Airport month record

CLTDEC

Charlotte Douglas International in December 2025

Departures: 14,975
Month: December 2025
National, same month: 73.2%
Carriers: 10

Historical statistics for December 2025, not live status or a forecast for this year’s December. For today’s conditions at CLT, see live FAA status.

CLT in December sits in the middle of the pack with a C+. Close to three flights in four arrive on time by the DOT's definition, level with the national rate of 73.2%. The late ones land about an hour behind schedule. That rests on 14,975 flights, of which Envoy Air flew 466 at 82.9% on time.

Envoy Air is the most reliable of the five carriers covered here at 82.9% on time across 466 flights.

On time

73.3%

Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 14,816 completed departures

Avg delay

67 min

Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights

Cancelled

0.82%

Nationally in December: 1.55%

Whole year

76.7%

CLT across all twelve months

These figures cover 14,975 departures from Charlotte Douglas International in December 2025. On time means an arrival less than 15 minutes after the scheduled gate time, the DOT's threshold, and the national comparison uses every US departure in the same month rather than the whole year.

Against the year

December next to CLT's other months

Against CLT's own year, December ran 3 points worse than the twelve-month rate of 76.7%, which makes it number nine of twelve months, best first. Cancellations were unusually low for CLT in December, at 0.82% against 2.01% across the year. Either side of it, November ran 81.1% on time and January 80.7%, so a trip moved by a few weeks would have landed in a better stretch.

CLT month by month
Month	Flights	On time	Avg delay	Cancelled	Grade
July 2025	16,447	65.7%	79 min	2.31%	C
August 2025	15,628	72.8%	71 min	0.91%	C+
September 2025	15,192	84.0%	67 min	0.37%	B+
October 2025	16,273	81.2%	65 min	0.23%	B+
November 2025	14,945	81.1%	69 min	1.45%	B
December 2025 (this page)	14,975	73.3%	67 min	0.82%	C+
January 2026	14,222	80.7%	73 min	10.98%	B−
February 2026	13,192	78.7%	70 min	3.43%	B−
March 2026	15,278	75.7%	76 min	2.38%	B
April 2026	15,396	78.8%	64 min	0.23%	B+
May 2026	15,778	77.4%	64 min	0.30%	B+
June 2026	15,079	72.1%	77 min	1.67%	C

Departure window

The best time of day to leave CLT in December

Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 16 points, against 15 points between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.

5am–8am1,161 flights84.7%
8am–11am2,586 flights80.9%
11am–2pm2,739 flights75.2%
2pm–5pm2,596 flights68.7%
5pm–8pm2,701 flights68.6%
8pm–5am3,192 flights69.2%

Scale runs 60% to 90%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.

Book the early departure. Flights leaving between 5am–8am arrive on time 84.7% of the time, against 68.6% for the evening window. That is 16 points of difference for no extra money, and it comes from the same aircraft having had no earlier flight to fall behind on. The 8pm–5am window is the busiest, with 3,192 flights scheduled in it.

Across the week, Wednesday is the strongest day at 84.9% on time and Sunday the weakest at 54.7%. 30 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.

Carrier by carrier

Which airlines ran best at CLT in December

The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. Envoy Air arrives on time 82.9% of the time; PSA Airlines manages 67.6%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 3,365 flights means less than a ten-point one.

Carriers at CLT in December 2025
Airline	Flights	On time	Avg delay	Cancelled	Grade
American Airlines	9,353	74.8%	61 min	0.29%	C+
PSA Airlines	3,365	67.6%	77 min	1.93%	C
Envoy Air	466	82.9%	40 min	0.43%	B+
Delta Air Lines	402	79.1%	103 min	1.00%	B
Republic Airways	383	79.9%	74 min	2.09%	B
Southwest Airlinesthin sample	278	74.5%	53 min	1.08%	C
Spirit Airlinesthin sample	250	62.1%	83 min	4.00%	D−
Frontier Airlinesthin sample	232	62.3%	77 min	1.72%	D
United Airlinesthin sample	156	78.2%	66 min	0.00%	B+
SkyWest Airlinesthin sample	90	71.6%	145 min	0.00%	C+

The spread between Envoy and PSA is 15 points, wide enough that it should decide the booking. On a hundred trips that is 15 more arrivals inside the on-time window.

