Charlotte to New Orleans

What the Data Says About CLT to MSY

The Charlotte to New Orleans corridor (CLT → MSY) covers roughly 651 miles and is served by 14 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 10,898 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 80.1% on-time rate with an average delay of 69.7 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 3,834 flights were recorded on this pairing — 51 cancelled (1.3%) and 6 diverted (0.2%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 14 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 10,898 total flights analyzed, the 80.1% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 69.7-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 95% on-time, while Jul 2024 came in at 54% on-time — a 41-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the CLT to MSY route, the combination of a 80.1% on-time rate, 69.7-minute average delay, 1.3% recent cancellation rate, and 14 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.