traffic ranking (BTS On-Time Performance total flights), Charlotte, NC (CLT) ranks #5 of 382 tracked US airports by total flights (most flights = #1). Charlotte, NC posts below-median on-time performance among the 382 tracked U.S. airports, as one of the busiest U.S. airports.
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CLT on-time rate vs. the national average
Ahead of the U.S. average across all 382 tracked airports.
Volume vs. on-time rate
Where Charlotte, NC sits on volume vs. on-time rate
Among the 382 U.S. airports in the BTS corpus, Charlotte, NC handles more flight
volume than 99% of them, and has a higher on-time rate than
33% of them, placing it in the quadrant for busy and delay-prone.
Flight volume and on-time rate are independent figures: a busy airport can still run
reliably, and a quiet one can still run late.
Charlotte, NC vs. a 29-airport national peer sample, volume percentile vs. on-time-rate percentile.
Total flights (2020-2025): 2,345,248 ·
On-time rate: 82.0%
Delay Cause Breakdown
Top delay cause: Late Aircraft.
Total delay minutes15,793,480 min
Late Aircraft6,990,883 min · 44%
Carrier4,952,949 min · 31%
NAS (National Aviation System)2,596,784 min · 16%
Weather1,194,969 min · 8%
Security57,895 min · 0%
Source: U.S. DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, On-Time Performance
CLT - seasonal on-time pattern
Best: November (93.1%) · worst: July (85.1%)
CLT - on-time rate by year
2020–2025, year-over-year trend.
CLT - taxi-out and taxi-in (monthly)
Average taxi-out 21.4 min · taxi-in 13.1 min over the last 24 reported months (U.S. airport mean taxi-out ≈ 16.4 min).
CLT's average taxi-out (21.4 min) runs longer than the recent U.S. airport mean (~16.4 min). The heaviest month in this window is October 2024 at 23.0 min; the lightest is January 2024 at 19.8 min.
Two PlainFlights-derived comparison paths for Charlotte, 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 Charlotte, NC is traffic scale: 2,345,248 BTS flights (2020–2025) place it #5 of 382 by book size. That busy-book footprint sits beside a 82% on-time rate (3 pts above the 79% national flight-weighted average), 421,203 delayed departures, and 25,904 cancellations (1.10% of the book).
Delay minutes concentrate in Late Aircraft (44.3% late-aircraft, 31.4% carrier, 16.4% NAS, 7.6% weather, 0.4% security). As a busy airport, that mix matters more for connection planning than for a thin schedule.
On the multi-year calendar, CLT is strongest in November (93.1% on-time) and weakest in July (85.1%), a 8.0-point swing. Volume peaks in March (~35,147 flights/month). The busiest connecting route is to ATL (Atlanta) at 84.4% on-time. Field definitions: on-time performance explained.
Charlotte, NC vs. the national on-time distribution
On-time rate among all 382 tracked U.S. airports
82%Top 67%higher than 33% of 382 airports
Charlotte, 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.
CLT's on-time book is mid-pack; month and delay-cause mix move more than the headline rate.
Check the busiest route from CLT before you book a connection. See top routes →
Travel in November rather than July if your dates are flexible. Seasonal patterns →
Build extra connection buffer when taxi-out spikes. October 2024 averaged 23.0 min. 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 Charlotte, NC's on-time rate?
Charlotte, NC (CLT) has a 82% on-time rate across 2,345,248 BTS-tracked flights (2020-2025), 3 pts above the 79% national flight-weighted average; that places it in roughly the below-median on-time performance.
How does CLT rank among U.S. airports by traffic volume?
Charlotte, NC ranks #5 of 382 tracked US airports by total BTS flights (most flights = #1), making it one of the busiest U.S. airports.
What's the most common cause of delays at Charlotte, NC?
Late Aircraft is the leading delay cause at CLT, accounting for 44.3% of delay minutes. The full breakdown: 44.3% late-aircraft, 31.4% carrier, 16.4% NAS/air-traffic-control, 7.6% weather, and 0.4% security.
When is the best time to fly through Charlotte, NC?
November is historically CLT's strongest month at 93.1% on-time, while July is the weakest at 85.1%, a 8.0-point swing across the BTS historical record.