Raleigh/Durham to Charlotte

What the Data Says About RDU to CLT

The Raleigh/Durham to Charlotte corridor (RDU → CLT) covers roughly 130 miles and is served by 12 carriers, based on Bureau of Transportation Statistics reporting. Across 18,338 flights in the dataset, this route posts a 82.6% on-time rate with an average delay of 85.7 minutes when flights run late. Over the most recent 24 months of BTS data, 7,023 flights were recorded on this pairing — 106 cancelled (1.5%) and 2 diverted (0.0%). Those baseline metrics tell you what to expect before you book.

Having 12 carriers on the route matters: more carriers generally means more daily schedule options, competitive pricing, and redundancy when flights are cancelled. With 18,338 total flights analyzed, the 82.6% on-time figure is statistically meaningful rather than a small-sample fluke. The 85.7-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, Jan 2025 posted the best performance on this corridor at 89% on-time, while Jul 2024 came in at 59% on-time — a 30-point gap between best and worst recent month. For travelers evaluating the RDU to CLT route, the combination of a 82.6% on-time rate, 85.7-minute average delay, 1.5% recent cancellation rate, and 12 available carriers is the concrete summary of what BTS data shows about reliability on this pairing.