Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) delays & on-time performance
Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina · 42 nonstop destinations · 12 airlines · Aug 2025 – Jul 2026
No FAA-reported ground stops or delays at RDU right now. Individual flights can still be delayed by the airline; check with your airline for your flight.
Figures cover 55,461 departures from RDU; on-time is measured at arrival. Arrivals into RDU were on time 77% of the time.
Key facts
- Flights departing Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) arrived on time 79% of the time in Aug 2025 – Jul 2026, better than the 78% national average.
- 2.3% were cancelled, and 8% arrived an hour or more late.
- Delta Air Lines was the most punctual airline here (85% on time); Frontier Airlines was the least (73%).
- Departures scheduled around 5am did best (93% on time); around 8pm did worst (62%).
- The largest source of delay minutes was late-arriving aircraft (45%).
Most delayed routes from RDU
Lowest on-time arrival rates among regularly flown routes.
- DCA · Washington62%2,009 flts
- LGA · New York70%2,595 flts
- SJU · San Juan71%467 flts
- PHL · Philadelphia74%2,604 flts
- DAL · Dallas75%422 flts
- ORD · Chicago75%3,654 flts
- JFK · New York75%2,343 flts
- EWR · Newark76%1,985 flts
- MIA · Miami77%2,359 flts
- SEA · Seattle77%918 flts
Most reliable routes from RDU
Highest on-time arrival rates among regularly flown routes.
- DTW · Detroit88%1,499 flts
- ATL · Atlanta87%4,630 flts
- IAD · Washington86%1,301 flts
- BWI · Baltimore86%1,791 flts
- IAH · Houston85%924 flts
- SLC · Salt Lake City84%383 flts
- MSP · Minneapolis84%1,228 flts
- PIT · Pittsburgh83%718 flts
- TPA · Tampa82%1,290 flts
- LAS · Las Vegas82%613 flts
Best airline at RDU
Departures from this airport, ranked by on-time arrival.
| Airline | On time | Cancelled | Avg delay | Routes | Flights |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delta Air Lines | 85% | 1.8% | 13 min | 14 | 11,970 |
| SkyWest Airlines | 82% | 4.4% | 38 min | 3 | 137 |
| United Airlines | 81% | 1.2% | 18 min | 6 | 6,205 |
| Southwest Airlines | 80% | 1.4% | 11 min | 16 | 8,939 |
| American Airlines | 80% | 2.0% | 20 min | 10 | 9,506 |
| JetBlue | 76% | 3.5% | 19 min | 4 | 2,970 |
| Alaska Airlines | 75% | 1.5% | 13 min | 2 | 655 |
| Republic Airways | 75% | 4.0% | 20 min | 12 | 7,615 |
| Frontier Airlines | 73% | 2.4% | 26 min | 20 | 4,268 |
| Envoy Air | 71% | 2.6% | 23 min | 6 | 1,083 |
| Spirit Airlines | 66% | 6.3% | 27 min | 6 | 489 |
| PSA Airlines | 64% | 5.7% | 32 min | 5 | 1,624 |
Best time to fly out of RDU
On-time arrival rate by scheduled departure hour (local time).
- 5am93%2,229 flts
- 6am90%6,872 flts
- 7am89%4,618 flts
- 8am87%3,486 flts
- 9am88%2,380 flts
- 10am87%3,028 flts
- 11am83%3,838 flts
- 12pm80%2,914 flts
- 1pm76%3,257 flts
- 2pm74%1,981 flts
- 3pm73%3,213 flts
- 4pm72%3,012 flts
- 5pm66%3,781 flts
- 6pm68%4,669 flts
- 7pm66%3,887 flts
- 8pm62%1,642 flts
Monthly trend
Why departures were late
- Late-arriving aircraft45%
- Airline (crew, maintenance, cleaning, fueling)27%
- Air traffic control & airport congestion25%
- Extreme weather3%
- Security0%
Data: U.S. DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Aug 2025 – Jul 2026 (12 months). Latest month published by BTS: July 2026. How we calculate this.