Charlotte to Columbia

What the Data Says About CLT to CAE

The Charlotte to Columbia corridor (CLT → CAE) covers roughly 88 miles and is served by 7 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 6,631 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 82.9% on-time rate with an average delay of 69.1 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 2,084 flights were recorded on this pairing — 34 cancelled (1.6%) and 1 diverted (0.0%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 7 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 6,631 total flights analyzed, the 82.9% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 69.1-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, Dec 2023 posted the best performance on this corridor at 93% on-time, while Feb 2025 came in at 59% on-time — a 34-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the CLT to CAE route, the combination of a 82.9% on-time rate, 69.1-minute average delay, 1.6% recent cancellation rate, and 7 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.