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Airport · ILM · Wilmington, North Carolina

Wilmington, NC

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.

Data updated 2026-06-13

83.9%
On-time
Top 45%
on-time, US airports
80 min
Delay when late
1.41%
Cancelled
#116 of 382
Corpus placement
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ILM on-time rate vs. the national average

Ahead of the U.S. average across all 382 tracked airports.

0%100%U.S. average79%83.9%

Delay Cause Breakdown

Top delay cause: Late Aircraft. Total delay minutes: 540,661.

Late Aircraft 41.4% (223,706 min)
Carrier 31.2% (168,763 min)
NAS (National Aviation System) 18.6% (100,433 min)
Weather 8.8% (47,386 min)
Security 0.1% (373 min)

ILM - seasonal on-time pattern

Best: November (94.4%) · worst: July (89.7%)

88%90%92%94%96% JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec 92.1%

ILM - on-time rate by year

2020–2025, year-over-year trend.

90%92%94%96%98% 202020212022202320242025 95.9% 90.6% ▼ -5.5%

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).

14 min16 min18 min20 min Jan 24Dec 25 16.7 min 17.9 min ▲ +7.2%

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).

Cancellation & Diversion Analysis

Flight disruption statistics for Wilmington, NC.

Cancellation Rate

1.41%

1,140 of 80,728 flights

Diversion Rate

0.11%

92 of 80,728 flights

Delay Rate

16.1%

13,022 of 80,728 flights

Top Routes from ILM

Busiest routes to and from Wilmington, NC.

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Route Flights On-Time Distance
CLT (Charlotte) → ILM (Wilmington) 14,374 81.5% 185 mi
ILM (Wilmington) → CLT (Charlotte) 14,371 85.5% 185 mi
ATL (Atlanta) → ILM (Wilmington) 7,446 88.9% 377 mi
ILM (Wilmington) → ATL (Atlanta) 7,445 89.8% 377 mi
ILM (Wilmington) → LGA (New York) 6,699 83.1% 500 mi
LGA (New York) → ILM (Wilmington) 6,698 82% 500 mi
DCA (Washington) → ILM (Wilmington) 3,656 79.5% 319 mi
ILM (Wilmington) → DCA (Washington) 3,655 78.5% 319 mi
DFW (Dallas/Fort Worth) → ILM (Wilmington) 3,346 76.3% 1,106 mi
ILM (Wilmington) → DFW (Dallas/Fort Worth) 3,345 81.7% 1,106 mi
ILM (Wilmington) → EWR (Newark) 1,090 81.9% 488 mi
EWR (Newark) → ILM (Wilmington) 1,061 81.1% 488 mi
ILM (Wilmington) → BOS (Boston) 966 71.5% 672 mi
BOS (Boston) → ILM (Wilmington) 965 86.4% 672 mi
ORD (Chicago) → ILM (Wilmington) 780 80.4% 760 mi
ILM (Wilmington) → ORD (Chicago) 779 75% 760 mi

Nationwide peers by on-time rate & flight volume

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.

Similar on-time rate

Nearest out-of-state BTS on-time rate (this airport: 83.9%).

Missoula, MT

Missoula, MT

83.9% on-time 52,758 flights

Monterey, CA

Monterey, CA

83.9% on-time 47,880 flights

Augusta, GA

Augusta, GA

84% on-time 41,579 flights

Dickinson, ND

Dickinson, ND

84% on-time 4,996 flights

Similar flight volume

Nearest out-of-state total flights (this airport: 80,728).

Jackson/Vicksburg, MS

Jackson/Vicksburg, MS

79,839 flights 84.2% on-time

Burlington, VT

Burlington, VT

79,685 flights 83.4% on-time

Aspen, CO

Aspen, CO

78,805 flights 73.5% on-time

Sioux Falls, SD

Sioux Falls, SD

83,262 flights 81.6% on-time

Other Airports in North Carolina

Compare performance with other North Carolina airports.

CLT 82%

Charlotte, NC

Charlotte · 2,345,248 flights
RDU 81.6%

Raleigh/Durham, NC

Raleigh/Durham · 616,332 flights
GSO 84.6%

Greensboro/High Point, NC

Greensboro/High Point · 116,389 flights
AVL 80%

Asheville, NC

Asheville · 114,713 flights
FAY 86.9%

Fayetteville, NC

Fayetteville · 22,542 flights
OAJ 87.4%

Jacksonville/Camp Lejeune, NC

Jacksonville/Camp Lejeune · 20,873 flights
USA 72.4%

Concord, NC

Concord · 10,857 flights
EWN 85.7%

New Bern/Morehead/Beaufort, NC

New Bern/Morehead/Beaufort · 8,887 flights

ILM delay-share reading

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.

Statewide aggregates for North Carolina: North Carolina flight data.

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.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Using ILM's data

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.

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

Source: U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) Airline on-time performance and operational reliability · 2025

Every figure on PlainFlights is rendered directly from BTS On-Time Performance data, no number is typed in by an editor. Airport figures are computed directly from BTS On-Time Performance data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.