Charlotte to Washington

What the Data Says About CLT to IAD

The Charlotte to Washington corridor (CLT → IAD) covers roughly 322 miles and is served by 36 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 13,324 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 83.6% on-time rate with an average delay of 74.4 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 4,115 flights were recorded on this pairing — 69 cancelled (1.7%) and 4 diverted (0.1%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 36 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 13,324 total flights analyzed, the 83.6% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 74.4-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, Sep 2025 posted the best performance on this corridor at 91% on-time, while Dec 2025 came in at 69% on-time — a 22-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the CLT to IAD route, the combination of a 83.6% on-time rate, 74.4-minute average delay, 1.7% recent cancellation rate, and 36 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.