Route profile
BOS→RDU
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Boston to Raleigh–Durham, 612 miles.
Right now
Aviation weather is not currently a factor.
Aviation weather is not currently a factor.
Route reliability
July 2023 – July 2026
Better than 26% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 9,030 flights. How this is calculated
BOS → RDU arrives on time 76.9% of the time; the return trip, RDU → BOS, arrives on time 78.9% of the time, a 2.0-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
BOS → RDU spends 27.0 minutes on the ground on a 612-mile trip: 20.1 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at BOS and 6.9 minutes from touchdown to gate at RDU.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
This route's worst arrivals run unusually far past its typical one, a bigger gap than 91% of 4,598 comparable routes.
A typical arrival is 9 min early, but the worst tenth run 72 minutes worse than that.
Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · Ranked against every other route with the same kind of figure and at least 4,598 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where BOS to RDU differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
BOS to RDU struggles most at 9 PM: 60.3% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 7.3 points behind the 67.6% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 9.2 points.
BOS to RDU is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 2 PM: 80.5% arrive on time, 5.5 points ahead of the 75.0% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 5.9 points.
Friday is the day BOS to RDU slips furthest against routes of similar length, 73.5% on time where they average 76.4%, 2.9 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 2.7 points.
In September, BOS to RDU runs 11.2 points below routes of similar length, 71.9% on time to 83.1%. Against all other routes the gap is 10.5 points.
June is kinder to BOS to RDU than to routes of similar length: 79.3% on time against 72.7%, 6.6 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 6.6 points.
BOS to RDU against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 9 PM departures | 60.3% | routes of similar length | 67.6% | −7.3 pts | 194 here, 69,040 there |
| Hour: 2 PM departures | 80.5% | routes of similar length | 75.0% | +5.5 pts | 359 here, 109,246 there |
| Weekday: Friday | 73.5% | routes of similar length | 76.4% | −2.9 pts | 1,378 here, 308,316 there |
| Month: September | 71.9% | routes of similar length | 83.1% | −11.2 pts | 797 here, 166,522 there |
| Month: June | 79.3% | routes of similar length | 72.7% | +6.6 pts | 734 here, 170,888 there |
Each comparison pools the flights of other routes, with this route’s own left out. Similar length means within 15% of this route’s 612 miles, with at least 5 such routes. A bucket is set against the most comparable group that has enough flights: similar length, then the same origin (at least 3 routes), then all other routes. Hours, weekdays and months appear only where both sides have 120 completed flights, and airlines where both have 600. The gap must be at least 2 points and 2 standard errors, and only the largest gap each way is kept per measure. These are differences in the flights counted, not causes.
Why BOS → RDU flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
BOS → RDU cancelled 161 of 9,030 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 56. The reason filed most often was the airline, 38.5% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 146 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 161 cancelled departures carrying a reason code.
What each reason means
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
62 cancellations, 38.5% of the total.
Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.
53 cancellations, 32.9% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
46 cancellations, 28.6% of the total.
A terminal evacuation, a security breach, screening equipment failure, or screening queues over 29 minutes.
0 cancellations, 0.0% of the total.
Reason codes are the operating airline’s own filing with US DOT, not an independent finding of fault. Ordinary bad weather is filed under air traffic, so weather’s full share is larger than its bar.
161 coded cancellations were recorded on BOS → RDU; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
63 min late
against a median of 9 min early
BOS → RDU has an average that understates its risk: a typical arrival is 9 min early, but the worst tenth are 72 minutes worse than that. If the trip has something unmissable at the end of it, the median is the wrong number to plan against.
Percentiles over 9,030 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at RDU after arriving from BOS.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 34% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 22% | High risk |
| 60 min | 17% | High risk |
| 90 min | 10% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 6.6% | Some risk |
This is one leg of a connection. Gate changes and the next flight's own schedule matter too. And a connection can fail before delay is even the question — this route cancels 1.78% of the time and diverts 0.21% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 8,850 arrivals on this route that landed later than the connection time less 30 minutes to reach the next gate.
