Route profile
CLT→IAD
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Charlotte to Washington, 322 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 46% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 6,221 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
CLT → IAD arrives on time 80.8% of the time; the return trip, IAD → CLT, arrives on time 82.1% of the time.
CLT → IAD spends 29.5 minutes on the ground on a 322-mile trip: 23.1 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at CLT and 6.5 minutes from touchdown to gate at IAD.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What stands out
This route has stayed remarkably steady year over year, a smaller swing than 95% of 5,368 comparable routes.
80.1% on time over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), against 79.8% in the 12 months before (2024-08 to 2025-07), virtually unchanged.
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 5,368 in the comparison.
What sets this route apart
Where CLT to IAD differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
CLT to IAD is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 7 PM: 79.7% arrive on time, 8 points ahead of the 71.7% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 11.9 points.
CLT to IAD holds up on Fridays better than routes of similar length do: 80.4% on time to their 77.2%, a 3.2 points lead. Against all other routes the gap is 4.2 points.
In July, CLT to IAD runs 7.1 points below routes of similar length, 65.9% on time to 73.0%. Against all other routes the gap is 3.8 points.
June is kinder to CLT to IAD than to routes of similar length: 79.9% on time against 74.5%, 5.4 points better. Against all other routes the gap is 7.2 points.
United Airlines does better on CLT to IAD than on its routes of similar length: 86.6% on time here, 78.7% there, 7.9 points apart. Against all other routes the gap is 6.7 points.
CLT to IAD against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 7 PM departures | 79.7% | routes of similar length | 71.7% | +8.0 pts | 330 here, 63,277 there |
| Weekday: Friday | 80.4% | routes of similar length | 77.2% | +3.2 pts | 913 here, 159,008 there |
| Month: July | 65.9% | routes of similar length | 73.0% | −7.1 pts | 656 here, 114,722 there |
| Month: June | 79.9% | routes of similar length | 74.5% | +5.4 pts | 447 here, 85,187 there |
| Airline: United Airlines | 86.6% | routes of similar length | 78.7% | +7.9 pts | 633 here, 93,845 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 322 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 CLT → IAD flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
CLT → IAD cancelled 118 of 6,221 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 53. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 80.5% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 65 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 118 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.
95 cancellations, 80.5% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
13 cancellations, 11.0% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
10 cancellations, 8.5% 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.
118 coded cancellations were recorded on CLT → IAD; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
43 min late
against a median of 8 min early
Percentiles over 6,221 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at IAD after arriving from CLT.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 31% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 19% | High risk |
| 60 min | 13% | Some risk |
| 90 min | 7.6% | Some risk |
| 120 min | 4.7% | Low 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 1.90% of the time and diverts 0.10% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 6,097 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 43 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 6,221 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
CLT → IAD flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 90.3% of the time, against 72.2% for 9 PM–5 AM departures, a gap of 18.1 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 5 AM: too few flights to score
- 6 AM: 96.4% on time from 138 flights
- 7 AM: 88.7% on time from 726 flights
- 8 AM: too few flights to score
- 9 AM: 86.7% on time from 264 flights
- 10 AM: 88.9% on time from 743 flights
- 11 AM: 86.4% on time from 782 flights
- 12 PM: 77.3% on time from 205 flights
- 1 PM: 85.3% on time from 130 flights
- 2 PM: 78.0% on time from 453 flights
- 3 PM: 75.1% on time from 458 flights
- 4 PM to 5 PM: too few flights to score
- 6 PM: 73.7% on time from 812 flights
- 7 PM: 79.7% on time from 338 flights
- 8 PM to 9 PM: too few flights to score
- 10 PM: 71.5% on time from 800 flights
- 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why CLT → IAD 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 CLT → IAD. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on CLT → IAD, at 48.4%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 90.3% of the time and 9 PM–5 AM departures 72.2%.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA Airlines | 4,253 | 80.2% | 2.02% | -8 min | 7.6% |
| Republic Airways | 785 | 87.6% | 2.42% | -10 min | 6.1% |
| United Airlines | 636 | 86.6% | 0.47% | -7 min | 7.0% |
| American Airlines | 547 | 69.6% | 1.83% | -4 min | 12.3% |
PSA Airlines flew 68.4% of the 6,221 flights listed. Republic Airways cancelled 2.42% of its flights here against 0.47% for United Airlines.
Republic Airways arrived on time 18.0 percentage points more often than American Airlines on this route.
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Wednesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 7.6 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 85.7%
- Feb: 80.9%
- Mar: 83.5%
- Apr: 83.9%
- May: 81.0%
- Jun: 79.9%
- Jul: 65.9%
- Aug: 75.0%
- Sep: 87.0%
- Oct: 88.2%
- Nov: 87.8%
- Dec: 77.0%
July is historically the weakest month and October the strongest, a spread of 22.3 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: 67.2% from 194 flights
- August 2023: 75.9% from 193 flights
- September 2023: 88.4% from 131 flights
- October 2023: too few flights to score (115)
- November 2023: 89.6% from 163 flights
- December 2023: 88.5% from 139 flights
- January 2024: 84.0% from 146 flights
- February 2024: 88.4% from 155 flights
- March 2024: 89.5% from 153 flights
- April 2024: 81.4% from 173 flights
- May 2024: 79.6% from 199 flights
- June 2024: 89.3% from 188 flights
- July 2024: 68.9% from 182 flights
- August 2024: 75.9% from 179 flights
- September 2024: 81.9% from 156 flights
- October 2024: 89.3% from 177 flights
- November 2024: 90.3% from 237 flights
- December 2024: 76.5% from 179 flights
- January 2025: 86.4% from 148 flights
- February 2025: 70.9% from 149 flights
- March 2025: 81.0% from 149 flights
- April 2025: 82.4% from 223 flights
- May 2025: 75.4% from 198 flights
- June 2025: 71.7% from 149 flights
- July 2025: 69.2% from 156 flights
- August 2025: 73.1% from 161 flights
- September 2025: 90.7% from 163 flights
- October 2025: 84.6% from 156 flights
- November 2025: 82.2% from 161 flights
- December 2025: 68.4% from 178 flights
- January 2026: 86.4% from 197 flights
- February 2026: 82.2% from 177 flights
- March 2026: 80.5% from 179 flights
- April 2026: 88.4% from 173 flights
- May 2026: 88.6% from 175 flights
- June 2026: too few flights to score (119)
- July 2026: 56.9% from 151 flights
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 80.1% against 79.8% in the 12 months before — broadly unchanged.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 6,221 CLT → IAD 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