New York to Raleigh/Durham

What the Data Says About JFK to RDU

The New York to Raleigh/Durham corridor (JFK → RDU) covers roughly 427 miles and is served by 22 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 19,083 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 80.6% on-time rate with an average delay of 74.2 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 6,334 flights were recorded on this pairing — 202 cancelled (3.2%) and 10 diverted (0.2%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 22 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 19,083 total flights analyzed, the 80.6% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 74.2-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, Oct 2024 posted the best performance on this corridor at 92% on-time, while Jun 2025 came in at 62% on-time — a 30-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the JFK to RDU route, the combination of a 80.6% on-time rate, 74.2-minute average delay, 3.2% recent cancellation rate, and 22 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.