Route profile
CLT→MCI
Flight reliability, delays and best times to fly from Charlotte to Kansas City, 808 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 32% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)
Calculated from 4,025 flights. How this is calculated · What counts as on time
CLT → MCI arrives on time 74.6% of the time; the return trip, MCI → CLT, arrives on time 78.4% of the time, a 3.8-point gap between the two directions of the same city pair.
CLT → MCI spends 25.6 minutes on the ground on an 808-mile trip: 18.1 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at CLT and 7.5 minutes from touchdown to gate at MCI.
Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026
What sets this route apart
Where CLT to MCI differs most from similar routes by hour, weekday, month and airline, July 2023 – July 2026.
CLT to MCI is at its best against routes of similar length for flights scheduled at 11 AM: 89.0% arrive on time, 7.3 points ahead of the 81.7% those routes manage at that hour. Against all other routes the gap is 8 points.
CLT to MCI struggles most at 8 AM: 80.9% of its flights scheduled then arrive on time, 5.8 points behind the 86.7% on routes of similar length at the same hour.
Saturday is the day CLT to MCI slips furthest against routes of similar length, 73.5% on time where they average 78.8%, 5.3 points lower. Against all other routes the gap is 5.6 points.
In August, CLT to MCI runs 11 points below routes of similar length, 64.7% on time to 75.7%. Against all other routes the gap is 11.8 points.
CLT to MCI against comparable routes
July 2023 – July 2026| Measure | This route | Compared with | Them | Gap | Flights behind it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hour: 11 AM departures | 89.0% | routes of similar length | 81.7% | +7.3 pts | 127 here, 139,506 there |
| Hour: 8 AM departures | 80.9% | routes of similar length | 86.7% | −5.8 pts | 152 here, 156,522 there |
| Weekday: Saturday | 73.5% | routes of similar length | 78.8% | −5.3 pts | 495 here, 288,362 there |
| Month: August | 64.7% | routes of similar length | 75.7% | −11.0 pts | 351 here, 184,969 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 808 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.
CLT to MCI in context
This route against CLT and MCI as a whole, against similar routes from CLT, and against its own first year, July 2023 – July 2026.
Arriving at MCI, CLT to MCI is on time 74.6% of the time, 3 points worse than the airport’s other arrivals at MCI (77.6%, from 150,709 flights).
Cancellations rose from 0.47% of scheduled flights (6 of 1,287) in the first twelve months to 2.02% (24 of 1,190) in the latest twelve.
Of the 3,829 flights scheduled in hours with at least 120 flights, 4 PM is the busiest hour with 740 (19.3%), 63.7% of them on time, and 11 AM the quietest with 128 (3.3%), 89.0% of them on time.
Airport comparisons take this route’s flights out of the airport total. Length means within 15% of this route’s distance, with at least 3 other routes from the same origin. On-time gaps are stated at 2 points and 2 standard errors, cancellation gaps at 0.5 points and 2 standard errors, and every group needs 750 flights. These are differences in the flights counted, not causes.
Why CLT → MCI flights are cancelled
July 2023 – July 2026
CLT → MCI cancelled 55 of 4,025 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 73. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 89.1% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 82 scheduled flights.
Share of cancellations
Of 55 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.
49 cancellations, 89.1% of the total.
Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.
3 cancellations, 5.5% of the total.
Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.
3 cancellations, 5.5% 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. With only one or two carriers on the route, the split mostly reflects how they file. Ordinary bad weather is filed under air traffic, so weather’s full share is larger than its bar.
55 coded cancellations were recorded on CLT → MCI; the section appears from 50.
When it goes wrong
July 2023 – July 2026
53 min late
against a median of 3 min early
Percentiles over 4,025 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.
Will your connection be tight enough?
Layovers at MCI after arriving from CLT.
| Connection time | Chance of missing | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 30 min | 43% | Likely to miss |
| 45 min | 25% | High risk |
| 60 min | 17% | High risk |
| 90 min | 8.5% | 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 1.37% of the time and diverts 0.22% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.
Chance of missing is the share of 3,961 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 53 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 4,025 operations.
Any other layover length: connection checker.
Best time to fly
CLT → MCI flights departing 9 AM–12 PM arrived on time 86.0% of the time, against 64.0% for 3–6 PM departures, a gap of 22.0 percentage points.
By departure window
By departure hour
- 12 AM to 7 AM: too few flights to score
- 8 AM: 80.9% on time from 158 flights
- 9 AM: 85.1% on time from 627 flights
- 10 AM: 86.9% on time from 240 flights
- 11 AM: 89.0% on time from 128 flights
- 12 PM: too few flights to score
- 1 PM: 78.7% on time from 638 flights
- 2 PM: 74.4% on time from 267 flights
- 3 PM: too few flights to score
- 4 PM: 63.7% on time from 740 flights
- 5 PM to 7 PM: too few flights to score
- 8 PM: 73.9% on time from 184 flights
- 9 PM: 62.7% on time from 344 flights
- 10 PM: 66.5% on time from 503 flights
- 11 PM: too few flights to score
Why CLT → MCI 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 → MCI. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed. What the five causes mean
Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on CLT → MCI, at 51.1%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 9 AM–12 PM departures arrived on time 86.0% of the time and 3–6 PM departures 64.0%.
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 | 3,975 | 74.4% | 1.33% | -3 min | 8.7% |
Weekly and seasonal patterns
By day of week
Wednesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 9.0 percentage points.
By month
- Jan: 77.5%
- Feb: 80.8%
- Mar: 76.4%
- Apr: 75.7%
- May: 69.4%
- Jun: 63.7%
- Jul: 61.7%
- Aug: 64.7%
- Sep: 84.6%
- Oct: 84.9%
- Nov: 82.7%
- Dec: 78.3%
July is historically the weakest month and October the strongest, a spread of 23.2 percentage points.
Reliability over time
July 2023 – July 2026
- July 2023: too few flights to score (113)
- August 2023: 62.2% from 121 flights
- September 2023: too few flights to score (104)
- October 2023: too few flights to score (118)
- November 2023: too few flights to score (104)
- December 2023: too few flights to score (103)
- January 2024: too few flights to score (98)
- February 2024: too few flights to score (87)
- March 2024: too few flights to score (93)
- April 2024: too few flights to score (109)
- May 2024: 61.3% from 121 flights
- June 2024: too few flights to score (116)
- July 2024: too few flights to score (117)
- August 2024: too few flights to score (119)
- September 2024: 86.2% from 124 flights
- October 2024: 86.2% from 139 flights
- November 2024: 88.3% from 128 flights
- December 2024: 80.9% from 131 flights
- January 2025: too few flights to score (110)
- February 2025: too few flights to score (97)
- March 2025: 78.0% from 121 flights
- April 2025: too few flights to score (116)
- May 2025: too few flights to score (115)
- June 2025: too few flights to score (115)
- July 2025: too few flights to score (116)
- August 2025: too few flights to score (117)
- September 2025: too few flights to score (99)
- October 2025: too few flights to score (114)
- November 2025: too few flights to score (99)
- December 2025: too few flights to score (102)
- January 2026: too few flights to score (95)
- February 2026: too few flights to score (84)
- March 2026: too few flights to score (93)
- April 2026: too few flights to score (101)
- May 2026: too few flights to score (104)
- June 2026: too few flights to score (90)
- July 2026: too few flights to score (92)
Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 76.0% against 77.1% in the 12 months before — broadly unchanged.
Data and methodology
Calculated by FlyerIntel from 4,025 CLT → MCI 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