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DelayAtlas

Transatlantic route · frequency, carriers and airport records

MAD→CLT

Madrid to Charlotte

Flights
709 both ways
Carriers
1
Distance
4,099 mi
Period
July 2025 to June 2026
—GRADE

No public record scores Madrid Barajas to Charlotte Douglas International flight by flight. The US Department of Transportation's on-time database covers domestic flights only, and in Europe only the United Kingdom publishes punctuality by route, so what follows is built from the three measurements that do exist. The DOT's international report counts 709 flights between the two airports in the twelve months to June 2026, about one departure a day in each direction, flown by American. EUROCONTROL's year-to-date figure has 67.6% of all departures from Madrid Barajas leaving within 15 minutes of schedule and 78.0% of arrivals landing within 15 minutes. At the other end, 76.1% of CLT's domestic departures arrived on time in the DOT data, which says something about how the airport itself runs, not about this route.

On EUROCONTROL's year-to-date arrival punctuality, Madrid Barajas ranks 14th of the 41 European airports on this site with service to the United States. Bilbao leads that table at 84.3% and Manchester closes it at 65.7%. A long-haul departure inherits the airport's morning: an aircraft that arrived late from its previous sector, or a departure queue built up by weather, delays the transatlantic wave with everything else.

Key figures

Flights

709

Both directions, July 2025 to June 2026 (DOT)

Carriers

1

American Airlines

MAD departures on time

67.6%

All destinations, year to date (EUROCONTROL)

CLT domestic on time

76.1%

US DOT, last twelve months of domestic departures

Without a route-level record, the useful question is what the two airports do to a schedule. EUROCONTROL attributes 0.4 minutes of air traffic flow management delay per arriving flight to Madrid Barajas so far this year; that is delay imposed by the network to hold traffic on the ground elsewhere, not the airline's own. In the DOT data, a delayed domestic departure from CLT ran a little over an hour late on average over the last twelve months, and 2.06% of its scheduled flights were cancelled.

Carrier by carrier

Who flies MAD to CLT

American Airlines is the only carrier the DOT report shows on MAD to CLT, with 709 flights and an average of 243 passengers aboard each. A single-carrier route gives a delayed passenger no same-day alternative on the same ticket, which is worth knowing before booking a tight onward connection.

Carriers on MAD to CLT by flights operated
AirlineFlightsSharePer monthPassengers / flight
American Airlines709100%59243

DOT international report, July 2025 to June 2026; flights in both directions together. No delay figures exist for this pair in any public source.

Across the year

How often MAD to CLT flies through the year

The DOT's international report puts 62 flights on the pair in July 2025, the busiest month of the window, and 47 in February 2026, the thinnest. The schedule is close to flat through the year, which usually means business traffic rather than holiday demand underwrites it.

Flights per month, both directions

  • July 202562
  • August 202562
  • September 202559
  • October 202560
  • November 202559
  • December 202562
  • January 202654
  • February 202647
  • March 202662
  • April 202660
  • May 202662
  • June 202660
Flights in both directions together, as the DOT international report counts them; flights per calendar month.

The DOT's international report counts flights in both directions together: 709 between MAD and CLT from July 2025 to June 2026, about one departure a day in each direction, carrying 172,497 passengers. That makes it the 10th busiest of 14 US routes from Madrid Barajas and the 4th busiest of 8 European routes into CLT.

The departure airport

How Madrid Barajas is running

EUROCONTROL's figures for Madrid Barajas as a whole, every airline and every destination: 67.6% of departures and 78.0% of arrivals within 15 minutes of schedule from 1 January to 21 October 2026, with 93.1% of scheduled flights operated. The last seven days ran at 62.5% for departures, 5 points worse than the year so far. Air traffic flow management delay attributed to the airport averaged 0.4 minutes per arriving flight this year, 1.4 over the last week.

EUROCONTROL punctuality at Madrid Barajas
WindowDepartures on timeArrivals on timeSchedules operatedATFM delay / arrival
Yesterday (21 October 2026)69.4%78.5%92.3%0.3 min
Last 7 days62.5%74.2%92.9%1.4 min
Year to date67.6%78.0%93.1%0.4 min

Every US route from Madrid Barajas, and its full punctuality record

The arrival airport

Landing at Charlotte Douglas International

Charlotte Douglas International is scored on this site from the DOT's domestic data: 76.1% of its 181,003 domestic departures arrived on time over the last twelve months, with delayed flights running a little over an hour late, and 2.06% were cancelled. Those are domestic flights, not this route, but an arriving transatlantic flight shares the same runways, the same weather and the same ground delay programmes, so a bad day at CLT reaches a flight from MAD just as surely. The airport's own page has the hour-by-hour and month-by-month detail, and its live FAA status appears above when the FAA has something to say.

Domestic on time

76.1%

Arrivals under 15 minutes late (DOT)

Avg delay

73 min

Delayed domestic flights only

Cancelled

2.06%

Domestic departures

181,003

Last twelve months

Charlotte Douglas International (CLT) delay statistics, hour by hour and month by month

Your rights

EC 261/2004 on MAD to CLT

Every flight that departs Madrid Barajas falls under Regulation (EC) 261/2004, whichever airline flies it and wherever it lands. If it arrives at Charlotte Douglas International three hours or more late, or is cancelled with under 14 days' notice, and the cause was within the airline's control, each passenger is owed €600 (€300 if the airline got you there under four hours late), on top of rebooking and care. Weather, air traffic control restrictions and strikes outside the airline are the usual exemptions. The return flight from CLT is covered only when the carrier is EU based. The sector is about 4,099 miles, 6,595 km, which puts it in the top distance band.

Delayed three hours or more? Check a claim with Compensair →

What to do with this

Booking MAD to CLT

There is no grade to give MAD to CLT without a route record, and this site does not invent one. What the three sources support: about one departure a day in each direction, a single carrier, a departure airport that gets 68% of its departures away on time and an arrival airport that runs 76% on time domestically. Leave two hours for any onward connection at CLT; immigration comes before the connecting flight.

Common questions

MAD to CLT questions

How often are MAD to CLT flights delayed?

No public dataset records delays for this route flight by flight: the US on-time database is domestic only and only the UK publishes route-level punctuality in Europe. The nearest measurements are the departure airport's EUROCONTROL punctuality (67.6% of departures within 15 minutes this year) and CLT's domestic record in the DOT data (76.1% on time).

Which airlines fly MAD to CLT?

American Airlines. American Airlines accounted for 100% of the 709 flights the DOT counted on the pair.

Can I claim compensation for a delayed MAD to CLT flight?

Yes, if the flight arrived three hours or more late or was cancelled at short notice for a reason within the airline's control: departures from Madrid Barajas are covered by EC 261/2004 whichever airline operates them. The fixed amount for a sector of this length is €600 a passenger, €300 if the airline got you there under four hours late. The return from CLT is covered only on an EU carrier.

How many flights a day are there from MAD to CLT?

About one departure a day in each direction: the DOT counted 709 flights in both directions over twelve months, peaking at 62 in July 2025 and falling to 47 in February 2026.

Related

Where to go next

Spain publishes no route-level punctuality, so this page cannot grade the route. The UK pages in this section can, because the CAA does.

Sources: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, International Report (flights and passengers by carrier and airport pair), July 2025 to June 2026; EUROCONTROL Aviation Intelligence Portal, airport punctuality and ATFM delay to 21 October 2026. Rebuilt 22 October 2026; the EUROCONTROL figures refresh with each weekly build, the others when their publisher releases a month. How these sources differ.