Best time to fly out of Charlotte Douglas (CLT)
The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Charlotte Douglas: departures in the 6–8am band left on time 89.7% of the time, against 65.5% in the 10pm–12am band. These are historical odds, not forecasts. The records say what happened on this schedule over three years; they know nothing about tomorrow’s thunderstorm.
Data through June 2026 · Bureau of Transportation Statistics
On-time rate by hour and day
On this page, “on time” means a departure that pushed back less than 15 minutes behind its scheduled time — the Bureau of Transportation Statistics definition, and the one airlines are held to.
| Departure time | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before 6am | 78 | 92 | 92 | 91 | 87 | 86 | 86 |
| 6–8am | 89 | 91 | 91 | 92 | 90 | 88 | 88 |
| 8–10am | 86 | 88 | 90 | 87 | 87 | 85 | 86 |
| 10am–12pm | 80 | 85 | 86 | 82 | 81 | 80 | 80 |
| 12–2pm | 77 | 83 | 83 | 79 | 78 | 78 | 76 |
| 2–4pm | 72 | 78 | 79 | 74 | 73 | 73 | 69 |
| 4–6pm | 69 | 75 | 75 | 70 | 68 | 69 | 65 |
| 6–8pm | 66 | 72 | 73 | 65 | 64 | 66 | 61 |
| 8–10pm | 67 | 73 | 73 | 65 | 64 | 65 | 60 |
| 10pm–12am | 67 | 71 | 72 | 65 | 64 | 64 | 59 |
The steadiest stretch at CLT was 6–8am — 89.7% of departures left on time across 50,626 flights. The weakest was 10pm–12am at 65.5%. 6–8am departures from CLT left on time 89.7% of the time across 50,626 flights; 6–8pm departures, 66.6% across 70,083. That is a gap of 23.1 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
The year at CLT
July was the hard month at CLT: 61.8% of departures left on time, across 52,466 flights. November was the easy one at 83.9%. Each month pools three years of that month, so a single bad week does not decide it.
| Month | Share departures that left on time | Flights |
|---|---|---|
| January | 78.2% | 47,477 |
| February | 79.8% | 44,565 |
| March | 76.2% | 50,601 |
| April | 77.4% | 50,766 |
| May | 71.3% | 52,912 |
| June | 68.6% | 50,194 |
| July | 61.8% | 52,466 |
| August | 70.6% | 52,097 |
| September | 80.2% | 50,025 |
| October | 82.2% | 53,397 |
| November | 83.9% | 49,168 |
| December | 76.3% | 49,027 |
Airlines at CLT
Every airline with at least 100 departures from CLT, busiest first. These are that airline’s departures from this airport only — its record across the country sits on its own page.
| Airline | Left on time | Typical delay | Cancelled | Departures |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Airlines | 73.4% | 71 min | 1.5% | 360,621 |
| PSA Airlines | 79.1% | 72 min | 2% | 148,192 |
| Delta Air Lines | 83.9% | 77 min | 0.8% | 18,095 |
| Envoy Air | 80.4% | 64 min | 1.6% | 17,665 |
| Spirit Airlines | 70% | 75 min | 2.7% | 11,820 |
| United Airlines | 82.4% | 99 min | 1.6% | 10,689 |
| Southwest Airlines | 68.7% | 52 min | 0.8% | 9,837 |
| Republic Airways | 83.9% | 83 min | 2.7% | 9,342 |
| Frontier Airlines | 67.4% | 96 min | 3.3% | 9,025 |
| Endeavor Air | 81.5% | 97 min | 4.1% | 4,537 |
| SkyWest Airlines | 77.3% | 160 min | 2.7% | 1,939 |
| JetBlue Airways | 72.4% | 86 min | 2.1% | 933 |
Spirit Airlines (through May 2026) and Endeavor Air (through December 2024) stopped filing before June 2026. Their rows cover a shorter run of months than the rest of the table, so their figures are not set against the others anywhere on this page.
What delays out of CLT were put down to
Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 147,279 flights that departed CLT and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 46.9% put down to late-arriving aircraft and 30% to airline operations.
- Late-arriving aircraft 46.9%
- Airline operations 30%
- Air traffic & airport volume 15.2%
- Severe weather 7.5%
- Security 0.3%
Late-arriving aircraft is the knock-on category: the plane came in late, so it went out late again. It is why a 7am problem in Newark is still a problem in Denver at dinnertime, and why it is usually the biggest slice on the bar.
If you are connecting through CLT
Of 602,698 scheduled arrivals into CLT, 78.3% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 119,276 arrivals that ran late, 51.3% were no more than 45 minutes behind — which is the difference between a tight connection and a new boarding pass.
Work out a specific layover — pick the airport and the minutes you have, and the tool reads the same arrival records back as a share.
Busiest routes out of CLT
Ranked by flights, with the share that arrived on time at the far end. Where a route carries enough flights for a page of its own the chip goes there; otherwise it goes to the destination airport.
- MCO 71.5% on time · 15,556 flights
- LGA 72.4% on time · 15,532 flights
- ATL 80.4% on time · 14,834 flights
- BOS 74.4% on time · 13,929 flights
- ORD 74.3% on time · 13,352 flights
- DFW 74.6% on time · 12,033 flights
- EWR 71.4% on time · 11,364 flights
- BNA 75% on time · 11,328 flights
- PHL 72.7% on time · 11,286 flights
- MIA 74.9% on time · 10,970 flights
CLT in one number
Charlotte Douglas (CLT)
Rank 5 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: 6–8am. Hardest month: July.
Questions about CLT
- What is the best time of day to fly out of Charlotte Douglas?
- 6–8am. Departures in that band left on time 89.7% of the time across 50,626 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 10pm–12am band was the weakest at 65.5%.
- Is the early flight out of CLT really more reliable?
- 6–8am departures from CLT left on time 89.7% of the time across 50,626 flights; 6–8pm departures, 66.6% across 70,083. That is a gap of 23.1 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.
- What is the worst month to fly out of CLT?
- July: 61.8% of the departures that flew left on time, with 52,466 scheduled. November was the other end of the year at 83.9%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
- Which airline is most on time at CLT?
- Delta Air Lines — 83.9% of its 18,095 departures from CLT left on time. Frontier Airlines sat at the other end at 67.4% over 9,025 flights. Only airlines with at least 100 departures here are ranked. Airlines that stopped filing before June 2026 are left out of the ranking — their figures cover a shorter run of months than the rest of the table.
- How often are flights cancelled at CLT?
- 1.7% of scheduled departures were cancelled over July 2023 through June 2026. Cancellations are counted against everything scheduled, not against everything that flew — a rate that looks small still adds up to real people in a rebooking line.