Airport month record

CLTMAY

Charlotte Douglas International in May 2026

Departures: 15,778
Month: May 2026
National, same month: 78.6%
Carriers: 9

Historical statistics for May 2026, not live status or a forecast for this year’s May. For today’s conditions at CLT, see live FAA status.

CLT in May lands a B+, about a point worse than the national rate of 78.6%. Roughly one flight in four arrives 15 minutes late or worse, and those flights are late by about an hour on average. That is a workable record, not a spotless one. That rests on 15,778 flights, of which Delta Air Lines flew 495 at 86.6% on time.

Delta Air Lines is the most reliable of the four carriers covered here at 86.6% on time across 495 flights.

On time

77.4%

Arrivals under 15 minutes late, of 15,702 completed departures

Avg delay

64 min

Across delayed arrivals only, not all flights

Cancelled

0.30%

Nationally in May: 0.92%

Whole year

76.7%

CLT across all twelve months

These figures cover 15,778 departures from Charlotte Douglas International in May 2026. 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

May next to CLT's other months

Against CLT's own year, May ran level with the twelve-month rate of 76.7%, which makes it number seven of twelve months, best first. Cancellations were unusually low for CLT in May, at 0.30% against 2.01% across the year. Either side of it, April ran 78.8% on time and June 72.1%, so this month sits in line with its neighbours.

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	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 (this page)	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 May

Departure time matters more here than the choice of carrier. The gap between the best and worst window is 23 points, against 12 points between the best and worst carrier. Each bar is the on-time rate for flights scheduled inside that window.

5am–8am1,467 flights90.6%
8am–11am2,278 flights87.5%
11am–2pm3,086 flights82.7%
2pm–5pm2,882 flights76.9%
5pm–8pm2,523 flights67.2%
8pm–5am3,542 flights68.2%

Scale runs 60% to 95%. Rows with fewer than 30 flights show a dash.

Book the early departure. Flights leaving between 5am–8am arrive on time 90.6% of the time, against 67.2% for the evening window. That is 23 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 3,542 flights scheduled in it.

Across the week, Tuesday is the strongest day at 81.3% on time and Thursday the weakest at 71.4%. 10 points is a smaller lever than departure hour, but it is free.

Carrier by carrier

Which airlines ran best at CLT in May

The choice of carrier is not cosmetic here. Delta Air Lines arrives on time 86.6% of the time; PSA Airlines manages 75.1%. Sample sizes sit next to every figure, because a two-point gap across 3,324 flights means less than a ten-point one.

Carriers at CLT in May 2026
Airline	Flights	On time	Avg delay	Cancelled	Grade
American Airlines	10,100	77.0%	61 min	0.23%	B+
PSA Airlines	3,324	75.1%	64 min	0.24%	B+
Envoy Air	498	81.6%	48 min	0.60%	B+
Delta Air Lines	495	86.6%	64 min	0.61%	A+
Republic Airwaysthin sample	352	88.2%	74 min	1.14%	A
Frontier Airlinesthin sample	294	75.3%	94 min	0.68%	B+
Southwest Airlinesthin sample	273	73.1%	58 min	0.37%	C+
SkyWest Airlinesthin sample	227	80.8%	147 min	1.32%	B
United Airlinesthin sample	206	84.5%	109 min	0.00%	B+

Delta leads PSA by 12 points. Real, but small enough that a better departure time on the weaker carrier can outweigh it.

Route by route

Busiest routes out of CLT in May

Routes from CLT in May 2026
Route	Flights	On time	Avg delay	Cancelled	Grade
CLT to ORD · Chicago	413	77.6%	81 min	1.21%	B
CLT to MCO · Orlando	396	75.9%	56 min	0.25%	B+
CLT to ATL · Atlanta	389	80.9%	57 min	0.26%	B+
CLT to BOS · Bostonthin sample	354	78.2%	62 min	0.00%	B+
CLT to DFW · Dallas-Fort Worththin sample	353	77.8%	80 min	3.40%	B−
CLT to BNA · Nashvillethin sample	330	73.3%	49 min	0.00%	C+
CLT to LGA · New Yorkthin sample	327	76.8%	66 min	1.83%	B
CLT to PHL · Philadelphiathin sample	297	83.4%	83 min	0.34%	B+
CLT to DTW · Detroitthin sample	296	88.1%	65 min	0.68%	A+
CLT to MIA · Miamithin sample	296	72.9%	71 min	0.34%	C+
CLT to EWR · Newarkthin sample	273	86.0%	87 min	0.73%	A+
CLT to RDU · Raleighthin sample	266	81.6%	51 min	0.00%	B+
CLT to PHX · Phoenixthin sample	265	74.0%	65 min	0.00%	C+
CLT to BWI · Baltimorethin sample	260	81.9%	109 min	0.00%	B+
CLT to TPA · Tampathin sample	250	72.3%	55 min	0.00%	C+
CLT to DEN · Denverthin sample	234	78.5%	74 min	0.00%	B+
CLT to ORF · Norfolkthin sample	229	77.3%	39 min	0.00%	B+
CLT to DCA · Washingtonthin sample	226	80.0%	65 min	0.44%	B+
CLT to FLL · Fort Lauderdalethin sample	223	80.5%	56 min	0.00%	B+
CLT to MSP · Minneapolisthin sample	223	82.4%	60 min	0.00%	B+
CLT to CHS · Charlestonthin sample	218	76.1%	55 min	0.00%	B+
CLT to IAH · Houstonthin sample	216	71.8%	79 min	0.00%	C+
CLT to RIC · Richmondthin sample	212	74.5%	50 min	0.00%	C+
CLT to LAX · Los Angelesthin sample	196	75.5%	65 min	0.00%	B+
CLT to CMH · Columbusthin sample	195	76.9%	62 min	0.00%	B+

Delay causes

What held CLT up in May

One category carries most of the weight here. Late-arriving aircraft accounts for 43% of the 226,000 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
43%
Carrier
33%
National Airspace System
18%
Extreme weather
6%
Security
0%

43% 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 226,000 reported delay minutes here, that single category outweighs weather by 8 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 226,205 reported delay minutes.

Cancellations are rare at 0.30%, below the national 0.92% 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.

7.3% of arrivals land an hour or more late, close to the national 7.1%. That is the figure that decides a connection, and it says a 60 to 75 minute layover is reasonable here while anything under 45 minutes is a bet. Most delays on this route last about an hour, which a normal layover absorbs.

What to do with this

Flying from CLT in May

For a May trip through CLT: expect 77.4% on time and 0.30% cancelled, going by May 2026. 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 December73.3%
CLT in January80.7%
CLT in February78.7%
CLT in March75.7%
CLT in April78.8%
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