According to PlainFlights' airport traffic ranking (BTS On-Time Performance total flights), Wilmington, NC (ILM) ranks #116 of 382 tracked US airports by total flights (most flights = #1). Wilmington, NC posts above-median on-time performance among the 382 tracked U.S. airports, as a mid-size U.S. airport.
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ILM on-time rate vs. the national average
Ahead of the U.S. average across all 382 tracked airports.
Volume vs. on-time rate
Where Wilmington, NC sits on volume vs. on-time rate
Among the 382 U.S. airports in the BTS corpus, Wilmington, NC handles more flight
volume than 70% of them, and has a higher on-time rate than
55% of them, placing it in the quadrant for busy and reliable.
Flight volume and on-time rate are independent figures: a busy airport can still run
reliably, and a quiet one can still run late.
Wilmington, NC vs. a 29-airport national peer sample, volume percentile vs. on-time-rate percentile.
Total flights (2020-2025): 80,728 ·
On-time rate: 83.9%
Delay Cause Breakdown
Top delay cause: Late Aircraft.
Total delay minutes540,661 min
Late Aircraft223,706 min · 41%
Carrier168,763 min · 31%
NAS (National Aviation System)100,433 min · 19%
Weather47,386 min · 9%
Security373 min · 0%
Source: U.S. DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, On-Time Performance
ILM - seasonal on-time pattern
Best: November (94.4%) · worst: July (89.7%)
ILM - on-time rate by year
2020–2025, year-over-year trend.
ILM - taxi-out and taxi-in (monthly)
Average taxi-out 17.2 min · taxi-in 5.3 min over the last 24 reported months (U.S. airport mean taxi-out ≈ 16.4 min).
ILM's average taxi-out (17.2 min) sits near the recent U.S. airport mean (~16.4 min). Month-to-month, it swings from 15.0 min (August 2025) to 19.1 min (December 2024).
Two PlainFlights-derived comparison paths for Wilmington, 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 Wilmington, NC is the delay mix: Late Aircraft owns 41.4% of 540,661 delay minutes across 80,728 BTS flights. The on-time headline is 83.9% (4.9 pts above the 79% national average), with 13,022 delayed and 1,140 cancelled (1.41%).
Delay minutes concentrate in Late Aircraft (41.4% late-aircraft, 31.2% carrier, 18.6% NAS, 8.8% weather, 0.1% security). As a busy airport, that mix matters more for connection planning than for a thin schedule.
On the multi-year calendar, ILM is strongest in November (94.4% on-time) and weakest in July (89.7%), a 4.7-point swing. Volume peaks in July (~1,372 flights/month). The busiest connecting route is to CLT (Charlotte) at 81.5% on-time. Field definitions: on-time performance explained.
Wilmington, NC vs. the national on-time distribution
On-time rate among all 382 tracked U.S. airports
83.9%Top 45%higher than 55% of 382 airports
Wilmington, 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.
ILM's on-time book is mid-pack; month and delay-cause mix move more than the headline rate.
Check the busiest route from ILM before you book a connection. See top routes →
Travel in November rather than July if your dates are flexible. Seasonal patterns →
Gate-to-wheels taxi-out averages 17.2 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 Wilmington, NC's on-time rate?
Wilmington, NC (ILM) has a 83.9% on-time rate across 80,728 BTS-tracked flights (2020-2025), 4.9 pts above the 79% national flight-weighted average; that places it in roughly the above-median on-time performance.
How does ILM rank among U.S. airports by traffic volume?
Wilmington, NC ranks #116 of 382 tracked US airports by total BTS flights (most flights = #1), making it a mid-size U.S. airport.
What's the most common cause of delays at Wilmington, NC?
Late Aircraft is the leading delay cause at ILM, accounting for 41.4% of delay minutes. The full breakdown: 41.4% late-aircraft, 31.2% carrier, 18.6% NAS/air-traffic-control, 8.8% weather, and 0.1% security.
When is the best time to fly through Wilmington, NC?
November is historically ILM's strongest month at 94.4% on-time, while July is the weakest at 89.7%, a 4.7-point swing across the BTS historical record.