Route profile
BWI→CLT
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Baltimore to Charlotte, 361 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 35% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 9,608 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
BWI → CLT arrives on time 77.3% of the time; the return trip, CLT → BWI, arrives on time 73.3% of the time, a 4.0-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
BWI → CLT spends 28.1 minutes on the ground on a 361-mile trip: 17.6 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at BWI and 10.5 minutes from touchdown to gate at CLT.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
On-time performance swings unusually widely by time of day here, wider than 95% of 4,023 comparable routes.
88.2% on time for 5–9 AM departures, against 55.3% for 9 PM–5 AM.
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 4,023 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where BWI to CLT differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
BWI to CLT struggles most at 9 PM: 55.3% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 14.8 points behind the 70.1% on routes of similar length at the same hour. Against all other routes the gap is 14.2 points.
BWI to CLT is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 11 AM: 89.3% arrive on time, 5.8 points ahead of the 83.5% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 8.3 points.
Saturday is the day BWI to CLT slips furthest against routes of similar length, 76.0% on time where they average 81.5%, 5.5 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 3.1 points.
In July, BWI to CLT runs 8.3 points below routes of similar length, 63.4% on time to 71.7%. Against all other routes the gap is 6.3 points.
Southwest Airlines’ flights on BWI to CLT arrive on time 71.9% of the time, 8.5 points below the 80.4% it manages on its routes of similar length. Against all other routes the gap is 5.5 points.
BWI to CLT against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 9 PM departures | 55.3% | routes of similar length | 70.1% | −14.8 pts | 161 here, 49,624 there |
| Hour: 11 AM departures | 89.3% | routes of similar length | 83.5% | +5.8 pts | 177 here, 84,524 there |
| Weekday: Saturday | 76.0% | routes of similar length | 81.5% | −5.5 pts | 1,179 here, 173,113 there |
| Month: July | 63.4% | routes of similar length | 71.7% | −8.3 pts | 1,092 here, 160,330 there |
| Airline: Southwest Airlines | 71.9% | routes of similar length | 80.4% | −8.5 pts | 2,995 here, 481,304 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 361 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 BWI → CLT flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
BWI → CLT cancelled 152 of 9,608 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 63. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 79.6% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 79 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 152 cancelled departures carrying a reason code.
What each reason means
Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.
121 cancellations, 79.6% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
23 cancellations, 15.1% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
8 cancellations, 5.3% 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.
152 coded cancellations were recorded on BWI → CLT; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
47 min late
against a median of 6 min early
Percentiles over 9,608 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at CLT after arriving from BWI.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 39% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 22% | High risk |
| 60 min | 14% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 7.9% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 5.1% | 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 1.58% 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 9,436 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 47 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 9,608 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
BWI → CLT flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 88.2% of the time, against 55.3% for 9 PM–5 AM departures, a gap of 32.9 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 4 AM: too few flights to score
- 5 AM: 95.3% on time from 839 flights
- 6 AM: 89.0% on time from 938 flights
- 7 AM: 92.5% on time from 134 flights
- 8 AM: 82.9% on time from 1,351 flights
- 9 AM: 86.9% on time from 656 flights
- 10 AM: 84.6% on time from 475 flights
- 11 AM: 89.3% on time from 181 flights
- 12 PM: 79.4% on time from 283 flights
- 1 PM: 78.1% on time from 780 flights
- 2 PM: 78.3% on time from 407 flights
- 3 PM: 66.7% on time from 505 flights
- 4 PM: 64.6% on time from 269 flights
- 5 PM: 63.6% on time from 605 flights
- 6 PM: 68.5% on time from 535 flights
- 7 PM: 62.3% on time from 574 flights
- 8 PM: 60.6% on time from 914 flights
- 9 PM: 55.3% on time from 162 flights
- 10 PM to 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why BWI → CLT 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 BWI → CLT. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on BWI → CLT, at 51.2%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 88.2% of the time and 9 PM–5 AM departures 55.3%.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Airlines | 5,958 | 80.7% | 1.81% | -9 min | 8.0% |
| Southwest Airlines | 3,027 | 71.9% | 0.79% | 1 min | 7.8% |
| Frontier Airlines | 394 | 66.1% | 4.06% | 1 min | 13.2% |
American Airlines flew 63.5% of the 9,379 flights listed. Frontier Airlines cancelled 4.06% of its flights here against 0.79% for Southwest Airlines.
American Airlines arrived on time 14.6 percentage points more often than Frontier Airlines on this route.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 7.3 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 80.6%
- Feb: 83.8%
- Mar: 81.9%
- Apr: 77.9%
- May: 73.7%
- Jun: 69.9%
- Jul: 63.4%
- Aug: 76.0%
- Sep: 84.4%
- Oct: 81.6%
- Nov: 84.7%
- Dec: 79.2%
July is historically the weakest month and November the strongest, a spread of 21.3 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 66.4% from 241 flights
- August 2023: 75.5% from 245 flights
- September 2023: 86.2% from 274 flights
- October 2023: 84.7% from 268 flights
- November 2023: 84.1% from 233 flights
- December 2023: 81.3% from 231 flights
- January 2024: 74.0% from 211 flights
- February 2024: 87.1% from 211 flights
- March 2024: 80.1% from 237 flights
- April 2024: 71.5% from 270 flights
- May 2024: 63.2% from 303 flights
- June 2024: 62.3% from 321 flights
- July 2024: 55.8% from 317 flights
- August 2024: 70.6% from 313 flights
- September 2024: 78.9% from 307 flights
- October 2024: 77.9% from 309 flights
- November 2024: 82.7% from 255 flights
- December 2024: 80.2% from 270 flights
- January 2025: 82.2% from 224 flights
- February 2025: 79.5% from 210 flights
- March 2025: 87.2% from 261 flights
- April 2025: 81.5% from 229 flights
- May 2025: 76.9% from 294 flights
- June 2025: 67.4% from 304 flights
- July 2025: 64.2% from 310 flights
- August 2025: 82.5% from 271 flights
- September 2025: 89.2% from 252 flights
- October 2025: 82.6% from 288 flights
- November 2025: 87.4% from 243 flights
- December 2025: 76.2% from 248 flights
- January 2026: 86.3% from 201 flights
- February 2026: 84.6% from 189 flights
- March 2026: 77.7% from 233 flights
- April 2026: 81.5% from 244 flights
- May 2026: 82.2% from 260 flights
- June 2026: 82.0% from 259 flights
- July 2026: 68.6% from 272 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 81.5% against 76.9% in the 12 months before — improving by 4.6 percentage points.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 9,608 BWI → CLT 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