Best time to fly out of Raleigh-Durham (RDU)

The early-flight folk wisdom holds up at Raleigh-Durham: departures in the Before 6am band left on time 93.3% of the time, against 64% 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.

Share of departures that left on time, by hour band and day of week.
Departure time MonTueWedThuFriSatSun
Before 6am 93 93 94 95 94 92 93
6–8am 91 92 92 93 91 92 91
8–10am 87 89 90 89 88 86 88
10am–12pm 84 86 87 85 84 82 84
12–2pm 80 83 83 79 77 80 78
2–4pm 74 79 80 76 73 77 72
4–6pm 70 74 75 68 66 74 68
6–8pm 69 75 73 68 65 67 63
8–10pm 65 74 72 63 66 65 58
10pm–12am 60 – – 66 69 – 63
fewer left on time more left on time

The steadiest stretch at RDU was Before 6am — 93.3% of departures left on time across 7,516 flights. The weakest was 10pm–12am at 64%. 6–8am departures from RDU left on time 91.4% of the time across 38,000 flights; 6–8pm departures, 68.3% across 24,912. That is a gap of 23.1 points, and it is the whole case for the early flight.

The year at RDU

July was the hard month at RDU: 70.1% of departures left on time, across 15,940 flights. November was the easy one at 85.1%. Each month pools three years of that month, so a single bad week does not decide it.

Share of departures that left on time, by calendar month. Best month in green, worst in amber. The hairline sits at the overall rate, 80.4%.
Departure on-time share at RDU by calendar month
Month Share departures that left on time Flights
January 82.5% 12,858
February 84.6% 12,049
March 79.9% 14,067
April 82.9% 14,289
May 79.6% 15,173
June 76.4% 14,988
July 70.1% 15,940
August 76.9% 15,720
September 83.9% 14,843
October 84.9% 15,834
November 85.1% 14,846
December 79.8% 14,541

Airlines at RDU

Every airline with at least 100 departures from RDU, 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
Delta Air Lines 84.1% 80 min 1.1% 34,551
American Airlines 79.4% 96 min 1.7% 31,917
Southwest Airlines 78.1% 50 min 0.9% 27,020
Republic Airways 83.7% 80 min 2.9% 19,880
United Airlines 84.5% 91 min 1.2% 17,635
Frontier Airlines 73.8% 90 min 2.8% 13,175
Endeavor Air 82.5% 85 min 3% 9,946
JetBlue Airways 74.1% 85 min 2.2% 9,335
Envoy Air 83.5% 75 min 1.8% 3,874
PSA Airlines 73.3% 93 min 4.1% 3,020
Alaska Airlines 75% 50 min 1.3% 1,672
Spirit Airlines 63% 76 min 3.6% 1,594
SkyWest Airlines 80.2% 86 min 0.7% 1,529

What delays out of RDU were put down to

Airlines file a reason with every arrival running 15 minutes late or more. Across 35,075 flights that departed RDU and ran 15 minutes late or more, the delay minutes break down with 43.8% put down to late-arriving aircraft and 28% to airline operations.

Late-arriving aircraft 43.8% Airline operations 28% Air traffic & airport volume 24.3% Severe weather 3.7% Security 0.1%
  • Late-arriving aircraft 43.8%
  • Airline operations 28%
  • Air traffic & airport volume 24.3%
  • Severe weather 3.7%
  • Security 0.1%

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 RDU

Of 175,144 scheduled arrivals into RDU, 76.1% reached the gate less than 15 minutes behind schedule. Of the 38,565 arrivals that ran late, 52.8% 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 RDU

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.

RDU in one number

Raleigh-Durham (RDU)

Rank 34 of 363 US airports by departures. Steadiest stretch of the day: Before 6am. Hardest month: July.

July 2023–June 2026 · 172,028 departures flown

80.4% of departures left on time

Questions about RDU

What is the best time of day to fly out of Raleigh-Durham?
Before 6am. Departures in that band left on time 93.3% of the time across 7,516 flights, July 2023 through June 2026 — the best of the ten bands in the day. The 10pm–12am band was the weakest at 64%.
Is the early flight out of RDU really more reliable?
6–8am departures from RDU left on time 91.4% of the time across 38,000 flights; 6–8pm departures, 68.3% across 24,912. 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 RDU?
July: 70.1% of the departures that flew left on time, with 15,940 scheduled. November was the other end of the year at 85.1%. Each figure pools three years of that calendar month.
Which airline is most on time at RDU?
United Airlines — 84.5% of its 17,635 departures from RDU left on time. Spirit Airlines sat at the other end at 63% over 1,594 flights. Only airlines with at least 100 departures here are ranked.
How often are flights cancelled at RDU?
1.8% 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.