The worst tenth of arrivals on this route land at least 63 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 9,030 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
BOS → RDU flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 87.8% of the time, against 60.3% for 9 PM–5 AM departures, a gap of 27.5 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 5 AM: too few flights to score
- 6 AM: 89.4% on time from 1,175 flights
- 7 AM: 89.5% on time from 676 flights
- 8 AM: 79.9% on time from 390 flights
- 9 AM: 82.3% on time from 514 flights
- 10 AM: 85.0% on time from 822 flights
- 11 AM: 77.5% on time from 317 flights
- 12 PM: 76.0% on time from 349 flights
- 1 PM: 81.6% on time from 938 flights
- 2 PM: 80.5% on time from 366 flights
- 3 PM: 75.4% on time from 287 flights
- 4 PM: 69.6% on time from 542 flights
- 5 PM: 67.2% on time from 679 flights
- 6 PM: 65.1% on time from 378 flights
- 7 PM: 62.7% on time from 746 flights
- 8 PM: 61.5% on time from 651 flights
- 9 PM: 60.3% on time from 199 flights
- 10 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why BOS → RDU runs late
July 2023 – July 2026
the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late
crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control
airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control
weather severe enough to stop this flight specifically
screening or terminal security incidents
Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for BOS → RDU. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on BOS → RDU, at 43.8%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 87.8% of the time and 9 PM–5 AM departures 60.3%.
Airlines on this route
Carriers with at least 200 flights, by the airline that operated each one.
| Carrier | Flights | On time | Cancelled | Median delay | Severe |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delta Air Lines | 4,492 | 78.9% | 1.47% | -10 min | 10.6% |
| JetBlue | 3,856 | 74.1% | 2.23% | -7 min | 11.2% |
| Frontier Airlines | 383 | 75.9% | 0.78% | -2 min | 6.3% |
| Republic Airways | 299 | 84.3% | 2.01% | -12 min | 4.4% |
Delta Air Lines flew 49.7% of the 9,030 flights listed. JetBlue cancelled 2.23% of its flights here against 0.78% for Frontier Airlines.
Republic Airways arrived on time 10.2 percentage points more often than JetBlue on this route.
Flights on this route
Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.
DL2066 (6:35 AM) arrived on time 90.6% of the time, 30.1 points more often than DL817 (8:05 PM) at 60.5%.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Wednesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 9.5 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 75.2%
- Feb: 78.8%
- Mar: 80.6%
- Apr: 81.9%
- May: 79.4%
- Jun: 79.3%
- Jul: 71.1%
- Aug: 69.4%
- Sep: 71.9%
- Oct: 79.3%
- Nov: 83.0%
- Dec: 75.9%
August is historically the weakest month and November the strongest, a spread of 13.6 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 61.2% from 268 flights
- August 2023: 64.4% from 283 flights
- September 2023: 62.8% from 274 flights
- October 2023: 79.5% from 302 flights
- November 2023: 82.1% from 247 flights
- December 2023: 82.7% from 192 flights
- January 2024: 69.3% from 182 flights
- February 2024: 89.2% from 178 flights
- March 2024: 85.6% from 203 flights
- April 2024: 83.1% from 234 flights
- May 2024: 82.2% from 275 flights
- June 2024: 81.8% from 266 flights
- July 2024: 77.8% from 268 flights
- August 2024: 70.2% from 305 flights
- September 2024: 78.7% from 288 flights
- October 2024: 84.4% from 295 flights
- November 2024: 89.5% from 257 flights
- December 2024: 76.4% from 262 flights
- January 2025: 79.5% from 217 flights
- February 2025: 73.4% from 197 flights
- March 2025: 82.5% from 243 flights
- April 2025: 79.6% from 242 flights
- May 2025: 73.4% from 257 flights
- June 2025: 76.4% from 237 flights
- July 2025: 77.0% from 230 flights
- August 2025: 74.6% from 230 flights
- September 2025: 73.5% from 256 flights
- October 2025: 73.7% from 292 flights
- November 2025: 77.2% from 249 flights
- December 2025: 69.9% from 249 flights
- January 2026: 75.8% from 170 flights
- February 2026: 73.7% from 168 flights
- March 2026: 73.9% from 224 flights
- April 2026: 83.1% from 245 flights
- May 2026: 82.3% from 261 flights
- June 2026: 79.4% from 242 flights
- July 2026: 68.3% from 242 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 75.5% against 78.5% in the 12 months before — declining by 3.0 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 9,030 BOS → RDU flight records from the US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, covering July 2023 – July 2026. Late means 15 or more minutes past scheduled arrival; cancelled and diverted flights are left out of on-time rates.
Full methodology · Data sources · Report a problem
Related research: How Long a Layover Needs to Be · Two Airlines on One Route · Best Time of Day to Fly From Major US Airports
Analysis last recomputed