Charlotte to Buffalo

What the Data Says About CLT to BUF

The Charlotte to Buffalo corridor (CLT → BUF) covers roughly 546 miles and is served by 15 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 6,415 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 77.9% on-time rate with an average delay of 70.1 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 2,481 flights were recorded on this pairing — 39 cancelled (1.6%) and 1 diverted (0.0%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 15 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 6,415 total flights analyzed, the 77.9% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 70.1-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, Apr 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 84% on-time, while May 2024 came in at 58% on-time — a 27-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the CLT to BUF route, the combination of a 77.9% on-time rate, 70.1-minute average delay, 1.6% recent cancellation rate, and 15 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.