Route by route

Busiest routes out of CLT in December

Routes from CLT in December 2025
Route	Flights	On time	Avg delay	Cancelled	Grade
CLT to MCO · Orlando	389	71.9%	64 min	0.77%	C+
CLT to LGA · New York	385	69.0%	70 min	3.12%	C−
CLT to ORD · Chicagothin sample	355	72.6%	77 min	0.56%	C+
CLT to MIA · Miamithin sample	355	75.9%	58 min	0.56%	B+
CLT to ATL · Atlantathin sample	337	78.7%	105 min	0.59%	B+
CLT to BOS · Bostonthin sample	331	81.8%	54 min	0.30%	B+
CLT to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample	322	82.6%	52 min	0.31%	B+
CLT to EWR · Newarkthin sample	318	67.3%	80 min	1.57%	C
CLT to PHL · Philadelphiathin sample	303	72.5%	64 min	1.65%	C
CLT to BNA · Nashvillethin sample	298	74.1%	59 min	0.34%	C+
CLT to DTW · Detroitthin sample	290	75.3%	82 min	0.69%	B+
CLT to TPA · Tampathin sample	272	74.5%	61 min	0.00%	C+
CLT to FLL · Fort Lauderdalethin sample	260	68.5%	61 min	1.15%	C
CLT to RDU · Raleighthin sample	260	74.2%	72 min	0.00%	C+
CLT to BWI · Baltimorethin sample	248	75.7%	47 min	0.40%	B+
CLT to DEN · Denverthin sample	238	72.0%	53 min	0.00%	C+
CLT to PHX · Phoenixthin sample	233	80.7%	47 min	0.00%	B+
CLT to CHS · Charlestonthin sample	224	67.7%	70 min	0.00%	C+
CLT to DCA · Washingtonthin sample	209	68.9%	44 min	0.00%	C+
CLT to RIC · Richmondthin sample	206	75.6%	88 min	0.00%	B+
CLT to LAX · Los Angelesthin sample	197	78.7%	52 min	0.00%	B+
CLT to ORF · Norfolkthin sample	191	68.9%	82 min	0.52%	C+
CLT to LAS · Las Vegasthin sample	185	84.9%	68 min	0.00%	B+
CLT to MSP · Minneapolisthin sample	184	75.5%	66 min	0.00%	B+
CLT to MYR · Myrtle Beachthin sample	181	70.6%	65 min	0.00%	C+

Delay causes

What held CLT up in December

One category carries most of the weight here. Late-arriving aircraft accounts for 53% of the 265,000 delay minutes carriers reported, and the remaining four split what is left. The split is by minutes rather than by flights, so a few very long delays count for as much as many short ones.

Late-arriving aircraft
53%
Carrier
30%
National Airspace System
13%
Extreme weather
3%
Security
0%

53% of delay minutes trace back to a late-arriving aircraft, meaning the plane was already behind before it got here. That is a cascade, and cascades start small and grow through the day. Across 265,000 reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 15 to one. It is the strongest argument for booking the first departure of the morning, when the aircraft has been sitting at the gate overnight with nothing to inherit. The split is drawn from 265,260 reported delay minutes.

Cancellations are rare at 0.82%, below the national 1.55% and low enough to earn the plus on the grade. Roughly one flight in 100 is called off; the risk here is arriving late, not not arriving.

For anyone connecting, the number to weigh is not the on-time rate but the tail behind it. 9.4% of arrivals land a full hour or more behind schedule, against 10.0% nationally. A 45-minute layover does not survive that, and no amount of walking quickly changes it. Ninety minutes is the honest minimum here, and two hours if the onward flight is on a separate ticket.

What to do with this

Flying from CLT in December

For a December trip through CLT: expect 73.3% on time and 0.82% cancelled, going by December 2025. The 5am–8am window was the strongest part of the day.

Charlotte Douglas International (CLT), the whole year
CLT in July65.7%
CLT in August72.8%
CLT in September84.0%
CLT in October81.2%
CLT in November81.1%
CLT in January80.7%
CLT in February78.7%
CLT in March75.7%
CLT in April78.8%
CLT in May77.4%
CLT in June72.1%

Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, on-time performance data, July 2025 to June 2026. Last updated 15 September 2026; recomputed monthly. How this data is collected.

Key figures