Boston to Raleigh/Durham

What the Data Says About BOS to RDU

The Boston to Raleigh/Durham corridor (BOS → RDU) covers roughly 612 miles and is served by 27 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 16,152 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 79.9% on-time rate with an average delay of 78.6 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 5,912 flights were recorded on this pairing — 65 cancelled (1.1%) and 9 diverted (0.2%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 27 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 16,152 total flights analyzed, the 79.9% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 78.6-minute average delay applies only to flights that actually ran late, so it is not the average wait across all departures — the majority of flights on this route depart on time under the BTS definition of a delay (15+ minutes past schedule).

Looking at recent months, Nov 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 89% on-time, while Dec 2025 came in at 70% on-time — a 19-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the BOS to RDU route, the combination of a 79.9% on-time rate, 78.6-minute average delay, 1.1% recent cancellation rate, and 27 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.